MOSCOW. April 16 (Interfax) - The Baltic Fleet is planning to lift the wreckage of the German artillery ship Drache sunk in the Baltic Sea at the end of World War II, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The objects lifted from the sunken ship will be added to an exposition at the Navy Central Museum branch in Baltiysk," the ministry stated on its website.
On April 19 the Fleet's emergency and rescue detachment will hold an exercise during which it will inspect Drache and make preparations for lifting the ship's elements, anchors and artillery guns from the depth of about 30 meters, the statement said. The operation in Gdansk Bay will involve the use of the Panther+ and Tiger submersibles.
The Drache warship was taking part in the defense of Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad) when it was sunk by the Baltic Fleet naval aviation on April 18, 1945, the ministry said.