WWII Tank from the bottom of a lake.............wow!

[BigBlackDodge]

Maybe old news for some, but I thought it was a cool find!


http://www.strategypage.com/military_photos/20061115163335.aspx



BBD

[PocketThunder]

wow that was cool!

[73dodge]

looks like it is in pretty good shape too.......

[kab69440]

Kinda makes me wonder what might be residing at the bottom of some of the hundreds of  flooded rock and sand quarries around here. How many Daytonas are still unaccounted for?

[Mopar440+6]

Thats just cool! And I agree on the flooded quarries. Might be time to invest in some diving gear

[TruckDriver]

That is cool! I'd like to seen a pic of the dozer that did the pulling as it looks like one deep assed mud hole it was in.

[azraelck]

Old for me, but cool nonetheless. I love the design of the old T34 series mediums. One of the best designs to come out of WWII. They also formed the basis for the successful T54/55 series tanks, (and the T43, but it was an interim design which never saw production like the T34 or T54/55 series tanks). They were also hard for the German tanks to take out for a long time. At the time of Operation Barbarossa; German tanks had very inadequet guns; the Panzer IV being a close support tank with a short barreled 75mm gun, the Panzer III have a medium length, low velocity 37mm gun later upgunned to a low velocity 50mm and finally a higher velocity 50mm gun. Only the 8.8cm FlaK18 could drop one at any range until the Panzer IV was upgunned to a high-velocity 75mm, and the Panzer V "Panther" and the Panzer VI "Tiger" came on the scene.

[Silver R/T]

cool, very good quality tank as said before. Russians are known to have best weapons

[AKcharger]

Radical!
They've also been pulling a LOT of old war birds out of Russian lakes as well.Lakes made great runways and emergancy  landing fields in the winter...but the ice would melt and always claim a few. Saw articles on P-39, BF-109 and a Hurricane all pulled from Russian lakes and being rebuild (P-39 still had the pilot in it...yuck)

[red72chrgr]

That is cool! I'd like to seen a pic of the dozer that did the pulling as it looks like one deep assed mud hole it was in.

Here's a pic of a '95 model of the dozer that did the job.

[red72chrgr]

Sorry for the size of the pic.   

[blackcharger]

during WWll, we had some side wheel carriers that were used to train Navy pilots. About ten years ago, two Grumman F4F Wildcats were pulled from one of the lakes that had crashed during the war. Due to the lakes being fresh water, the fighters looked like that were just dirty. Both have been restored to flying condition.
History Channel had a show last year about a Sherman tank that was lost off Normandy. When they pulled it out, it was covered with sea groth, and had heavy corrosion.

[Charger_Fan]

I can understand why salt water would rust metal faster than fresh water...but to have it practically not rust at all in fresh water? That's just crazy. I bet if we dug up a Charger that had been sitting on a lake bottom for 20 years, it would be plenty rusty. 

[Todd Wilson]

Here is the video   of the big dozer pulling the old tank out of the bog.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kKLbKHNquE



Todd

[Drache]

I watched a show where they pulled the last known "surviving" Canadian built bomber from the bottom of the lake where the crew rested since the second world war. They then rebuilt the bomber and invited all the last surviving pilots to come see it.

As for the rust issue, if you have fresh water and add in VERY cold temperatures then you won't get as much if any rust.

[TruckDriver]

Here is the video   of the big dozer pulling the old tank out of the bog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kKLbKHNquE

Todd

The dozer wasn't even working. That some what supprizes me. I figured it would of been much bigger more like a D9 Cat. I doesn't quit look that big. Guess it didn't matter as long as it had dry ground to dig into when pulling.

[AKcharger]

Cool Video, thanks. I thought it was queer that the tracks and boggie wheels on the tank still rolled...I would have thought they'd rust (metal to metal) or at least be clogged with mud/junk...suprising!

[tan top]

 thats  amazing  after all that time , even the tracks are still working

[19Charger68]

I have seen quite a few recovery photos of WWII AFV's, STUG'S, Panthers, etc., but I do not recall ever seeing one in the pristine condition this one appears to be in.  Really quite amazing.  Thanks for the post.

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

Not only was it in the cold fresh water, but under the mud.  And that preserves stuff for thousands of years if undisturbed.

Ryan

[mustanghater]

Anyone got any more links to tories like this?
I rember reading about a bomber that was pulled out of a lake somewhere in the US. There was also a show on CBS about a group that restored a bomber on an iceberg where they dug it out of the snow and when they were done they were going to fly it. Thye finished restoring it but when they went to take off a lamp fell over and burned up the whole plane.

[TruckDriver]

Anyone got any more links to tories like this?
There was also a show on CBS about a group that restored a bomber on an iceberg where they dug it out of the snow and when they were done they were going to fly it. Thye finished restoring it but when they went to take off a lamp fell over and burned up the whole plane.

