# Drought-lowered European Rivers reveal WWII Nazi ships **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165 "2022-08-23T13:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/1 "2022-08-23T13:53:09Z")
We’re talking about Lake Powell and Lake Mead here in the US drying up, leaving intakes high and dry and revealing bodies and boats, but in Europe the rivers are also drying up. Near the mouth of the Danube this has revealed sunken German ships from WWII, some with possibly still-live ammo on board. They’ve been known about for years (they’re navigation hazards), but now they’re sticking out of the water. > **[The drying Danube River reveals explosive-laden WWII Nazi warships | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/europe/danube-wwii-nazi-germany-ships-serbia-climate-intl/index.html)** > > The vessels were among hundreds scuttled along the Danube by Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet in 1944 as they retreated from advancing Soviet forces, and still hamper river traffic during low water levels. On the lighter side, drought conditions in Texas have revealed more dinosaur foot[prints > **[Dinosaur tracks from 113 million years ago uncovered due to severe drought...](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/us/dinosaur-tracks-discovered-texas-park/index.html)** > > Dinosaur tracks from around 113 million years ago have been revealed at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas due to severe drought conditions that dried up a river, the park said Monday in a statement. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/2 "2022-08-23T14:41:12Z")
I’ve read about Lake Powell fro years. Have European rivers been shrinking for some time, or is it a recent problem? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/3 "2022-08-23T14:55:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Have European rivers been shrinking for some time, or is it a recent problem? I get the impression that this drastic lowering is recent, just as the drastic drop in Lakes Powell and Mead are recent and greater manifestations of a trend that has been going on for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/4 "2022-08-23T15:23:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Have European rivers been shrinking for some time, or is it a recent problem? Rivers are not shrinking on a regular basis, they fill in winter and shrink in summer, but the trend is there: it has been raining less and particularly snowing much less in recent years. Spain is suffering a severe drought, which has been getting worse and worse for about 50 years, which is bad for agriculture, [migrating](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do%C3%B1ana_National_Park) [birds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablas_de_Daimiel_National_Park) (two links), tourism, golf courses… Spanish rivers are not used much as waterways in comparison to Germany, they are mostly too small and shallow, but dams have been built for energy and water reservoirs, and they are at [record low levels](https://www.embalses.net/) (link in Spanish: _Med. 10 Años_ means _average last 10 years_). 2018 was a bad year too, as this article from last week’s _the Economist_ shows (nice graph included): > **[Germany’s waterways are unsung, but essential](https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/08/18/germanys-waterways-are-unsung-but-essential)** > > River freight is hard to beat I have heard nothing about European dino prints yet. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/5 "2022-08-23T17:19:10Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I have heard nothing about European dino prints yet. I’m waiting to hear about the dead bodies coming to light. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/6 "2022-08-23T18:30:04Z")
Does anyone y’know what warships they are? Troop/ammo transportsz or are there any actual gunboats? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/7 "2022-08-24T13:49:45Z")
More interesting stuff revealed by lower waters – Chinese Buddhas and Spanish Stonehenge > **[Yangtze River waters reveal Buddhist statues](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/yangtze-river-reveals-buddhist-statues/index.html)** > > Plunging water levels of the Yangtze River have revealed a submerged island in China's southwestern city of Chongqing and a trio of Buddhist statues on it that are believed to be 600 years old, state media Xinhua has reported. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/8 "2022-08-25T01:22:46Z")
> **[Black Sea campaigns (1941–1944) | Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_campaigns_(1941%E2%80%931944)#Germany)** > > As Turkey was neutral during World War II, the Axis could not transfer warships to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus. The Montreux Convention, signed only a few years earlier, allowed Turkey to close the straits to all military traffic. Hitler offered to sell Turkey a few submarines so they could legally gain passage to the Black Sea, in a way not too different than the scheme successfully employed to pull Turkey into WWI. Turkey refused. However, several small ships were transferred from > [@](#): > > … several small ships were transferred from the North Sea via rail, street and canal networks to the [Danube](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube). These included six [Type IIB U-boats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Type_II_submarine) of the _[30th U-boat Flotilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_U-boat_Flotilla)_ which were dis-assembled and shipped to Romania along the Danube. They were then re-assembled at the Romanian [Galați shipyard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gala%C8%9Bi_shipyard) in late 1942 and afterwards sent to [Constanța](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constan%C8%9Ba). The Germans also transported 10 [S-boats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schnellboot) (_Schnellboote_) and 23 [R-boats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_boat) (_Räumboote_) via the Danube and built armed barges and KTs (_Kriegstransporter_, literally war transports) in the captured [Nikolayev Shipyards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_Shipyard) in [Mykolaiv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykolaiv). Some ships were obtained in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, and then converted to serve the German cause, such as the S-boat tender _Romania_, the minelayer _Xanten_ and the Anti-submarine trawler _UJ-115 Rosita_. Additional vessels were built in German or local shipyards, captured from Soviets, or transferred from the Mediterranean nominally as merchant ships. In total, the German naval forces in the Black Sea mainly amounted to 6 coastal submarines, 16 S-boats, 23 R-boats, 26 submarine chasers and over 100 [MFP barges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marinef%C3%A4hrprahm). The German Black Sea fleet ultimately operated hundreds of medium and small warships or auxiliaries before its self-destruction immediately prior to the defection of Bulgaria. Very few vessels were able to make good their escape via the Danube. So, a few small warships – U-boats, small gunboats, torpedo boats, etc. A lot of transports – the 100 _Marinefährprahm_ ferry barges, some of which were also lightly armed. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drought-lowered-european-rivers-reveal-wwii-nazi-ships/970165/9 "2022-08-25T15:35:24Z")
The articles I’ve read suggest that Serbia is going to have to contract the clearing. Why not Germany? A wrecked warship is always the property of the country that operated it at the time it was wrecked, under salvage laws, so why isn’t Germany on the hook for tidying up its mess?