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[PIC GALLERY] Wrecks and Relics

FW190 found in forest clearing - Outside of Leningrad

THE LOSS OF FW190 A5 W.Nr 1227.
On Monday 19th July 1943 Fw190 A-5 W.Nr 1227 'White A' went on a mission carrying a SC250 (550Ib) bomb. Taking off from Siwerskaja, on what was probably a hot summer day, 'White A' headed for the Front line which was only fifteen or so minutes flight time away. Crossing the front line over the Dvina River, the Fw190, flying with another crossed it and headed East. Whilst behind enemy lines, in an area called Voibakala, the 'Rotte' attacked an armoured train and reportedly suffered damage from flak.

The loss report indicates the Fw190 crash landed due to this damage, although none was located on the airframe. It Fw190 suffered a catastrophic failure of the BMW801, caused by a rag -sabotage is suspected as it was a new engine was fitted a few days before. The Fw190 was recorded as being 100% lost in the map reference co-ordinates of Pl.Qu.20124. This grid system based on 1:200,000 maps was used to identify crash sites, possibly for salvage, recovery of missing pilots or as the best way of identifying an area consisting of unpronounceable Russian towns, villages and large areas of forests and lakes. The more numbers the Pl.Qu. reference gives, the smaller the area of the location. A key to this 'code', would help identify literally dozens of possible recoveries within Russia!!

The pilot Feldwebel Paul Rätz survived the crash landed behind enemy lines. He removed his leather flying helmet and retrieved the first air kit from the rear fuselage and is thought to have headed West back to the front line only a dozen or so miles from the crash site. He was undoubtedly captured by the Russians and interned although the Luftwaffe loss report still class him as 'Vermißt' (missing) in action.

Found in silver birch forest 1989. Recovered 1991

 
B-25 salvaged from an Alabama lake
B-25-salvage.jpg
 
Dauntless, Lake Michigan
LakeMichig.jpg





Betty from New Guinea jungle
betty-wreck.jpg
 
Bristol Freighter, Canadian NW Territories, landed on frozen lake in 1956, but the left gear broke through the ice.
She was pulled up on shore and stripped of parts before being abandoned.

BristFrei-NWterrCan.jpg



wreck1.jpg
 
PBY Catalina, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In 1960, Thomas Kendall, his family, and a photographer from Life magazine set off on a round the world pleasure trip in this Catalina.
On 22nd March they touched down in the Gulf of Aqaba.
The following day they were attacked with automatic gun fire from a headland nearby by local people who had mistaken them for Israeli commandos.
Mr Kendall and his secratary were injured and 4,000 litres of fuel poured onto the sand. After interogation in Jeddah they were all released.

PBY-wreckJeddah.jpg
 
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WIKI- "Armed merchantman SS Thistlegorm set sail on her fourth and final voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941 destined for Alexandria, Egypt.
The vessel’s cargo included: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and 0.303 rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, and two locomotives.
These steam locomotives and their associated coal & water tenders were carried as deck cargo and were for the Egyptian Railways. The rest of the cargo was for the Allied forces in Egypt.
Due to German and Italian naval and airforce activity in the Mediterranean the Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town, South Africa, where she refuelled, before heading North up the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea.
Due to a collision in the Suez Canal the convoy could not transit through the canal to reach the port of Alexandria and instead moored at Safe Anchorage, in September 1941 where she remained at anchor until her sinking on 6th October 1941."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Thistlegorm


MORE PICS (including the locomotives)- http://www.aquatours.com/wrecks/thistlegorm.htm

YOUTUBE (divers explore wreck)-
 
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