The 65th anniversary of the Great Victory: Secret materials and a library from the sea bottom

The archeologists from Odessa are planning to reveal the secrets of the ships sunk during the Great Patriotic War.

‘From 1 to 10 May we will research the region of the Black Sea near Dniester firth, Budaki and Burnas capes’, - told us the Director of the Underwater Heritage Department of the Ukrainian Academy of Science Sergei Voronov.

The archeologists will go down to ‘Cavarna’, ‘Gordelia’, ‘Zaltsburg’, ‘Theodorikh’ and ‘Ankara’ ships. They also hope to find the Soviet submarine M-118 which, according to the archives, sank somewhere near Odessa.

According to the divers the ships are almost ruined. They plan to draw charters and issue passports for every craft.

One of the most valuable finds according to Voronov is the library of a captain from a Russian battle ship which sank in 1917 during the First World War. ’20 volumes which spent 90 years under water at the depth of 36 kilometers were lifted. These are the secret orders with the Commander in Chief monograms and books. Voronov promised to exhibit 7 restored volumes to the citizens of Odessa. Last November in the sea near Odessa was discovered a briefcase containing secret documents. Their loss affected the course of military actions in Ukraine. The orders to the German forces to start the offensive along with other artefacts were brought from the cabin of ‘Junkers’ bomber shoot down by a Soviet anti-aircraft gun.