It was August 1944.
The situation on the Black Sea, and consequently on the Danube, had escalated. The German High Command decided to withdraw both the Black Sea Fleet and the Danube Flotilla from the Black Sea and the lower part of the Danube, with the operation led by Rear Admiral Paul-Willy Zieb.
The goal was to carry out the withdrawal upstream along the Danube so that personnel, equipment, military material, and industrial and food supplies could reach territories still under German control. As stated in the publication titled The Danube in Serbia: A Journey through Technical Museums, published by the Museum of Science and Technology, the convoy stretched between 20 and 25 kilometres and consisted of between 170 and 250 vessels of various types and purposes: cargo ships, military transports, patrol boats, the hospital ship Bamberg, tugs converted into minesweepers, ordinary tugs, landing craft, obstacle-breaking landing craft, workshop vessels, cargo barges, and tanker barges.
The Germans were further disadvantaged by the fall of the Romanian government, after which two Romanian armies joined the Soviets. The withdrawal did not go without battles, and in the Černavodă area, according to German data, 11 ships with 480 men were lost.
When the wounded were disembarked near Svishtov on 28 August, the idea of scuttling the ships to halt the Soviet advance was considered for the first time.
Nevertheless, the convoy continued its journey overnight, while ships unable to sail due to a lack of fuel were captured by the Soviet army, and some were sunk. According to the same publication, the convoy reached the Vidin–Calafat area on 31 August 1944, and in the meantime, six more towing barges were sunk outside the navigable route, while nine new artillery pontoons joined the group near Vidin. It is recorded that at that time the convoy consisted of 194 vessels with at least 4,000 people on board, including about 1,600 civilians retreating with the army and 2,500 soldiers and sailors.
Zieb decided to break through the Romanian positions near Calafat. The breakthrough was carried out during the night between 31 August and 1 September, involving fierce fighting, and ultimately the German forces lost 22 vessels. Four hundred people were killed, and more than 500 were wounded.
The first ships began arriving in Prahovo between 1 and 2 September, when around 1,600 wounded were disembarked along with civilians. Zieb then flew to Belgrade from the airfield located behind today’s railway station in Prahovo. There, he learned that the Iron Gates gorge, through which the convoy had to pass, was already in the hands of the Red Army, reinforced by Romanian troops.
It became clear that breaking through the convoy was no longer possible, nor was capturing the Iron Gates. Zieb decided that all the vessels in the convoy should be scuttled, and he began implementing that decision on 6 September 1944.
The crews themselves disabled and sank their ships to prevent them from falling into Soviet hands, but also for strategic reasons – to block and disable the navigable route.
Along the stretch of the Danube from Radujevac to Milutinovac (from 857th kilometre to 900th kilometre), between 6 and 20 September 1944, a large number of German war and transport ships and other floating objects were sunk. The highest concentration of wrecks is around Prahovo itself, between river kilometres 857 and 862 of the Danube.
Serbia is carrying out a globally unique operation
Even the soldiers of the Red Army once wanted to remove these obstacles, and whatever they managed to recover was put back into use. At that time, the relevant state authorities of Yugoslavia were not involved, but later Soviet and Yugoslav teams, with the help of locals from the village of Prahovo, worked together to raise the ships. In that way, seven ships and two barges were recovered.
Today, the situation has not changed much. The wrecks of the sunken German fleet still significantly hinder navigation on this part of the Danube, which is why the European Union joined the effort. Through the Western Balkans Investment Framework, it has provided 16 million euros in non-refundable funds for their removal. Five years ago, a technical report was completed on the presence of UXO (unexploded ordnance) on the German ships in Prahovo. Experts obtained a “zero-state” overview – the exact positions of the vessels and the potential explosive materials. At the start of the salvage operation in 2023, the riverbed was re-scanned, and divers carried out a visual inspection of the river bottom.
The project is highly specific and complex, involving different teams, beginning with the Serbian Mine Action Centre, which developed a protection plan against ERW (explosive remnants of war) during the removal of 21 sunken vessels. According to the Centre for EU Affairs, based on that plan, a consortium of authorised legal entities responsible for the works is preparing individual implementation plans for each vessel. The contractor, the company Millenium Team, coordinates its work with several institutions, including the Prahovo Harbourmaster’s Office, Plovput, the Republic Water Directorate, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Niš, Elixir, and the Đerdap Hydroelectric Power Plant.
“This is a unique operation worldwide – salvaging sunken ships that still contain explosive remnants of war. It is especially challenging on such a powerful river as the Danube, where the water flow is measured in thousands of cubic metres per second, the current is very strong, visibility underwater is extremely poor, and work can only be carried out during periods of low water levels when the river is clearer and the current is slightly weaker. There is no global precedent for such an operation – we have no model to copy – so all methodologies and techniques must be developed and devised by ourselves, together with our partners working on the project,” the Mine Action Centre told our portal.
The sunken vessels contain various types of ordinance that, even after more than 80 years underwater, remain extremely dangerous.
“So far, hand grenades, large quantities of anti-aircraft ammunition, and a highly destructive depth charge have been found on the ships – and who knows what else may still be discovered. This illustrates the complexity of the task, which requires the involvement of elite divers who must also be qualified explosives experts, or top-level explosives experts who must also be divers. In the end, we can say that this is, in every respect, a very dangerous job that demands extensive resources of all kinds and poses highly complex challenges that we will be addressing over the next several years,” the statement continued.
A total of four divers are working on the project, two of whom hold EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) certificates. Alongside them are machinists, medical technicians, deminers, ship crews, and support staff.
Where will the ships raised from the Danube go?
While major works are underway near the Port of Prahovo to recover the vessels, using specialised machinery, so far only one has been removed from the river. We visited the site in the village of Prahovo where it is located. It weighs about 30 tonnes, but after being lifted from the water it weighed 70 tonnes due to the accumulated debris and ammunition. Next to it lies an “ordinary” vessel that was retrieved along the way, though it is not known exactly from which period it dates – it is probably a small fishing boat from several decades ago.
The site is fenced off and locked, waiting for the next vessels that marked the history of this area. According to information gathered on site, everything above the 23.20-metre mark must be removed, while the vessels located at greater depths pose no threat or obstacle to navigation. Two ships have therefore been safely buried, while the others must be cut into pieces and then extracted.
“When the minesweeper was recovered from the Danube in August 2024, ammunition for anti-aircraft guns was found on board. It was estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 rounds of this ammunition were removed. A safe method for their disposal is currently being considered,” explained representatives from the Mine Action Centre.
The Millenium Team Company specified that representatives of the European Investment Bank are actively involved in the project, regularly visiting the site and taking part in monthly meetings.
And what will happen next with the ships?
“The Ministry of Culture will determine the final destination of the recovered vessels. The plan is for selected ships to be displayed as exhibits. If they are not deemed significant by the Ministry of Culture, they will be transported to the nearest landfill,” the company told the EUpravo Zato portal.
Work on the removal of the ships continues at full speed to ensure safe navigation and to finally resolve this hazardous point on the Danube.
(EUpravo zato)
