Russian/German T34 tank recovered after 62 years

[Frw Legion Nederland]

Does anybody have more information about this story and if it's treu?

Here's the full copied story:

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 north-eastern 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 armored 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 active 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 Narv.

[Daimyo]

That's quite an old story. You can find some info and videos here: http://www.diving.ee/articles/art035.html

[scorched_earth_policy]

Wow, what a fantastic story!
I've heard of similar 'finds' before, but not one that proved to be so well documented!

[Blistex]

What ever happened to that Panzer III that was dug up in a similar fashion? If I recall it seemed to be in almost pristine condition with intact paint and no visible damage. Heck I don't even remember seeing rust in the pictures.

[scorched_earth_policy]

I'd be interested in other stories like this too... can anyone recommend any sites?

[Panzermacher]

http://www.geocities.com/military_archeology/tanks.htm

[Panzermacher]

Recovery of a KV1 from the Neva

http://www.around.spb.ru/gallery.php?pa ... va17042002

http://www.around.spb.ru/variety/kv/nev ... _index.php

[scorched_earth_policy]

Thanks, panzermacher, found both sites an excellent read.. Pity (?) theres nothing like that I could help in over here!

[jaglezr]

You can try this link. It´s just one example. Click on "exhibits list" and you will find a lot of stories, some of them related to AFV archaeology.

Greetings
José Antonio

http://www.lerenfort.fsnet.co.uk/page26.html

[Daimyo]

A T-34/76 tank was lifted from a swamp in Cherkass Oblast, Ukraine on June 17-18.

http://www.karyba.lt/e107_plugins/forum ... c.php?1633

[mlespaul]

Anyone know the name of the museum that this T34 Beutepanzer is now kept?

[Cigarboy]

Makes you wonder if there are any Tigers or Panthers lying in wait for someone stubble upon them. I heard about those Tigers which were "sunk" when they fell off a ferry somewhere in France. It was in the Ruchsmarch book if I recall.

[Larso]

Actually we had a discussion on those Tigers in the Seine here -

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 7&t=118695

If that book you mention has something extra please make a mention of it. The end of the thread has some intriguing info on a still to be recovered Tiger in a lake.

[Homerr]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't there a story of a Tiger II (or Jagdtiger?) being driven into a lake with a similar story to the one Xavier posted in the thread mentioned above - but this one was in southern Austria? I looked on Google Earth at the town at the time I read this a year or so ago, but can't recall the town. Just going completely on memory and what the terrain looks like looking at Google Earth again now I want to say it was in the vicinity of Klagenfurt, possibly one of the smaller lakes to the west of that town. If pressed, a small lake like the size of the one on the west side of Plescherken. A big disclaimer: this is from memory and my conjecture about the location should be considered pure speculation! I probably have the details all bollixed up, so don't quit your day job looking for this one just yet.

[igor_verh]

Documentary film about the restoration of the T-34-76 by three experienced specialists from Belarussia: