The Ursus is one of the first casualties of the second world war in the Adriatic. This Italian ship left the Zadar harbour on 30th January 1941. In that time Zadar was the Italian enclave on the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea. The tugboat’s mission was to deliver an armed raft – a motorless, floating platform, operating during the Second World War in shallow lagoons and estuaries – to Albania. The next day, when Ursus was passing the island of Vis, heading towards Korčula, the British submersible minelayer Rorqual emerged about a mile from it. Immediately after surfacing, the submarine began firing. One of the missiles hit the engine room. The transported ammunition began to explode, and as a result of the explosion, several crew members were thrown into the sea. The crew of the armed raft, in turn, opened fire on the submarine. A battle at sea broke out, which was interrupted by the arrival of the Yugoslav Navy aircraft. As a result of the first naval battle that took place in the eastern Adriatic during World War II, many sailors lost their lives.
The shipwreck has approximate dimensions of 36 meters in length, 5 meters in width, and 5 meters in height. It rests at a depth ranging from 47 to 60 meters.
