Source: riavrn.ru
Hello everyone,
Two days ago, people working for the Kubinka museum pulled a rare find out of river Don, near the town of Verkhnyj Mamon – a wreck of the WW2 KV tank. Inside of the tank, remnants of the AP shell that killed it were found. Initially, it was not clear whether the tank is actually a KV-1, or a KV-2, only when the hull was pulled out it was found that it was a KV-1. The turret will be pulled out of the water later.
The work on getting the tank out started as early as 29.5., when divers started to attach cables to the tank. Pulling the tank out after that proved to be very complicated due to the terrain. According to the, men who pulled it out, the tank is in good enough shape to be restored fully, although it will probably never actually drive.
Wargaming was also one of the supporting parties (organizers) of the event. They will allegedly post the photos and a video of the entire operation on their site – so far, that has not happened yet.
noob didn’t know the map
(the last 2 pictures are double-posted)
“Inside of the tank, remnants of the AP shell that killed it were found. Initially”
Looks like some other noob has dived into the water to deal some extra damage. He also used a gold ammo.
Reminds me of every other battle in Erlenberg, where someone usually drives of the bridges into river… turns out, so he could be found after 70 years :)
They should look for arties in there too then ;)
I don’t think other nations don’t let their tank in with fully equipment on it
Nice!
KV found, new one is coming to da museum!
Restorers never cease to amaze me and have my absolute respect. If it wasn’t for the small bit of track, I wouldn’t even recognize it as a tank, let alone one in good enough shape to restore.
This.
I am not sure if they even could restore its look, but apparently they can.
Russian tanks are very stronk – they stored them underwater only because on the hard ground there were no more space left to store tanks at that time. ;)
Btw, there are some vids on YouTube, where WW2 time ISU’s and KV’s are eeasily fired up and driven after they stood on open fields for all these 70 years. So, yeah, I think they can restore this one too.
Just curious, was there ever an account of a tank starting up after being dormant for so long with other nation’s tanks? Say German, Japanese, British etc…
I don’t think other nation don’t leave their old tanks with full equipment on it if they are in open countryside
Well there was the Wellington bomber found in Loch Ness. That was pulled from there after decades. When it was pulled out, they connected a battery to the electrics and the lights came on.
B-29 out of canada… well until somebody screwed up and it ended up as a very very depressing wreck.
Could you please post a link of such videos?
I tried to search for it myself but I couldn’t find any.
Thank You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aDMqFrUV8
ISU-152 found in field, going through some basic repairs before being driven off.
ISU152 in Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aDMqFrUV8&index=5&list=FL564sh6C7w2m_Qg44dXG3hg
IS3 monument also Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33Zo-cRB_A
Dornier Do-17 in UK, Me-323 in Italian sea (not recovered yet), I can’t wait to see a Do X or even Char 2C restored!
are they able to restore that? O.o
looks to me that they must rebuild almost everything from scratch!
How did they even found it :D
And it looks like a huge mess – strange that it didnt rusted out more.
Once in water and covered in mud there is little oxygen to keep the oxidation of the iron (rusting) process going.
You know that the Titanic is slowly “eaten” by the underwater bacteria which will make the wreck disappear in few years (or so the scientists are saying). Same goes for this KV-1. Perhaps it is less a treat in fresh than in salt water.
Saltwater is a lot more corrosive than fresh water. Plus metal-eating bacteria are found in deep ocean, I wouldn’t expect to find them in a river.
Deadliest Catch, I guess? You can’t get much deadlier than a multiton steel behemoth with a gun.
eventho it’s FUBAR it’s still Russian, I guess they’d cranked it up without any issues whatsoever
You will be amazed what they will “restore” these days. The question I always ask is this. When you ‘restore’ something and replace virtually all of the components of the original, is it a restoration or replication?
Technically, it is restoration. To replicate means to make a copy. But they are not making a copy. They are just rebuilding it, replacing what needs to be replaced. :)
This isn’t restoring anymore. It’s more like recreating. U can better begin from scratch.
Right because people have the means, tools and loose cash to just up and fabricate a good forty tons of armoured steel hull. And don’t get me started on the cast bits.
Fook me..
When you said “the river Don” I thought you meant at Doncaster !!!
I didn’t think the commies ever got much further than Berlin, mind you.. The Socialist Worker sells well down Frenchgate…
:)
*I* thought that when people heard of “the river Don” their first association would be one of the more famous and notable rivers in Russia rather than some drainage ditch in Redneckshire, UK…
>> . Inside of the tank, remnants of the AP shell that killed it were found.
What about remnants of the crew?
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