Admirals from Croatia served in many naval forces on the eastern Adriatic seaboard. First admirals (Jakov de Cessamis Šubić and his son Matej, Rafael de Sorba etc.), were mentioned in 1350s as commanders of the royal fleet of Croatian-Hungarian king Louis I.[1] [2] Officers from today's Croatia served in various navies in control of Croatia or its parts. For instance, Jusuf Mašković served as a grand admiral of Ottoman Navy in 1630s; Ivan of Vrana was a Venetian admiral in late 16th century, taking part in the Battle of Lepanto.[3] Croatian personnel served in the Venetian Navy until its demise in 1797 and, in modern times, in Habsburg/Austro-Hungarian Navy as Croatia was a constituent part of the monarchy (until 1918). First Croatian admirals distinguished themselves commanding Habsburg ships in First Italian War of Independence in 1848.
Croatian admirals helped lead Austro-Hungarian Navy through World War I and later oversaw the creation and development of Royal Yugoslav Navy in the interwar years (1918-1941). In World War II they found themselves on opposing sides, as some chose to collaborate and joined rather limited Navy of Independent State of Croatia (1941–45), while others founded guerilla Partisan Navy, which liberated the Croatian Adriatic and later developed into Yugoslav Navy (1942–91). Croatian admirals co-led Yugoslav Navy during the Cold War, overseeing its development of submarines and frigates, strengthening its capacities. After 1991, breaking off from Yugoslav Navy, Croatian admirals steered Croatian Navy through the Croatian War of Independence from Yugoslavia (1991-5) and worked on joining NATO (2004).
What follows is a list of naval officers from the territory of today's Republic of Croatia. For a list of admirals of the modern, post-1991 Croatian Navy, see List of Croatian Navy admirals. Historical Croat community in Boka Kotorska in Montenegro has produced a long line of admirals (Russian Grand admiral Matija Zmajević, Austrian vice-admiral Aleksandar Bujaković (1792-1870) etc.), but these are excluded from this list.
In Yugoslav Navy, Branko Mamula was promoted to the rank of the Fleet Admiral in 1983. In Croatian Navy, rank of Fleet Admiral was introduced in 1995 as the naval equivalent to the five-star rank of the OF-10. Commending him on his role as the commander of Croatian Navy during the War of Independence (1991-5), president Tuđman conferred the rank on admiral Letica. Sveto Letica-Barba was the first and so far the only Croatian flag officer to hold this rank.
| Name | Born | Died | Date of rank | Navy | Crew/Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 April 1926 | 6 November 2001 | March 1996 | 1950 | Served in Yugoslav Navy 1942–86, retired as viceadmiral and retroactively promoted to the rank of admiral. Reactivated in 1991 | ||
| 30 May 1921 | 19 October 2021 | 22 December 1983 | 1958[4] | |||
| Name | Born | Died | Date of rank | Navy | Crew/Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | 1980 | 1956 | People's Hero of Yugoslavia | |||
| 1912 | 1998 | 1968 | People's Hero of Yugoslavia | |||
| 1915 | 1991 | 1969 | People's Hero of Yugoslavia | |||
| 1877 | Commander of Austro-Hungarian Navy 1917-8 | |||||
| 1867 | 1960 | 1885 | Served as a rear admiral in Austro-Hungarian Navy until 1918 | |||
| 1866 | 1940 | 1885 | Served as a rear admiral (1917) in Austro-Hungarian Navy until 1918[5] | |||
| 1932 | 2021[6] | 1988 | Joined Croatian Navy in 1991, his earlier rank confirmed | |||
| 1920 | 1976 | 1974 | ||||
| 1932 | 1990 | 1989 | ||||
| retired in 2000 | ||||||
| 1959 | retired in 2002[7] | |||||
| [8] | 1985[9] | retired in June 2024[10] | ||||
| 1924 | 2008 | Retired as viceadmiral in April 1984; in July retroactively promoted to the rank of an admiral | ||||
| Name | Born | Died | Date of rank | Navy | Crew/Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [11] | retired in 2011 | |||||
| 1977 | retired in 2014 | |||||
| [12] | 1958 | retired in 2002 | ||||
| People's Hero of Yugoslavia | ||||||
| 2006 | served as an NCO in Royal Yugoslav Navy | |||||
| 2009 | ||||||
| 1976 | ||||||
| 1993 | ||||||
| 2009 | ||||||
| 1988 | People's Hero of Yugoslavia | |||||
| 1978 | ||||||
| 2012 | ||||||
| 1982 | 1/ | |||||
| 1909 | retired as SotL Captain of Royal yugoslav Navy in Feb 1940 | |||||
| 1876 | 1958 | 1893 | Retired in April 1940 | |||
| 1943 | 2020 | 1994 | 117/1965[13] | left Yugoslav navy (SFRY) in 1992 as captain (kbb) | ||
| Name | Born | Died | Date of rank | Navy | Crew/Year | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | [14] | 1987 | |||||
| 1986 | |||||||
| 1959 | 2019 | 2015[15] | 1982 | retired in 2015 | |||
| [16] | 1884 | 1956 | 1902 | In 1941 commander-in-chief of Royal Yugoslav Navy[17] Later joined ISC Navy, earlier rank confirmed | |||
| 1889 | Served in Austro-Hungarian Navy as captain. Promoted to the rank of rear admiral by the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs | ||||||
| 1909 | |||||||
| 1913 | 1982 | People's Hero of Yugoslavia | |||||
| 1920 | 2010 | People's Hero of Yugoslavia | |||||
| 1820 | 1906 | [18] | |||||
| [19] | 1867 | 1935 | 1885 | ||||
| [20] | 1785 | 1849 | von Flaggentreu | ||||
| [21] | 1903 | 1971 | 1929 | ||||
| 1915 | 1985 | ||||||
| 1864 | 1950 | 1882 | |||||
| 1867 | 1939 | 1886 | |||||
| 1866 | 1928 | 1886 | |||||
| 1870 | 1918 | 1888 | |||||
| 1936 | 2022 | 1957[22] | Joined Croatian Navy, his earlier rank confirmed | ||||
| 1933 | 2023[23] | ||||||
| 1932 | 5/ | ||||||
| 1935 | 9/ | ||||||
| 1945 | retired in 2002 | ||||||
| 1886[24] | 1961 | Retired in 1940; later joined ISC Navy,[25] earlier rank confirmed | |||||
| 1887 | 1953 | Joined ISC Navy,[26] earlier rank confirmed | |||||
| 1889 | 1968 | 1909[27] | Commander in chief of Royal Yugoslav Navy in April 1941 | ||||
| 1916 | 1998 | ||||||
| 1854 | 1913 | born in Šibenik | |||||
| 1858 | 1922 | retired in 1907, reactivated, promoted to Titular RAdm, retired in April 1918 |