Jelsa and Jelsa sailing ships in the nineteenth century
Ships of the Duboković Nadalini family from Jelsa, which were repaired or built in the shipyard in Korčula
Sources:
Stjepan Vekarić: Our sailboats
Vinko Ivančević: About the Croatian names of ships in the Dubrovnik area
Agency k.u k. Veritas in the city of Korčula
A few pictures of Korčula's sailing ships tell something about the maritime trade relations of old Dubrovnik with America
Ivo Gluhonja: Ships under sail, 1951.
Stjepan Marinović: Seafaring of Korčula 18501900
The data was obtained by Mrs. Tea Marinović from Korčula
Bark Genitor Mose – Darinka was built in 1855. in Prince Edward Id in Canada. It sailed under the name Balmoral and was registered under the American flag, then it got the name Genitor Mose and is owned by Ivan Duboković from Jelsa Carrying capacity 312 t. The captain is Slavić Frano Antunov from Korčula (he owned 3 tickets). Under the name Darinka, it appears in the register in 1874. The Duboković family sold it and since then it has been co-owned by the people of Korčula. The commanders were Dinko Katanić in 1875. Antun Marinović in 1876, Ivan Foretić in 1877, Antun Marinović in 1878. and A. Cola in 1878. Bark Darinka was sold in April 1879. shipowners from Egypt.
The schooner Marietta - under the Austrian flag was built in 1851. in Korčula. Capacity 94 tons. Owner Ivan Duboković from Jelsa. Commander Ante Gamulin Moro. The same ship was under repair, i.e. inspected by the Veritas Agency in Korcula in 1866, then in 1868, then in 1869. The commander of the Tunjica from Orebić. The contract between I. Duboković and the shipbuilder Petar Vilović on the job (1861) of changing the bottom of the ship has been preserved.
Brig Marietta D.- It was built in Koper in 1871, carrying capacity of 180 tons. Owned by Niko and Ante Duboković from Jelsa. Inspected by the Veritas agency in 1890.
Brig Genitor Nicolo - built in Korčula in 1854. Load capacity 368 t. Owned by Nike and Ante Duboković from Jelsa. The commanders were: F. Babarović 185657; Niko Duboković Ivanov 185859; P. Čučuković 186061; L.Tian 186263; Ante Duboković 1864; I. Goić in 1865. The ship was lost in 1865. en route from Lisbon to Cardiff with cargo and all crew.
Brig Genitor Nicolo 2 - After the loss of the first ship, the Duboković Nadalini family acquired a ship of the same name Genitor Nicolo, which was purchased in 1866. in England, under the name H.Nelson, the Croatian flag is already flying on this ship
Clipper-brig Giovanni D. - was launched in Korčula on June 30, 1873. The carrying capacity of 474 included it in the three largest ships built in Korčula. Properties of Ante and Nika Duboković from Jelsa. Mate Dulčić Hraste commanders 187477,187980,1883. Nikola Kasandrić 1878, Ivan Buić 188187. The ship was built in 1888. sold in Trieste to Greek shipowners.
Schooner Cosmo G - was built in Senj in 1860, carrying 110 tons under the name Ardito. Property of Niko Duboković from Jelsa. In 1873, examined under Veritas from Korčula. Commander Ante Gamulina Moro, also a co-owner.
Pelig St. Giovanni - was built in Milna in 1845, capacity 36 tons, owned by Mate Duboković from Jelsa. He was in Korčula in the shipyard in 1867. and in 1870. under commanders I.Gamulin and A.Kovačević.
Trabacul "Madonna della Salute" - 40 tons capacity, built in 1857 in Korčula by Vilović Antun Marinov. Owner Ivan Duboković from Jelsa and others.
Jelsa and sailing ships from Jelsa in the 19th century
Jelsa, a lovely town, located in the middle of the northern coast of the island of Hvar, the sunniest island of the Adriatic. It lies at the foot of a magnificent mountain panorama, which rises in the direction of the south over the hills of Vrh and Vratnik, and on the other side, to the west, stretches the Jelsa-Old Town plain.
