German aircraft recovered from the North Sea

A unique German fighter from World War II, designed for night combat, has been lifted from the bottom of the North Sea near Hirtshals. The discovery is not only a minor sensation, but also a total surprise to everyone. There is no record of how the machine was brought down and sank.

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The chairman of the Danish Society for Aviation History, Ib Lodsen, examined the wreckage from the sea and realised in an instant that he was dealing with something quite extraordinary.

“I had to walk around the table a few times because I realised that I was standing next to the wreckage of a German night fighter, which has only survived to this day in 1 copy! The Americans have such a machine in the USA and it is certainly a Heinkel HE-219″

This highly technologically advanced machine was specially designed for night sky patrolling and combat in such conditions. For example, the exhaust system was hidden and encased in a special pipe, so that flames from the exhaust pipe could not be seen by the enemy. In addition, the Heinkel HE-219 had a catapult, thanks to which the pilot could quickly leave the cockpit if necessary.

The fighter jet was fished out on Monday, by JD-Contractor and taken to Aalborg, where it will be cleaned and restored, and at a later date, possibly put on display and open to the public.

Remarkably, the fighter has been located for 70 years, 100m off the coast of Hirtshals in North Jutland, in a place where the water is only 2.5m deep! The wreck was already known about before, as it was found by local divers, but no one realised what a rarity the unknown machine was.

“Unfortunately from our inspection it appears that over the years, some of the equipment has been removed. In the cockpit, there is a mass of wires sticking out of the dashboard, while the whole panel of measuring devices is missing, also the controls on the tail have been removed. Unfortunately, however, the find is in such terrible shape that it will never be possible to restore it to a state where it resembles an aircraft.” – Ib Lodsen said

The history of Heinkel HE-219, remains unknown. Local history enthusiasts, are trying to explain what might have happened and why the fighter landed near Jutland.

“We have gone through all the sources available to us, but have not been able to find even a single mention of the crashed Heinkel fighter. We are now going to examine the remains of the aircraft in great detail, in the hope that we will be able to find its side number and on that basis move forward in our search. If we succeed, it is very possible that we will find out what really happened at this site during World War II.”

Source: kpn.dk