Wreckage of Douglas A-20 bomber already on the surface

The wreck of a World War II aircraft was successfully raised from the bottom and brought to the surface. The American-built bomber, which most probably belonged to the Soviets, was found some time ago, but it was difficult to carry out the operation. Fortunately, it was possible and since yesterday the remains of the plane have been in the harbour of the Polish Navy.

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The first excavation attempt carried out in autumn 2013 by a private company, supported by employees of the National Maritime Museum, came to nothing. The reason was that the waves were too strong, which posed a high risk of damaging or even breaking the wreck of the bomber during the excavation attempt.

Mystery – this word was present wherever this plane was mentioned. Beginning with its location, through details concerning its condition (with time, rumours began to circulate in the environment that the wreck was hooked with an anchor by one of the naval vessels and, as a result, suffered serious damage), up to the date of its excavation.

The whole action of lifting the wreck began on Saturday and lasted for several hours. The “St. Barbara” scientific research vessel, equipped with appropriate equipment in the form of cranes, was used in the raising. The Douglas was successfully brought to the surface and transferred aboard the tug “Kambr” only on Sunday.

The expedition returned to the Gdynia harbour on Sunday evening. Despite the fact that the employees of tvn24 managed to film the returning units with the plane on board, no one at the NMM wanted to confirm the information about the bomber’s recovery. It was only the new week that brought official information confirming the action of retrieving and transporting Douglas to Gdynia.

The lifting of the entire wreck of the Douglas A-20 aircraft from the bottom of the Baltic Sea is the first such professional attempt by a Polish museum and one of the more spectacular events in Polish archaeology since the war.

This is also an important project for Polish museology, as noted by Dr Jerzy Litwin, director of the National Maritime Museum. After being retrieved, the plane will be handed over to a specialist museum such as the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow, where it will undergo a conservation process and further studies

“Lifting the aircraft in its entirety from the seabed is an extremely ambitious challenge, requiring specialist knowledge, experience and precise coordination of the project team,” says Iwona Pomian, head of the Underwater Research Department of the National Maritime Museum in Gdansk, coordinator of the excavation project. – “The task was made more difficult by the fact that Rozewie, where the wreck of the Douglas A-20 aircraft is located, is a place particularly exposed to wind and waves. Thanks to favourable weather conditions, we witnessed the only lifting of an entire World War II aircraft from the bottom of the Baltic Sea in Poland”. – he adds.

“The wreck has been under water for 70 years, but has been preserved in good condition. Apart from the exceptional value of the object resulting from the few preserved airframes of this type worth saving, we can practically speak about the uniqueness of this find and its great significance for Polish museum collections,” emphasises Iwona Pomian.

The saga, which has provided us with a lot of emotions over the past year, is slowly coming to an end. From the moment finding the bomber by employees of the Maritime Office in Gdynia, through the interesting history of this American design, the decision to retrieve, refurbish and transfer the A-20 to the Polish Aviation Museum, to further retrieval attemptsfinally crowned with success.

This is not the first time that the Polish Navy has helped in the protection of relics lying in the sea. The cooperation started already in the last century on the occasion of research on the wrecks of “Miedziowiec”, “Książkowiec”, “Zbożowiec” or “Solen”. Recently the museum and the Navy divers cooperated in the excavation of 18th century cast iron cannons found by the Maritime Institute in Gdansk 30 miles from the port of Ustka. LOTOS Petrobaltic in turn became famous for the discovery of the wreck of the German aircraft carrier “Graf Zeppelin” at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

As the NMM informs in a press release, the object is the sixteenth preserved monument of its kind in the world and will constitute an extremely valuable exhibit for Polish museology.

More information will be given after the conference of the National Maritime Museum. The museum was supported in its excavation by partners in the form of the Polish Navy and LOTOS Petrobaltic, which lent its vessels “St. Barbara” and “Kambr”.

Pictures in better resolution can be found in our gallery.

Source and Photo: National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk