WW-II Trophy tank Tank pulled from lake - Amazing images and videos

muppetkiller

http://englishrussia.com/?p=299

Sorry if this is old news but some class images and footage..


WW-II Trophy tank

14 September 2000, a Komatsu D375A-2 pulled an abandoned tank from its archival tomb under the bottom of a lake near Johvi, Estonia. The Soviet-built T34/76A tank had been resting at the bottom of the lake for 56 years. According to its specifications, it’s a 27-tonne machine with a top speed of 53km/h.

From February to September 1944, heavy battles were fought in the narrow, 50 km-wide, Narva front in the northeastern part of Estonia. Over 100,000 men were killed and 300,000 men were wounded there. During battles in the summer of 1944, the tank was captured from the Soviet army and used by the German army. (This is the reason that there are German markings painted on the tank’s exterior.) On 19 September 1944, German troops began an organised retreat along the Narva front. It is suspected that the tank was then purposefully driven into the lake, abandoning it when its captors left the area.

At that time, a local boy walking by the lake Kurtna Matasjarv noticed tank tracks leading into the lake, but not coming out anywhere. For two months he saw air bubbles emerging from the lake. This gave him reason to believe that there must be an armoured vehicle at the lake’s bottom. A few years ago, he told the story to the leader of the local war history club “Otsing”. Together with other club members, Mr Igor Shedunov initiated diving expeditions to the bottom of the lake about a year ago. At the depth of 7 metres they discovered the tank resting under a 3-metre layer of peat.

Enthusiasts from the club, under Mr Shedunov’s leadership, decided to pull the tank out. In September 2000 they turned to Mr Aleksander Borovkovthe, manager of the Narva open pit of the stock company AS Eesti Polevkivi, to rent the company’s Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer. Currently used at the pit, the Komatsu dozer was manufactured in 1995, and has 19,000 operating hours without major repairs.

The pulling operation began at 09:00 and was concluded at 15:00, with several technical breaks. The weight of the tank, combined with the travel incline, made a pulling operation that required significant muscle. The D375A-2 handled the operation with power and style. The weight of the fully armed tank was around 30 tons, so the tractive force required to retrieve it was similar. A main requirement for the 68-tonne dozer was to have enough weight to prevent shoe-slip while moving up the hill.

After the tank surfaced, it turned out to be a ‘trophy’ tank, that had been captured by the German army in the course of the battle at Sinimaed (Blue Hills) about six weeks before it was sunk in the lake. Altogether, 116 shells were found on board. Remarkably, the tank was in good condition, with no rust, and all systems (except the engine) in working condition.
This is a very rare machine, especially considering that it fought both on the Russian and the German sides. Plans are under way to fully restore the tank. It will be displayed at a war history museum, that will be founded at the Gorodenko village on the left bank of the River Narva.

Looking at the two tracked machines, the modern yellow Komatsu dozer is a reminder of how machine technologies have advanced, and the region’s prospects of peace and prosperity have brightened.

motherfunker

I'm not sure if this auction took place or not, I heard there were a few complications.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL1346672120080313

FiSe

Jaysus, it's happenning all the time, especially in Russia, but elsewhere as well, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Rep... I mean it's amazing, but you can find tons of links and pictures on the web.
Some of those relics are just a bits and pieces, some of them are located on hard to get places, so left there, some of them ending in the scrap yards :mad:

http://www.detektorweb.cz/index.4me?s=show&i=8171&mm=1&vd=1

http://www.detektorweb.cz/index.4me?s=show&i=8050&mm=1&vd=1

http://odkrywca.pl/galerie.php?nazwa=433

http://odkrywca.pl/galerie.php?nazwa=432

Sorry for the language, just something I have bookmarked, I have links on Russian pages somewhere as well. Unreal stuff there, will try to dig it up later:

http://grzegorzew.pl/galeria/czolg/index.html

http://reibert.info/gallery/v/Archeology/Technics/T-34/

http://www.detektorweb.cz/index.4me?s=show&i=2988&mm=1&vd=1

http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/esteri/bulgaria-carrarmati/1.html

http://www.airgroup2000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30326&start=510

and so on...

muppetkiller

WOW great links FISE

FiSe

motherfunker wrote: »

I'm not sure if this auction took place or not, I heard there were a few complications.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL1346672120080313

I think that Bulgaria's officials didn't know what to ask for that "junk". Have heard something like €500.000 for a Stug! But this could be a rumour. Unfortunately have no latest information on that one.
But similair auction went ahead in Finland. And I believe that this is the shopping list of lucky ones:

Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-2 = €8.200
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-3 = €12.500
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-4 = €15.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-11 = €9.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-13 = €16.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-15 = €14.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-16 = €8.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-21 = €10.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-23 = €9.500
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-24 = €9.500
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-30 = €13.000
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-32 = €14.500
Charioteer Mk VII Model B # Ps.251-33 = €13.000
A34 Comet Mk I Model B # Ps.252-6 = €25.000
A34 Comet Mk I Model B # Ps.252-10 = €21.000
A34 Comet Mk I Model B # Ps.252-33 = €18.000
A34 Comet Mk I Model B # Ps.252-36 = €17.500

Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf. G # Ps.531-27 = €125.000
Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G # Ps.531-55 = €115.000
Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G # Ps.531-58 = €185.000

KTRIC

I was in Sofia recently and I was offered some nice bits and pieces. Unfortunately I'm living in Munich and if I brought these pieces back I'd be arrested.

There's a huge amount of Nazi hardware available in Bulgaria for anyone with enough money.

FiSe

KTRIC wrote: »

I was in Sofia recently and I was offered some nice bits and pieces. Unfortunately I'm living in Munich and if I brought these pieces back I'd be arrested.

There's a huge amount of Nazi hardware available in Bulgaria for anyone with enough money.

Germany could be a bit funny alrite, but with all respect, I don't think that you'd get arrested for bringing German WWII helmet, belt buckle or Pz IV or StuG III back to Faterland...
There are pretty good museums full of that 'Nazi' stuff in Germany as well and nobody's getting arrested.
My point is being that Nazi does not neccessary means German and German does not neccessary means Nazi.

KTRIC

FiSe wrote: »

My point is being that Nazi does not neccessary means German and German does not neccessary means Nazi.

I know that :rolleyes:

And possession of Nazi artefacts illegally obtained and without the proper paper work will land you in jail.