Russian divers have excavated two Sherman tank wrecks! - video

Specialist divers from the emergency-rescue unit of the Northern Fleet WMF of the Russian Federation have brought to the surface two more wrecks of American tanks of the M4 “Sherman” type. The excavation operation has been carried out in the waters of the Barents Sea for several years now, and the described vehicles are the

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: July 22, 2017 - 09:29

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 15:24

Russian divers have excavated two Sherman tank wrecks! – video

Specialist divers from the emergency-rescue unit of the Northern Fleet WMF of the Russian Federation have brought to the surface two more wrecks of American tanks of the M4 “Sherman” type. The excavation operation has been carried out in the waters of the Barents Sea for several years now, and the described vehicles are the next ones which have been successfully brought to the surface.

The vehicles were carried by the vessel “Thomas Donaldson”, which was sunk at the end of World War II – on March 20, 1945. It was then that the convoy which included the ship was attacked by the German submarine U-968. This year’s two ‘Shermans’ are the third and fourth to be recovered from this wreck in recent years.

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The story of the tanks and the ship “Thomas Donaldson” takes us to the last weeks of the Second World War. In March ’45, at the end of the greatest conflict in history, the Liberty type vessel transported a cargo of military equipment from the USA to the USSR. This was one of the deliveries made as part of the Land-Lease programme.

Northern Fleet divers have excavatedtwo ame…Amazing find! Northern Fleet divers have excavated two American “Sherman” tanks from the bottom of the Barents Sea.
You can read more about the tanks here: https://sptnkne.ws/e7u6

Published by Sputnik Poland on 13 July 2017

Convoy JW-65 traversing the Barents Sea, which included the transport ship “Shermany”, was tracked and attacked by the German U-boat U-968. The sinking occurred near Kildin Island in the Murmansk area, specifically near the entrance to Kola Bay.

The Russians carried out excavation operations using an engineering vessel, KIŁ-143, and two vessels from which divers descended into the water. The latter carried out operations on the wreck, located at a depth of over 50 metres. The whole action was carried out as part of tactical exercises of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation.

Source: express.co.uk

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.