Several hundred World War II shells recovered from Baltic wreck

Last weekend, in the Baltiysk area, specialists unearthed several hundred World War II-era shells from the wreckage of a self-propelled barge.

On a barge wreck near Baltiysk, divers have located a massive arsenal of World War II-era ammunition. Until 1946, the town was called Piława(Pillau) and was an important Königsberg seaport(Königsberg). Undoubtedly, it was from here that the last German units sailed before the Soviets entered the city.

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The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation informed about the excavation of the dangerous find in an official announcement. Several hundred shells, which divers have located on the barge, were fished out and then neutralised.

According to available information, the wreck of the self-propelled ammunition barge measures approximately 70 metres long and 8 metres wide. As the vessel lies at a depth of just 17 metres, less than 1.5km from the entrance to Baltiysk harbour, swift action was required.

During the inspection of the wreck, divers discovered a total of as many as 10,000 shells of various types on the barge. In September 2020. Russians had already removed more than 7,000 pieces of anti-tank ammunition for Panzerfaust hand grenade launchers.

In the past few days, specialists from the “Lider” unit, which deals with such incidents, neutralised a further 620 artillery shells and 5 Panzerfaust shells which they recovered from the wreckage of the barge.