The first torpedo was constructed by Ivan Lupis Vukic in the 19th century in Rijeka, where its production had started in 1866 in the Whitehead factory. He was born in the village of Nakovane on the beautiful Peljesac peninsula near Dubrovnik.

The project for the Theater building in Rijeka was drawn up by Helmer and Fellner studio from Vienna. The building was illuminated with electricity, one of the first theaters in the world to have its own generator. See the reference below, p. 156: Miljenko Smokvina: Rijeka na povijesnim fotografijama, 2nd ed, Ruševic & Kršovik, Rijeka 2003.

 Around the middle of the 19th centurz, a metal factory was built in Rijeka. It was later reconstructed into a shipzard, where the first Croatian metal steamship Hrvat (i.e. Croat) wa built in 1872 for the city of Senj. Following Following he ideao of Ivan Lupis from Rijeka, the first torpedo was constructed there. See [Smokvina p. 191].