Torpedo Launch Station Rijeka

Rijeka is the birthplace of the torpedo. In the 1860s and 1870s the naval officer Giovanni (Ivan) Luppis and the British engineer Robert Whitehead, working in what was then Fiume, developed the first self-propelled torpedo, and the Whitehead works went on to supply navies around the world. The remains of the launch station, the test ramps and rails, survive on the coast.

The station was used for decades to fire test torpedoes into the bay; the slipways, control buildings and the gantry are still recognisable, now fenced and weathering. It is a rare piece of naval-industrial heritage, the place where a weapon that changed 20th-century naval warfare was perfected.

The site is fenced and not maintained as a museum, so it is best appreciated from the perimeter. Combine it with a walk along Rijeka’s waterfront; the city’s industrial and maritime story is its real character, away from the postcard coastline.

For photographers, the rusting rails running into the sea are the shot, especially in low light. Read up on Whitehead beforehand; the human story is more interesting than the ruins suggest.

Every spot here is mapped and verified. Share this guide if it helped plan your trip.