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Danube Drought Exposes World War II German Wrecks and Ordnance
Historic low water levels have exposed dozens of German warships and other World War II relics that may still contain explosives, officials and historians said.
Dozens of German warships from World War II have emerged from the Danube Riverbed as historic drought levels expose vessels deliberately sunk by Nazi Germany near the conflict's end.
Historians note that Adolf Hitler's Black Sea fleet was scuttled in September 1944 to obstruct the Soviet advance, leaving as many as 200 German warships submerged in the river.
Extreme heat and low water levels have pushed the Soviet-era Paks plant in Hungary to the brink; the Hungarian Prime Minister confirmed engineers narrowly averted a complete shutdown.
Authorities warn that many vessels still contain dangerous explosives, while police in Slovakia recently recovered and detonated an unexploded 700-kilogram British bomb discovered in the receding waters.
The Danube, passing through 10 countries, has fallen to 10 centimeters in Budapest, well below the previous record low of 33 centimeters set in 2018; recovery is not expected soon.
The low water level of the Danube released relics of the Second World War: the wrecks are currently rising out of the water in the district of Amstetten.
Due to the low water, rusty shipwrecks are currently rising out of the Danube mud. A German Rear Admiral ordered in the summer of 1944 that the crews destroy their own ships.