Today we remember the feat and sacrifice of Petty Officer 1st Class Dimitar Atanasov Dimitrov, who forever remains 22 years old.
This is recalled on "Facebook" by the Naval Museum in Varna.
On March 4, 1965, during an exercise on a large submarine chaser, with the ship number 17, a fire broke out in the stern compartment. It stored ammunition that, if detonated, would have destroyed the ship and killed the entire crew.
The first among those who went down to the grave was the commander of the chemists' department, senior seaman Dimitar Dimitrov, along with two other sailors – chief. Petty Officer Vasil Vachev and Petty Officer 2nd Class Vasil Angelov. Dimitrov took off his gas mask, despite the thick toxic smoke, to have better visibility. He managed to find and hand over the smoking chest, which was thrown overboard. Thus, the danger was removed, and the ship and the crew of 57 people were saved.
The inhaled poisonous gases affected the lungs of Petty Officer Dimitrov, who was urgently taken for treatment to the Naval Hospital - Varna. Two days after the incident, on March 6, 1965, he died of pulmonary edema.
The sailor who saved the ship and the crew was buried with military honors in his native village of Sushitsa.
The State Council posthumously awarded Senior Sailor Dimitrov with the highest awards of the time, and the Navy command awarded him the title of "Senior Sergeant 1st Class".
The day of his death - March 6 - was declared the Day of Sailors' Comradeship.
The Dutchwoman and the hero's awards are on display in the permanent exhibition of the Naval Museum.