Jelsa's climate is protected from the most unpleasant Adriatic wind, the south, while on the other side it is battered by storms, but at the same time it gives Jelsa's climate crystal purity, and in winter magnificent scenes of the rough sea on the open sea. It is difficult for today's population of Jelsa and its visitors to imagine what this idyllic Jelsa was like 180 years ago, i.e. at the beginning of the 19th century, when it fell to a third of the population, when it was in a state of decay and misery, exposed to floods and malaria, surrounded by swamps, and unprotected from storms and waves of the open sea. It is as if the forces of sea and land have joined forces to threaten the basic survival of the remaining, small population. However, after a short phase of discouragement (Jelsa even briefly lost its municipality in 1847, which was transferred to Stari Grad) in the middle of the 19th century. Jelsa made a sudden jump in the development of shipping, although it did not yet have the nautical conditions for this like other ports in Dalmatia and on the island itself, so that by the end of the 19th century. had the largest sailing fleet in central Dalmatia.
Since 1830, and intensively since 1848. with the arrival of the new Mayor, Ivan Duboković Nadalini (1805-1872), Jelsa began to build and rehabilitate its harbor while simultaneously creating its own overseas fleet, so that in a short period one of the most beautiful harbors in Dalmatia was built and a fleet that exceeded the tonnage of many other Dalmatian ports, and among its units it had several ships of economic and world importance. Thus, for example, according to the available data for 1884. it says that Jelsa had 142 ships of 1,550 tons, while Split had 152 ships of 1,611 tons at the same time, and Stari Grad had only 92 ships and 950 tons.
The overall prosperity of Jelsa, not only in the maritime sense, which is what we are talking about here, is due to the ship-owning family Duboković Nadalini, whose members are enterprising and educated captains, and then also landowners, winemakers, industrialists, with the exceptional effort and commitment of an entire generation and people. The then Jelsa, overcame a difficult challenge, and brought Jelsa to the end of the 19th century as the most prosperous municipality in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
Duboković's luxurious sailing ships (there were only 8 transoceanic ones), which we can admire in B.Ivanković's great paintings, sailed on all the seas of the world, and on the mast they flew the Croatian tricolor since 1848, which was then accepted by other Jelsa's ships as well and captains.
The ships sailed from the Atlantic, the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, exporting domestic products, such as salted fish, Brač stone, lime, and importing cheap grain and corn from Russia, Romania and America, thereby ensuring, perhaps for the first time in the history of those regions, sufficient quantities breadfruit, not only for Jelsa and the island of Hvar, but also for the nutrition of central Dalmatia. Wine is exported to France (Sete) and Italy, and for the needs and improvement of viticulture, sulfur is imported from Italy, Galician blue from Venice, and machinery even from England. The local trade, on the other hand, supplied the population with various goods delivered from the large ports of Trieste and Rijeka. The captain of the long voyage Niko Duboković, son of Ivan (1834-1912), stood out at a very young age (23 years old) with his nautical skills and received permission from the Maritime Government in Trieste to train cadets on his ships.
In 1851, Duboković's first ship sailed into the port of Jelsa, a "square stern" brik schooner "Marietta" built in Korčula and carrying a capacity of 95 tons. She sailed happily for 20 years in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea under the command of Mate Gamulin, and as a scout of a fleet of sailing ships of a much larger tonnage, she had the task of examining the possibility of obtaining spices from the area around the Indian Ocean. She ended her journey on coral reefs in a storm off the port of Kisimayo on the then unexplored coast of Somalia. The captain was Vjenceslav Kaponi. It is interesting that she sailed around Africa, although the Suez Canal was already open, probably the cost of towing a sailing ship across the canal was enormous. According to the research of Capt. Lukin Dancević, the idea of the shipowners was to procure the spices directly where they are produced - in Zanzibar - and by transporting them to Aden with their own ships, and then from Aden, the spices would be transferred to ships of regular lines through the Suez Canal to the Adriatic. Unfortunately, at that time, such a bold initiative did not succeed.
