At the outbreak of the April War in 1941, Sergej Mašera was a lieutenant on the destroyer stationed in Dobrota on the Bay of Kotor. He was the First Officer in charge of the ship's artillery. At that time, Zagreb was one of the most recent Yugoslav Navy ships, and was therefore the prime target of an air attack of five Regia Aeronautica bombers on the 6th of April. The attack was carried out from a great height, however, and no damage was suffered. Italian aircraft bombed the Bay once again on the 13th, but even then did not damage Zagreb. Two days later, the demoralized Yugoslav Royal Army asked for a truce, and the crews of all ships stationed in the Bay of Kotor were instructed to cease fire and surrender peacefully. Most of the sailors landed on the mainland. On the 17th of April Italian forces began to arrive in the Bay. The remaining crew members of Zagreb were ordered to abandon ship. Sergej Mašera and his schoolmate Lieutenant Milan Spasić decided that the ship should not be delivered to the Italians. They refused to follow the order of his commander Captain Nikola Krizomalija to abandon the ship. After two explosions, Zagreb was badly damaged and sank. The body of Milan Spasić was immediately recovered. He was buried on the 19th of April 1941, in the naval cemetery at the village of Savini near Herceg Novi. Many people attended the funeral. A detachment of the Italian army also attended and were so impressed by the heroism of the two men that they afforded each full military honors. On the 24th of April, seven days after the explosion, fishermen found the remains of Sergej Mašera in the sea. Only his torso had survived.
Legacy of Spasić and Mašera
Soon after the funeral, the two men's story was reported in the British newspaper The Daily Mirror. In 1942, the British Army in Malta erected a Commemorative plaque dedicated to Mašera & Spasić within their barracks. The British journalist Arthur Durham Divine, in his book Navies in Exile, also honored the feat of Spasić and Mašera. In contrast, nothing much was said or written about Spasić and Mašera in the FPR Yugoslavia during the postwar years. Few were even aware of their existence. During the war, King Peter II of Yugoslavia had been accused of collaborating with the Axis powers through the Chetniks. These charges were informally extended to include all royal officers, which cast suspicion on the authenticity of Mašera & Spasić's actions. In addition, their deed did not fit with the idea spread in newly communist Yugoslavia that only communists would have enough patriotism to resist the occupying forces. The two men remained unknown until the democratization of Yugoslavia in the 1960s. In 1968, a French film entitled Flammes sur l'Adriatique commemorated the destruction of Zagreb and the heroism of Mašera & Spasić. Awareness of the men and their actions began to grow during this time—due, in part, to the film, but also to changing opinions about the period during and after World War II. On the 10September 1973, the two men were declared People's Heroes of Yugoslavia by President Tito for the 30th anniversary of the Yugoslav War Navy. Lieutenants Mašera & Spasić have been commemorated in other ways as well. Several Yugoslav cities have streets named after them, such as Mašerin prilaz in the Siget settlement in Novi Zagreb. Many Slovenian towns also have streets named after the men, including Ljubljana, Nova Gorica, and Koper. Nova Gorica has a monument to Sergej Mašera. In similar fashion, the city park in the Montenegrin town Tivat contains a monument to the events that took place in the nearby Bay of Kotor. Since 1967 a Maritime Museum in Piran, far from the Bay of Kotor, has also carried the name Sergej Mašera. The Youth Hostel near the town of Kotor is likewise named "Spasić - Mašera."
