In 1944, an explosion sank a German naval forces ship on the Danube River. It was one of the 200 that the Nazi army voluntarily destroyed, with the aim of preventing it from falling into the hands of the Soviet army.
Recently, Serbian authorities announced that they recovered one such ship, belonging to the Danube and Black Sea fleets of the Kriegsmarine, and sunk on the orders of Rear Admiral Paul-Willy Zieb.
Goran Vesić, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy of Serbia, explained through his social networks that this was only the first ship of many that will be recovered from the depths of the river.
In his X account, Vesić clarified that “in the coming months, we plan to remove 21 ships that have been at the bottom of the Danube, in the waterway through Serbia, for eighty years. In the next phase, around eighty more ships will be retired.”
The ship must be inspected to dismantle any explosive devices it may still contain, which still present a danger to researchers and also to the environment.
Once the recovery process is complete, it is hoped that a portion of this sunken Nazi fleet will be displayed to the public. But beyond their historical value, the removal of these remains will significantly improve safety and navigation on the Danube River.