In 1855, the long-sailing brig "Genitor Nicolo" of 368 tons, built in Korčula, of the same shipowner, sailed into Jelsa. And this ship, in a series of Jelsa's sailing ships and along with other Dalmatian ships, establishes a connection with the ports of the Black Sea, Greece and Turkey. "Genitor Nicolo" was known in naval circles because of the exploits of its 23-year-old commander Capt. Niko Duboković (young Duboković leaves sailing early to take over the management of the estate from his sick father) who, playing the piano, calmed the panic of the crew and young cadets in training, during a storm on the Black Sea. This happened in 1860. We learn about the details from the story of the nostromo's son Vick Ivanišević. The water was constantly overflowing and flooding the deck. To allow the sea to flow, Vicko wanted to break the deck fence with a heavy club. Capt. Niko did not allow him to do so, explaining that he was scaring the cadets and the crew and that he would calm down, then he went to his cabin, left the door open and played the piano, coolly issuing the necessary orders along the way. "Genitor N" disappeared in Biscay in 1865. en route from Lisbon to Cardiff with cargo and all crew. The captain was Frane Goić from Supetar.
In the same year, the loss was quickly recouped and two large ships were bought in England. Long sailing brig "Genitor Mose" (ex Balmoral) of 370 tons, which was commanded by Piero Koludrović from Jelsa and which sailed around the world except Australia. The second is the long-sailing bark "Genitor NicoloII" (ex Humphrey Nelson) of 524 tons, named after the lost brig, and was under the command of the owner Ante Duboković, brother of Capt. Nik, and whose logbook is preserved in the Duboković archive in Jelsa. The latter often sailed on the England-New York route, and also carried passengers because it had cabins and everything necessary, which was a rare case on our sailing ships. 1871 the 220 t "Marietta D" brig-schooner of large coastal navigation is coming, which sailed for another 20 years and was sold in Italy towards the end of the century. All these ships were armed for defense against pirates with three guns each. The Jelsa's fleet of Duboković Nadalini reached its peak with the barque "Ivan D." which at that time had no competitors. It was built in Korčula in 1873 and weighed 780 tons. For that time and the general dimensions of ships, it was considered extrmly large. For 17 years, he was registered in the port of Jelsa, but due to his size, he never docked there. He sailed from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, visiting the ports of Canada, England, Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Greece, Asia Minor, America and to the mouth of the Danube.
Jelsa had other ships, schooners and pelagics, of the same owner but also others who had ships of smaller tonnage and less importance, but with very brave crews of an impressive fishing fleet, and great captains, among whom the Gamulin family stood out, which produced 6 long-sailing captains. At that time, perhaps the most famous was Antun Gamulin Moro, at the age of 27 the commander and co-owner of the schooner "Cosmo G." and peleg "Santa Maria della Salute" and others.
Although very different as persons, a friend, cousin and comrade is Capt. Niko D. was Captain Moro Gamulin. A very visible man, a primordial sailor, a ravisher, occasional writer, patriot and people's man, known for his libertarian ideas from the Levant to Dalmatia, a lover of the beautiful life and beautiful things, and beautiful women, so he was known in the Levant for that. He was warmly accepted, especially by the Greek population of the Levantine ports, because he sang libertarian songs against the Turks in Greek while playing the fiddle. It was sung by the famous folklorist (*) Don Miho Pavlinović in his poetic epistle dedicated to Cap. Niko Duboković.
"...Moro listens to his uncle's tales (Capt. Nika op.p.)
The tricolor flag is unfurling everywhere,
Everywhere he speaks of the Croatian race;
Homeland pride everywhere,
All fairness says the croatian;
That the Greeks love him the merchant,
To be embraced by the deer's heart,
When he is in the crowd, he is silent.
What are they asking for freedom for Kandia?
The flock followed Mora.
Since from little Jelsa in the middle of Hvar, she has been.....»
*(This period of prosperity of Jelsa and its great shipping industry is also the period of development
People's thoughts led by the led by Don Miho Pavlinović).
