site.btaA Boat Ride on Danube in 1953

Built between 1940 and 1941 at the Budapest Shipyard, the river vessel originally named Tsar Boris III was one of three large passenger ships commissioned by Bulgaria to modernize transport along the Danube. The three ships Tsar Boris III, Queen Ioanna, and Prince Simeon were identical in design, measuring 78.8 meters in length and 8.8 meters in width. Each had the capacity to carry up to 1,000 passengers and 140 tons of cargo, operating at an average speed of 25 km/h. 

Delivered in 1941, they entered service on the passenger route connecting Vidin, Ruse, and Silistra, three major Bulgarian port cities on the Danube River. At the time, the new flagships named after the king, queen, and heir of the monarchy were considered the most modern and comfortable of their kind on the Danube.

During World War II, the ships transported both civilians and military cargo. From May 1944, they were requisitioned by the German army, and after September 9, 1944, were handed over to the Soviet army while still manned by Bulgarian crews. Following the abolition of the Bulgarian monarchy in 1946, the vessels were renamed: Tsar Boris III became Georgi Dimitrov (after Bulgaria’s communist leader), Queen Ioanna was renamed Alexander Stamboliyski (after the agrarian anti-monarchist prime minister of Bulgaria (1919–1923), and Prince Simeon became September 9, marking the date of Bulgaria’s political change.

The ship Tsar Boris III (later Georgi Dimitrov) first arrived in Ruse on May 19, 1941. It featured modern facilities for its time, a restaurant, lounges, sleeping cabins, and was operated by a crew of 40. During the war, it was converted into a floating hospital and also transported troops and supplies for the Soviet Third Ukrainian Front. After the war, the ship returned to civilian service and operated as a passenger vessel until 1979, when it was transferred to Bulgaria’s Border Troops.

The ship also appeared in Bulgarian cinema, when part of a popular feature film was shot on board. Its history ended tragically on November 8, 1983, when it was completely destroyed in a fire caused by an electrical failure.