I saw that one too. It was sad after all the work they did to see it burn up and sink.

[bull]

Cool story. And I like this shirt:

[BigBlackDodge]

Anyone got any more links to tories like this?
I rember reading about a bomber that was pulled out of a lake somewhere in the US. There was also a show on CBS about a group that restored a bomber on an iceberg where they dug it out of the snow and when they were done they were going to fly it. Thye finished restoring it but when they went to take off a lamp fell over and burned up the whole plane.

Maybe these............B-29 Lake Mead
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/expeditions/b29.html

B-25 in Lake Murray
http://uwex.us/lakemurrayb25.html


BBD

[BigBlackDodge]

Anyone got any more links to tories like this?
There was also a show on CBS about a group that restored a bomber on an iceberg where they dug it out of the snow and when they were done they were going to fly it. Thye finished restoring it but when they went to take off a lamp fell over and burned up the whole plane.

I saw that one too. It was sad after all the work they did to see it burn up and sink.

Glacier Girl?      or is there another plane?
http://www.coffeedrome.com/glacier.html

This will kill some time

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/

Carriers more your taste? USS Yorktown
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/midway/



BBD

[Todd Wilson]

Not only was it in the cold fresh water, but under the mud.  And that preserves stuff for thousands of years if undisturbed.

Ryan

It wasnt cold fresh water and mud that preserved it. It was the peat. Peat grows in water that doesnt have oxygen and that equals no rust.


todd

[tan top]

Anyone got any more links to tories like this?
There was also a show on CBS about a group that restored a bomber on an iceberg where they dug it out of the snow and when they were done they were going to fly it. Thye finished restoring it but when they went to take off a lamp fell over and burned up the whole plane.

I saw that one too. It was sad after all the work they did to see it burn up and sink.

yeah i saw that one i think  it was a B-29  from memory  , i think the story went  the pilot landed it there because i was out of fuel , war bird  enthusiasts went back to try to find it  60 years later , shipped 4 rebuilt engines  to the glacier . as they were taxi - ing  to take off  a generator or some thing ignited in the rear of the plain  & it burned to the ground 

[TruckDriver]

Anyone got any more links to tories like this?
There was also a show on CBS about a group that restored a bomber on an iceberg where they dug it out of the snow and when they were done they were going to fly it. Thye finished restoring it but when they went to take off a lamp fell over and burned up the whole plane.

I saw that one too. It was sad after all the work they did to see it burn up and sink.

               yeah i saw that one i think  it was a B-29  from memory  , i think the story went  the pilot landed it there because i was out of fuel , war bird  enthusiasts went back to try to find it  60 years later , shipped 4 rebuilt engines  to the glacier . as they were taxi - ing  to take off  a generator or some thing ignited in the rear of the plain  & it burned to the ground 

Your right. They also had to reskin some of the planes fuselage up there in the cold because it was worn out and wind torn.

[dkn1997]

they are still recovering logs froim the great lakes here in the states and using them.  you cannot get that kind of old growth wood anymore and it's really sought after.  barges used to spill them over the side or sink often and they are almost perfectly preserved.

[Stroker]

I was actually on the place when this tank was pulled out. Big Komatsu buloser did really great job.

This tank is almoust restorated for now and it is going to drive soon. I`ll try to find some pics. soon.
And this lake does not locate in Russia, but in Estonia- small ex-soviet country. One of three Baltic states.

Stroker@local guy

[71charger_fan]

"not rust at all in fresh water"

Rust is the process of oxidation. The tank was buried in peat. There's not much oxygen there. It probably rusted more in the first couple of days after it was pulled out than it did in all the years it was in that lake.

[ChargerSG]

That was a cool story and video

[Magnumcharger]

I watched a show where they pulled the last known "surviving" Canadian built bomber from the bottom of the lake where the crew rested since the second world war. They then rebuilt the bomber and invited all the last surviving pilots to come see it.

As for the rust issue, if you have fresh water and add in VERY cold temperatures then you won't get as much if any rust.

If you're referring to the Halifax bomber recovered from a lake in the Norweigan fjords, it just so happens I visited it last week!
And it looks great!
The volunteers did a fantastic job restoring it too!

[Silver R/T]

nice resto job

[Drache]

Thats the plane! Thanks for the pics!

[gtx6970]

http://www.thelostsquadron.com/     Pretty cool story

[AKcharger]

A Halifax??? I didn't think any existed?

[Drache]

I think they classified the Halifax as one of the best if not the best bomber of WW2. The reason only one survived was a combination of them getting the hardest missions and after the war any surviving ones were chopped for scrap.

[MOPARHOUND!]

Some time ago, Mopar Collector's Guide had an article on a 74 Road Runner pulled from the bottom of a lake in Nebraska.  Two fisherman saw it from their boat.   IIRC, it had it's bulge hood still on it with "360" for the callouts.