Russians find wreck of German World War II ship S-102

During construction work carried out in the area of the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, the wreck of the German torpedo boat S-102 and a number of other remains, mainly from the Second World War, were discovered. Looking at the materials made available by the Russian Ministry of Defence, many enthusiasts of history, underwater archaeology and wreck diving can feel their hearts beating faster.

-- Advertisement --

In the area of the Kerch Strait, work is underway to connect Crimea to the Taman Peninsula by means of three temporary bridges, which are due to be completed in 2016, and ultimately one main bridge, which is scheduled to open in 2018. In this way, Russia intends to make Crimea independent of Ukrainian infrastructure and close the issue of various “failures”, which are a serious nuisance for the local population.

The most interesting find so far has been the wreck of the German torpedo boat S-102, sunk on 8 March 1943. The find was made at a depth of about 16 metres in the southern part of the strait. There is no information yet about the presence of human remains – 12 sailors died as a result of the mine explosion that sank the vessel.

Unfortunately, the remains of the vessel probably made it impossible to carry out underwater work, so it was decided to cut them into pieces and bring them to the surface. In this way some fragments of the hull, screws and a 40 mm Flak 28 anti-aircraft gun were brought to light.

The search for wrecks and various objects that may interfere with the work will end on 29 July 2016. Among other things, a decision has already been taken to excavate from a depth of ~5 metres the wreckage of the Soviet attack aircraft Il-2 – side number 4057 – shot down near Kerch on 8 November 1943. Interestingly, during the fateful flight, the Soviet hero Yukin Akayev was at the controls of the machine. Both pilots survived and were rescued by the Navy.

Source: mil.ru