By the outbreak of the First World War it was the most modern fortress in the vicinity of the naval base at Kotor and was the centre of the Austro-Hungarian Third Military District's defences. However, it was regarded as outdated by this point and a new bomb-proof fortress was envisaged on Hoher Vrmac (Sveti Ilija), the highest point on the ridge, about to the north. The war made such an undertaking impossible and the five officers and 177 men stationed at Vrmac found themselves the target of heavy bombardments from Montenegrin territory, from weapons of up to calibre. The fortress was heavily damaged but after the Austrians seized Lovćen in the spring of 1916 and drove the Montenegrins out of artillery range, the damage was fully repaired. Its guns were removed and reused elsewhere.