River Monitor Bechelaren on the Danube with other gunboats engaging Soviet Sturmoviks in 1944

"President Masaryk" was a river monitor of the First Czechoslovak Republic, serving from 1932 until the dissolution of the republic in 1939. With four 66mm L/35 Škoda vz.30 guns in two twin turrets, it was that nation's most powerful warship of the 1930s and flagship of the Czechoslovakian river flotilla.

After the German invasion of 1939, the ship was renamed "Bechelaren" and pressed into German service. Until 1941 it was based in Linz and continued to patrol the Danube, after which it was transferred downriver to the area of Yugoslavia which had been overrun by the Germans.

In 1943 the vessel was returned to Linz and underwent extensive modernization. The hull was lengthened by 30cm, the shape of the stern was changed, and new machinery was installed, with the boilers and engines replaced with two MAN submarine diesel engines with an output of 1,800 horsepower each. The stacks were removed and replaced with exhaust pipes on the sides of the vessel. The single rudder was replaced with two. Using space freed up by the changes in propulsion machinery, a 20mm Flakvierling mount was installed. A separate 20mm cannon on the stern was replaced with a 37mm flak gun, and the machine gun turret at the front was removed.

In 1944 Bechelaren was returned to duty on the lower Danube. On the night of April 5th 1944, while escorting a convoy, the vessel was damaged by planes of the Red Air Force. After repairs, it was returned to service at Visegrád, Hungary. Later it returned to Linz, where since ammunition for its main armament was no longer being manufactured) its four 66mm guns were replaced with two 88mm SK C/35 naval guns.

Bechelaren then participated in combat operations in Yugoslavia and Hungary. In 1944 it supported the German counterattack toward Budapest and at Melk in Austria it fought Soviet gunboats. This would be the vessel's last combat mission.

Visible in the first part of the footage is Hungarian Parliament Building situated on the Eastern bank of the Danube.