The beautiful blue Danube is wrestling with a dark past.
The low water levels on Europe’s second-longest river, already causing concern due to this summer’s drought, are now revealing the hulks of Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet that was abandoned near the end of World War II, The Associated Press reported.
In the middle of the river separating Serbia and Romania, near the Serbian port of Prahovo, a rusty hull is now visible, according to the news organization.
Historians said that up to 200 German warships were abandoned and scuttled in September 1944 as Nazi troops retreated in the Danube gorge as they encountered withering fire from the Soviet Union, SkyNews reported. The Nazis had hoped to stall the Soviets’ advance toward Germany, but the Allies defeated them eight months later.
A previous drought in 2022 also revealed the ship hulks, according to Reuters. At the time, it was the worst drought in the area in more than a century, the news outlet reported.
The river’s low levels have also brought power plants in Central and Eastern Europe to the brink of shutting down, the AP reported.
One of the biggest problems facing residents and tourists is that the Danube, which flows through 10 countries, is becoming too low for larger ships to navigate the waterway.
“As you can see, the (big) ships can’t pass anymore,” Krsta Brandic, a Prahovo resident, told the AP.
© 2026 Cox Media Group
