karl
June 10th, 2013, 02:41 PM
Last WW2 Dornier bomber is plucked from the seabed off Kent, 73 years after it was shot down!
German bomber has lain in English Channel since the Battle of Britain
Part of £350,000 project to retrieve the plane and display it at the RAF Museum
Aircraft is in 'remarkable condition' and the wings and engines are intact
Museum staff say they are 'delighted' that the plane is out of the water
It was shot down by fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain in 1940
A rare German bomber shot down by a British fighter pilot during the Second World War was today raised from the depths of the English Channel where it has lain for seven decades.
The retrieval of the last surviving Dornier Do 17 from the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent is the biggest recovery of its kind in British waters.
Attempts by the RAF Museum to raise the relic over the last few weeks have been hit by strong winds but the operation was finally successful. The aircraft was first spotted by divers in 2008, lying 50ft below the surface on a chalk bed, surrounded by debris.
The plane is believed to be aircraft call-sign 5K-AR, shot down on August 26, 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain by RAF Boulton-Paul Defiant fighters. Two of its four-man crew were killed as it crashed into the sea, but the other two were captured and taken into custody as prisoners of war.
Full story, video clips and stunning photos here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339105/Ghost-plane-flies-deep-Last-WW2-Dornier-bomber-plucked-seabed-Kent-73-years-shot-down.html#ixzz2VqOcIQdc
German bomber has lain in English Channel since the Battle of Britain
Part of £350,000 project to retrieve the plane and display it at the RAF Museum
Aircraft is in 'remarkable condition' and the wings and engines are intact
Museum staff say they are 'delighted' that the plane is out of the water
It was shot down by fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain in 1940
A rare German bomber shot down by a British fighter pilot during the Second World War was today raised from the depths of the English Channel where it has lain for seven decades.
The retrieval of the last surviving Dornier Do 17 from the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent is the biggest recovery of its kind in British waters.
Attempts by the RAF Museum to raise the relic over the last few weeks have been hit by strong winds but the operation was finally successful. The aircraft was first spotted by divers in 2008, lying 50ft below the surface on a chalk bed, surrounded by debris.
The plane is believed to be aircraft call-sign 5K-AR, shot down on August 26, 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain by RAF Boulton-Paul Defiant fighters. Two of its four-man crew were killed as it crashed into the sea, but the other two were captured and taken into custody as prisoners of war.
Full story, video clips and stunning photos here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339105/Ghost-plane-flies-deep-Last-WW2-Dornier-bomber-plucked-seabed-Kent-73-years-shot-down.html#ixzz2VqOcIQdc