Serbian Construction, Infrastructure and Traffic Minister Goran Vesic said on Wednesday that the first of the fleet of Nazi boats scuttled in the Danube at Prahovo had been raised from the bottom of the river. Pročitaj više

The Kriegsmarine Black Sea Fleet boats were scuttled during a withdrawal at the end of WW 2 to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army on 6 and 7 September 1944 at the order of the fleet commander Rear Admiral Paul-Willy Zieb who wanted to slow down the Soviety advance. Some of the wrecks were cleared soon after the war ended with a large number remaining at the bottom of the river. According to some sources one of the scuttled vessels was a hospital ship. The combat vessels sank with their munitions still on board.

“We raised the first Nazi river boat which belonged to the Kriegsmarine Danube and Black Sea Fleet from the Danube at Prahovo,” Vesic said in an Instagram post. He added that 21 other vessels will be pulled out of the river in the next few months to be followed by some 80 other vessels later. He added that some of the boats raised from the Danube will be displayed.

Vesic posted pictures of the first Kriegsmarine boat raised from the bottom of the river and the munitions and weapons found on board.

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