Ceremony to Mark Anniversary of Drava Sinking
Friday, 12.4.2024 | Culture and traditions
Today, members of the Serbian Armed Forces marked the anniversary of the sinking of the river monitor Drava, which was sunk in the April War in 1941 after a heroic fight against the far superior Nazi aggressor.
To honour the fallen crew members, a commemoration was held at the spot where the ship had sunk into the Danube near Čelarevo. The siren was sounded and the ship’s guard presented arms while a delegation from the Serbian Armed Forces and the Association of Navy Veterans laid wreaths onto the Danube from a River Flotilla ship.
The SAF delegation also laid a wreath near the memorial bust of the famous Drava captain, Lt. Commander 1st Class Aleksandar Berić, located at the Belegiš cemetery, 90 km downstream from the ship’s sinking spot, where the remains of this April War hero are buried.
The river monitor Drava had a heroic crew and it inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, until the final encounter at dawn on April 12, 1941, when the ship sank into the Danube at km 1287, after fighting an uneven battle against German planes and losing most of its crew members.
