Mission To Explore Abandoned Warship Graveyard
For a chance to win a copy of our book, watch until the end of this episode. Our main targets are two navy ships. The problem is that they're on active military terrain. As soon as we climb onto the ships, we have to be careful. And this is where the military base begins. Balkan Detours I went back into the bunker and found a lot of shell casings. Even large-caliber ones. So, probably from assault rifles.
Here's a big gun. Here are the cabins. There's a bunch of personal stuff left behind. Do you recognize any of it? There's a fisherman in front of the ship. He's probably seen us. Directly behind him is the military base. Episode 5: Infiltrating a Yugoslav Warship We've been in Montenegro for a few days already. The place where we are now is actually quite touristy.
There are a lot of people out with their boats. But it wasn't always like this. A few decades ago, there was a Yugoslavian naval base here. We saw on the satellite map that there are still some traces left behind.
Our main targets are two navy ships. You can already see them from here. And right in front of us is a former submarine tunnel, too. We parked next to it. Let's see what's in there. The problem with these two ships is that they're already on active military terrain. As soon as we get there, we can see the naval base. That's not a problem as long as we stay in the bushes, but if we climb onto the ships, we have to be careful.
To make matters worse, it's already over 30°C just after sunrise. Today is going to be a pretty hot day. Trespassing private properties is both illegal and dangerous. Hidden within the rocky shores along the former Yugoslavia's coastline lie crumbling military posts, awaiting an invasion that never came. This is one of many naval tunnels built to shield service vessels like submarines from the eyes of potential enemies.
These installations were built during the Cold War when Yugoslavia sought to project strength and independence, balancing between the Eastern and Western blocs. But instead of the looming silhouettes of submarines, we only found two forgotten tugboats, left to rot in the shadows of this tunnel. One of them, the Polaris, was built 70 years ago. A relic of another era. Wow, that stinks… By the way, I had a fever until yesterday, and probably food poisoning, too.
Anything with a strong smell just kills me right now. And this engine room... ...is simply flooded with oil. Abandoned machines often pose a silent threat. Such danger was lurking in the neighboring vessel, the Dubravica.
Built in 1963 in Hong Kong, this aging ship became the focus of an environmental incident just before we arrived in the Balkans. Here you can see the oil layer... As neglect weakened its material, the tugboat began leaking, spilling oil into the bay. In a race against time, five tons of oily liquid were pumped out, narrowly saving a fragile ecosystem. But this close call was just a foreshadowing of the much larger disaster we would soon uncover on this journey.
Mysterious notes in the wheelhouse of the vessel... These are just the instructions from a refrigerator. When you watch this, neither boat remains in the tunnel. Both were dismantled by scrap metal dealers and swallowed by time. And this is where the military base begins.
As we approached the rusting hulks of the naval ships, the tension crackled in the air. We were trespassing on military grounds. Every step was cautious because just 300 meters away, the active base stood with a clear line of sight to the vessels. Even though they were slowly succumbing to the elements, these ships were still part of their fleet. This is a very beautiful example of an agave. The last time we saw one was in Sardinia.
I've never seen an agave in bloom before. Especially not one that's so huge. It's a solid eight meters high. We found out that agaves go their whole lives without flowering. Except once, and that's just before they die.
It can take decades for them to form a flower, which can grow up to 15 meters high. That's a pretty big specimen. So, it puts all its life force into this one moment when it flowers at the end. Before us lay two sleeping giants. With their size and presence, the decommissioned war machines were drawing us in. What stories were hidden beneath these layers of rust? To the left: The 44-meter-long PV-17, an auxiliary support ship built in the 1950s.
On the right: DBM-241, a rather young amphibious minelaying ship. Stretching 50 meters long and 10 meters wide. It was constructed in 1988, just before the fall of Yugoslavia. Both vessels lived out quiet lives.
They were never tested in battle as the wars these ships were designed for never reached them. Today's mission was to infiltrate the bigger one. Before it would disappear into history. Here's a big gun.
These are unmistakable remnants of this ship's former might. The four-barrel M-75 sat rusting in place - alongside other big guns. There were 30 mm cannons, and a launcher for short-range air defense missiles. Once ready to roar, these silent sentinels now whisper the echoes of the past. The original purpose of the vessel was to land infantry and heavy weaponry on unsettled coasts.
For that, there were two loading ramps, each on one side. It could transport up to six tanks, or 300 fully equipped troops. But it could also be used to carry and deploy 150 anti-ship mines. However, as the tides of history shifted with the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the Croatian Navy inherited this vessel. Only to ultimately retire it from operational use a few years later.
For 20 years now, it rests in the stillness of abandonment. - Do you recognize any of it? - Yes, that's Croatia. These are islands of Croatia. And that's the mainland. There's a fisherman in front of the ship. He's seen us, but he's busy with something else. He probably doesn't mind.
Directly behind him is the military base. But here in the ship, we're basically invisible. I wish we could open a window. It's so stuffy.
I don't understand any of the controls... Do you think 70 percent of the buttons are just here to look cool? There are probably only three switches you have to pay attention to. This one always has to be in the middle. Then the ship moves straight ahead. Temperature? Oh, a bit too warm. Fan on, done. And down there you can check if you're still moving or not.
That's it. The rest is just for the show. Here are the cabins. There's a bunch of personal stuff left behind. This could be a logbook.
