Yugoslavia's inherited monitors and the loss of Drava

The Yugoslav river flotilla retained a strong Serbian core, with mine-barrage groups and a smaller monitor group. Its inherited Austro-Hungarian monitors included Sava, Vardar, Drava, and Morava. Three monitors had been scuttled before Drava's air attack on 12 April 1941. Drava faced possibly twelve Ju 87s, reportedly shot down three, and suffered multiple hits, including a bomb down the funnel into the engine room. The reported toll was 54 crew, but the explanation that one engine-room hit killed them all is questioned because officers elsewhere aboard also died. Heavy casualties would have reduced the hands available for damage control. One proposed explanation is that survivors completed the sinking of a badly damaged ship to prevent enemy recovery. That reconciles the air-attack and scuttling accounts while leaving the final sequence uncertain.