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blair · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 87

Gents,
Not sure if this was posted before but here ya all go again
Swamp recovery of a T34(?) with german markings

www.dusky.sk/halbot/?id=2863

buglerbilly · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 147

Ha! I just had that emailed to me last night...........I was going to post it here later. Cool

This is a translation of the text that came with the image...........

Here's the full 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, itâ€™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 tankâ€™s exterior.) On 19 September 1944, German troops began an organized 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 lakeâ€™s bottom. A few years ago, he told the story to the leader of the local war history club â€˜Otsingâ€™. 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 Shedunovâ€™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 companyâ€™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.

Regards,

BUG

the_shadock · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:45 pm Post subject: Re: swamp thing

I've seen this tank stored outside in the quoted museum.. here is a pic :

I really, really hope that it is currently stored indoors and that the original markings will be kept as they were found.. remember what's happening to the StuG in Saratov..

Pierre-Olivier

the_shadock · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:51 pm Post subject: Re: swamp thing

Here are some news of the tank :

http://www.diving.ee/articles/art035.html

The latest news about T-34.
Have successfully started the diesel engine not replacing any spare part.
Have replaced only bearings on skating rolls.
Assembly of the tank will soon come to the end and it will be ready to trial runs.
It is planned in the following season to carry on tourists and to show it as a working exhibit of our museum.

Maple_Leaf_Eh · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 517

... to rent the companyâ€™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. ...

Don't know much about heavy equipment, but that seems like an incredibly long time without failure.

On the second link there is a section of 1:50,000 scale topographic map. Detailed and articulate in proper proportions for such a small and congested area. I wonder what photogrammetry technology the Germans were using in WWII (and how much coverage they published)?

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