At the end of the 19th century, Jelsa's sailing ships died one after another. The impressive story of the witnesses of the maneuvers of those ships when leaving the port in a favorable wind remained. The people of Jelsa and the surrounding area would flock to the shore to say goodbye and say hello. The crew on the crosses would open the sails already in the port with the Mistral and greet their people on the shore and in the boats. The ships would unfurl all flags and sail out of the harbor with 50-60 fishermen on their sails. We can only imagine what a fantastic picture it was.
The Jelsa's shipping industry reached a remarkable height at the end of the 19th century and ensured its superiority over many ports with more developed shipping in Dalmatia.
With the arrival of the new century, the situation for Jelsa changes suddenly. Thus ends a famous segment of our maritime industry, its first great momentum in history, proving the hard work and constructiveness of our man and leaving a visible mark on the well-being and culture of that region. Unfortunately, Jelsa, like most Dalmatian coastal towns, with the arrival of new times, and also due to the increasingly strong concentration of capital, which grew rapidly even at the end of the 19th century. dominated the Austro-Hungarian ports and Dubrovnik with great momentum, they did not take advantage of the hour when, following the example of the rest of the world, the sailing ship should have been replaced by a steamship. Navigation was again reduced to small cabotage. The Duboković Nadalini family founded the company NAD in Rijeka, and acquired 2 steamships NAD and Veljko.
BARK DARINKA was built in 1865 in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Its carrying capacity is 312 tons. It sailed under the name Balmoral and was registered under the British flag. Under the Hvar shipowners, Duboković gets the name Genitore Mose. The commander was Slavić Frano Antunov (*1835 Korčula; +1899 Korčula). Under the name Darinka, it appeared in the registry in 1874 and sails under the Austrian flag. Since 1874, it has been co-owned by Korčula and Petar Foretić has 7 parts, Antun Foretić 4 cparts, Dinko Foretić 4 parts and Capt. Antun Marinović 6 parts, Slkavić Frano 3 parts. The first commander at the time of registration on 22 May 1874, number 885, is Frano Slavić. Antun Marinović in 1876, captain. Ivan Foretić in 1877 and again captain. Antun Marinović in 1878, who was replaced by capt. A. Cola, same year 1878. Capt. A. Marinović dies in 1879. Data from 1878 show that Patar Foretić has 9 parts, Antun Foretić 4 parets, Dinko Foretić 5 parts and Marinović Antun 6 parts. Captain Frano Slavić sold 2 parts to Foretić Petar and one parts to Dinko Foretić. Bark Darinka was sold in April 1879 to shipowners from Egypt.
Lukrecija Benković Duboković
Sources and literature:
Luka Dančević: The unusual voyage of the Jelsa schooner "Marietta"/Homeland records, Jelsa, volume IV/1973.
Luka Dančević: Sailors and Shipmen of Jelsa in the National Revival of Dalmatia in the 19th century, Maritime anthology, vol. 10, Rijeka 1972
Oliver Fio: Shipping and connections of the island of Hvar with the Croatian coast in 1804/Adriatic anthology, year II, Rijeka – Pula 1957)
Niko Duboković Nadalini: Some more information about Jelsas shipping on sails
Oliver Fio: Seafaring of Lošinj and Cres (M.Lošinj 1980)...data on Jelsa sailing ships and Jelsa captains
Luka Dančević: From the fishing past of Jelsa/Records of the homeland, volume V, Jelsa 1978
Luka DancevicJelšan seafarers perished in shipwrecks of overseas countries, idem
Niko Duboković to Nadalini. Shipmen, the shipping industry of Jelsa in the ancient past, Records of the homeland, Jelsa 1970, volume II
Niko Duboković Nadalini: One Jelsa - Dubrovnik ship in the XVII century, idem
Niko Duboković Nadalini: Shipping on the island of Hvar between 1808 and 1884, idem
Niko Duboković Nadalini: Jelsa's sailing ships outside the Adriatic Sea, I'm going
Niko Duboković Nadalini: Pomotrstvo Jelsa - in numbers, I'm going
Niko Duboković Nadalini: Names of the owners of sardine fishing grounds on Hvar, Vis and Brač at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, idem (this was also published in the magazine "Pomorstvo" no. 12/ 1959, no. 2 / 1952, no. 7 / 1953, No. 10/1948.....
2 maritime logs of the sailing ship "Genitor Nicolo" archive Duboković Nadalini Jelsa Luka Dancevic: Shipping - fishing operations of Hvar on the island of Lampedusa, in Tunisia and Portugal in the 19th century.
1. Archive of Capt. Vicko Novak "Bonaparte", volumes I-IX (1839-1912) with 5272 documents. And 1 boat. logbook
2. Annuario marittimo, Trieste, published from 1852-1913
3. Giornale di Navigazione....pell austriacoPielego denominato Giuseppe Secondo, ed. 1861. In Dubrovnik. Archive of Prof. Fran Maroević Split
4. Giornale di Navigazione .....per l Austroung.Schuner denominato "Giorgio M.", ed. In Stari Grad in 1876, Idem archive
5. Carlo de Marchesseti, La pesca lungo le coste orientali del l Adria, Trieste, 1882.
6. Faber G.L., The Fisheries of the Adriatic and the Fish terteof. A Report of the Austro-Hungarian Sea-Fisheries, London, 1883.
7. Juraj Carić, Pictures from maritime life, book I – Over the Mediterranean Sea, Zagreb 1884.
8. Pavao Zanković, Registro Pesca per Conto dei Sign. A.Vincenzo Gamulin, Mahdia 1903, in the archive of Mara Milevčić born Zanković in Jelsa
9. Protocollo delle sedute delle Commissione centrale per la pesca marittima, Trieste, 1903.
10. Joso Lakoš, Industrija Dalmacija – fisheries and fish preservation, Zagreb, 1923.
11. Captain Drago Mikasović, Our sea fishing in the past century and today, Jadranski ribar, no. 10, Split 1937.
12. Mediterranean Pilot, Vol. I, Admiralty, London, 1937.
13. B. Parać, Our fishermen already fished off the African coast in the last century, Morsko ribarstvo, No. 4, Split, 1951.
14. Grga Novak, Documents for the history of fishing on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, volume 1, Vis and Hvar islands, Zagreb 1952.
15. Maritime encyclopedia, volume 3, Zagreb, 1956.
16. Dizionario Enciclopedico Italiano, vol.VI, Roma 1957.
17. Dr. Srđan Srdar, Marine wealth of the Adriatic and its exploitation, Zagreb, 1960.
18. Dr. Ante M. Strgačić, Back of a book from 1882. on fishing in our sea, Maritime anthology, vol. 2, Zadar, 1964.
19. Captain Dinko Franetović, About the seafaring of Stari Grad and the island of Hvar until the First World War, Naše more no. 3-4, Dubrovnik 1965.
21. Josip Basioli, various works on fishing, Maritime anthology, volumes 3-10, Zadar-Rijeka, 1965-1972.
Encicl. Britt., vol. 3, 13, 14, London, 1967.
22. Šime Županović, On the causes of fluctuations in sardine catches on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, Annals of the Adriatic Institute, vol. IV, Zagreb, 1968.
23. Notes on the interview of Luka Dancevic in 1972. With Capt. Leonidas Novak, Hvar; Marijom Radovinović born Novak, Zagreb; Dr. Boris Roić, Zagreb; Vinko and Reparato Lupis born Kovačević, Split, ...archive of Kap. Dancevic Zagreb.
24. Armand Hayet, Vita e costumi a bordo dei grandi velieri, Milan, 1973.
25. Vinko Pribojević: About the origin and events of the Slavs, Zagreb, 1951.
26. I Diarii di Marino Sanuto, volumes X-XIX, Venice 1883, 1886, 1887
27. Simeon Ljubić: Comissiones er Relationes Venetae, volume II, Zagreb 1877 (Itincrario di G.Battista Giustinian - Liesina)