As the Danube River dries up, World War II shipwrecks and mammoth bones come into view

August 4, 2026 / 3:23 PM EDT

/ CBS/AP

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Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low because of drought that the hulks of dozens of World War II German battleships — and even the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth — are emerging into view. They are a curious distraction from the summer heat crisis. The Danube's record-low water levels have also forced power plants to the brink of shutting down, and governments across Central and Eastern Europe are taking steps to conserve electricity. In the middle of the river separating Serbia and Romania, near the Serbian port of Prahovo, a rusty hull is now visible, along with a broken mast where the Nazi flag once flew. The ships, some still laden with weapons, belonged to Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet that the Germans deliberately sank as they retreated from Romania and as Soviet forces advanced deeper into Europe near the end of the war.

A drone view shows a sunken German warship from World War II, exposed due to low Danube River levels caused by drought and extreme heat, in Prahovo, Serbia, July 30, 2026.