BELGRADE – The river monitor Bodrog, the Austro-Hungarian navy ship that fired the first shots of World War I and a witness to the European conflicts of the 20th century under four different flags, now serves as a gravel barge in Serbia.
The Bodrog, a heavily armored vessel launched in 1904 and equipped with the most advanced naval technology of the time, shelled the Serbian capital just before midnight on July 28, 1914. The ship’s 120 mm guns fired the first shots of a conflict that would last four years, leave millions of people dead and devastate Europe. Source
