Drought Reveals German WW2 Warship in River
Mon August 4, 2003 10:55 AM ET
By Julijana Mojsilovic
PRAHOVO, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Europe's worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to its lowest level in more than a century, revealing German warships sunk to slow advancing Soviet forces in World War II.
As the Danube's depth at this remote spot in eastern Serbia fell to levels not seen since records began in 1888, the wreckage of an old battle ship last week slowly emerged above the surface by the Romanian border.
"You see, when Germans make something it's for eternity," said fisherman Dragan Curovic, carefully navigating his boat down the wide river toward the rusty remains of the ship dynamited by retreating Nazi German forces six decades ago.
Still boasting a rotating canon platform as well as metal holders for shells, it has become an attraction for locals and tourists, its badly-damaged bow sticking up above the water in a hilly, wooded stretch of Europe's main waterway.
"Some people took home electric cables they found on the ship that were still good enough to use," Curovic said.
Last summer the Danube, which flows through 10 countries, caused widespread flooding in swathes of central Europe after rising to its highest level in decades.
But shippers in Romania say this year's prolonged heatwave and lack of rain have reduced the water volume in the major transport artery to its lowest in 160 years.
Serbian hydrologist Nena Kovacevic said the river had risen again slightly in the region of Prahovo after last week hitting its lowest level for 115 years, but it was still only one meter deep where the German ship rested on the river bed.
The vessel was one of 130 ships which German forces loaded with explosives and blew up as they fled the pursuing Soviet Black Sea fleet, according to a Serbian nautical and tourist guide book.
Fisherman Curovic said some of them were pulled out of the river when Romania and Serbia started building the nearby Djerdap dam 30 years ago.
But dozens, including a hospital ship, remained under water. Some now have a small section of their upper decks visible.
"The Germans sank ships horizontally in several rows, covering the Danube's width to slow down the Russians who chased them, pounding their retreating ships with artillery," said Curovic, a former book vendor.
He said they did not pose a big obstacle to river transport but that a Serbian cargo ship which went off course hit a wreckage a few years ago, damaging the hull beyond repair.
Although water levels on the Danube were higher than normal in Serbia last year, it escaped the catastrophic flooding seen in parts of Germany and Austria.
cool.