Yes, looks like it. There are some dates written down. An old passport or something... Something lives here. It's rustling over here... It seems that this cabin was for two people. Probably even for four. You can raise this up. Then there were four sleeping places.
*short panic attack* Now, only rats are living here... Okay, this means there could be rats everywhere in the ceiling. And this one was really fat. This is a two-person cabin. It's also a lot smaller.
They used computer mice to wire that door. So they didn't just have rats, but also mice on the ship. Creepy… So, I can see...
Three young men on the beach. It looks like... ...a sports field. - I can see a basketball court in the middle. The vegetation looks different from here. I see palm trees. These could be vacation pictures. They could all be soldiers. Oh yes, the one on the right is even wearing cargo pants. Can you see that? Here they're driving... ...a bathtub through the sea or something?! Wait a minute...
They're sitting in a strange vehicle. These are definitely vacation pictures. They weren't on duty for sure. I found this in the back. It looks like a shoulder mark. It belongs over here. It's crazy that it was just left behind.
It doesn't look like a very high rank though. For a decade, these two vessels lay neglected at the abandoned pier. Until 2023, when a relentless storm swept through the bay. Over several days, the derelict ships were battered against each other.
The smaller one settled on the seabed in shallow waters, while the corroded hull of the DBM-241 finally gave way. On Google Maps images, you can see how it took on water, capsized, and sank along the shore. Though the auxiliary ship was salvaged and removed, the larger DBM-241 remains submerged, slowly leaking oil into the bay, polluting marine life and restricting tourism. The Ministry of Defense had long been aware of the environmental threat posed by these warships, but the cost of repairs was deemed too high. Now, salvaging the DBM-241 piece by piece will cost far more than it's worth in scrap metal. Leaving this wreck as a daily reminder of how the navy is literally falling apart, embarrassingly visible to every tourist sailing by.
Ironically, the original plan was to sink the DBM-241 as an attraction for diving tourism after cleaning it of hazardous materials. Instead, it has become a different kind of spectacle. One of decay and negligence. We took a few hours' lunch break, ate something and waited out the blazing sun. Now we're going to see what else there is to discover. There's supposed to be a military base up ahead. When we returned from our morning exploration, the whole bay was full of smoke.
The bay was covered in fog. It really was like smelling a campfire. It's from the wildfires that are everywhere around. As Marco said, we waited out the midday heat, but it's still 38°C in the shade. We are melting and the forests are on fire. The nearest wildfire is only ten kilometers from here.
Wildfires raged across the Balkans, blanketing roads in smoke and ash. The smell of burning wood lingered in the air throughout our journey. A constant reminder of how quickly things can change. Such flames question humankind's control over nature. The force of elements reveals that nothing, not even legacies built from steel and stone, is made to last forever.
Just two kilometers from the ghost ships, we arrived at the remnants of an old military post. Once a heavily guarded stronghold, it now stands as little more than a playground for tourists. Below us lies another submarine tunnel. And sightseers seem to take a very close look at it.
This has become a real tourism hotspot. There are several of these large, empty halls on the premises. Today, it's hard to tell what they were used for. There are no clues at all. It's 20 meters high. And a squirrel is looking back at me.
I can't see the end. But this is definitely an escape tunnel. I went back into the bunker and found a lot of shell casings. Even large-caliber ones. So, probably from assault rifles.
It's all over the place. I've now collected from an area as big as a square meter. It's full of these things. The cracked walls and rusting metal are the last remains of an era that now only exists in fading memories. What once was created to endure conflict has been consumed by time.
It's a powerful symbol of how history's tides can wash away the mightiest ambitions. Just like the wildfires we saw burning through the land, erasing everything in their path, these abandoned places, too, will crumble to dust. If we don't care for our world and our future. It's quite bizarre how touristy this has become. We were just about to explore the second tunnel. Then suddenly a small boat passes us.
With probably 20 people on it and a tour guide explaining the history. It's basically the same thing we do. Only in an uncool way. And over there, the next two boats are already waiting.
Now, there's this scenery of a submarine tunnel where one tourist boat leaves while the next one comes in. That's a bit strange for us. We take a look at this place anyway, but... ...the deserted charm is missing a little. When we just got out, we had to squeeze past the metal again.
When we were standing inside, we thought this was a rockfall protection. Because all the stones are lying on it. Then we realized the metal would meet in the middle if you closed it. So, we thought it must be a gate or a cover, and that the stones were lying on it on purpose. There's even a grid holding the stones in place. And apparently, these are no stones... It's just polystyrene.
That means it must have been a form of camouflage. But it's all broken by now and no longer good camouflage. The stones are all lying next to it. And that wraps up the first season of Balkan Detours! There are some exciting changes coming in season two when we try to reach Albania again.
This time, we'll be really traveling with our ramshackle Lada and speaking English throughout the whole season, sharing some of our most impactful encounters we've ever had. With a summer full of adventures behind us, there's now new content coming your way here on YouTube. And in case you missed it: We've also published a book with National Geographic, packed with our best photos and stories from over a decade of urban exploring. We still have a few first-edition copies to give away, so for a chance to win one of three books, check the comments or the video description below. If you'd like a signed copy, head over to our website www.bwturbex.com,
where you can also pre-order our limited edition 2025 Urbex Calendar. Supporting us on Patreon or directly purchasing on our website helps the most to keep these videos coming. Thanks a lot for being with us on this journey!
2024-11-13 20:27
