RE: Germans recover Stuka bomber wreck from Baltic Sea

[brad kaste]

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world...r-1455737.html

[grunau_baby]

I follow this case frequently in local media and there´s more news today:

1. the aircraft had no damage due to firearms, so no bullet holes or punctured tanks
2. the stuka itself was not armed, no guns or bombs on board, so probably a reconaisance flight or on their way back from occupied scandinavia in late war days and ran out off fuel before reaching the coastline
3. The pilot´s jackknife was found close to the wreck which could be evidence of the crew´s death at the trial to water the plane (prop blades were severed by the impact, so can´t have been very gentle) and maybe the knife shows the pilot´s initials. This might be of help for further identification

I am curious about what they´ll find out in the end.

Alex

[Naismith]

AJC (the newssite) are a bit mean with the sizing of their pics eh? Might as well not have bothered.

[lifejogger]

That is a very interesting story, I wonder if there is a web site one could go to keep track of restoration?

[TARPSBird]

Really looking forward to an update on this story, with more/bigger/better pics. I remember visiting the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago as a kid and seeing their Stuka suspended from the ceiling. The plane looks a lot more evil in person than in books.

[grunau_baby]

Here´s the update:

obviously the divers preparing the wreck for being brought to the surface found human remains inside the cockpit. So the crew most likely did not survive the "waterlanding". Now it will take some time to recover the remains and take care of a proper burial including the trial to find the identification plates of the victims and inform the families.

Here you´ll find some bigger pics (webside in german only), just click on the picture:
http://nachrichten.t-online.de/mensc...57186818/index

Turns out to be a sad story, I hoped the crew did get away from this.

Regards
Alex

[TARPSBird]

Wow, tough break for the crew. I hope they are identified and their families can have some comfort and closure after so many years. RIP Luftwaffe guys.

[grunau_baby]

Guess what, some new surprises about the wreck just discovered online:

It most likely was no Stuka! After recovering more pieces the picture emerged that it actually seem to be the remains of a Ju88. Both bombers shared many components and this lead to the confusion of the aircraft type.

The recovery of the wreck was put to a stop in order to recover the crew remains fist.

Regards
Alex

[SSI01]

A fascinating find nonetheless! As I recall they said in the article we were looking at two sets of remains? I can't think of a variant of the Ju88 that flew with two personnel aboard, the night fighters had three and they were the lowest-manned crews of the bunch, I thought. Their normal complement was three (pilot/radar operator/observer-gun loader). If this is a night fighter that crashed during a sortie there may be a third set of remains still in the aircraft or nearby; it's also possible it's still a night fighter that came down during a daytime air test, which would frequently be done with just two aboard. It could also be a bomber variant (A-4?) being used as a transport "hack" which would account for no armament being aboard.

Ju88s had a rep for gliding like a dropped safe; the condition of the props tends to bear out this oft-heard story. The hard landing may have destroyed the nose containing the machine guns; cannon were in a bathtub beneath the fuselage, below/behind the cockpit, I thought. No mention of schrage-musik here; how far back does the fuselage wreckage extend?