'Hetzer' extracted from Baltic's bottom at Hel

Njorl · Post by **Njorl** » Sat May 26, 2007 7:29 am

Greetings,

I'm happy to inform that today May 26th at about noon near Jurata (Hel Peninsula aka Halbinsel Hela) 'Hetzer' tank-killer had been robbed from vaults of Baltic Sea

Source: Odkrywca

According to information provided on Forum Odkrywca site the vehicle is in good shape (although it lacks roof and back armour plates) and most probably will be restored.

Link to gallery with still hot pictures: http://www.odkrywca.pl/galerie.php?nazwa=432

Regards,

MJU

PS. On photos #23 and #27 you can even see projectile stuck in the barrel

sniper1shot · Post by **sniper1shot** » Sat May 26, 2007 12:45 pm

Now that is just awesome. Thanks for the link and info.

Wonder how it got there?

Rolf Steiner · Post by **Rolf Steiner** » Sat May 26, 2007 5:05 pm

how did the projectile get stuck in that part of the barrel without exploding? and what's the vehicle in front of it in that picture??

Hans Knospler · Post by **Hans Knospler** » Sat May 26, 2007 5:36 pm

Oh! How cool!

Were there any 'remains' of the crew if they died in there? Pretty awesome. Thanks for the info! :)

sniper1shot · Post by **sniper1shot** » Sat May 26, 2007 5:46 pm

Recovery veh is a T54/55 body with the turret removed and converted into a recovery tank.

I am wondering if that part of land was originally dry and over the years the sea has reclaimed it, burying all that was there.

How did they come to find the tank?

phylo_roadking · Post by **phylo_roadking** » Sun May 27, 2007 5:09 am

I know there's a barge somewhere off the Polish coast with a number of AFVs on its deck, reputed to be a number of StuGs and at least one Hetzer - its not from this is it?

Njorl · Post by **Njorl** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:02 pm

I suspect it is not one of them, phylo. A barge with several 7TP light tanks is also reported to have sunk in Vistula River in September 1939. THIS would be a discovery!

According to information posted on Odkrywca's Forum 15 years ago the vehicle was standing in the water about 50 metres off the beach, covered with sand. Baltic is rather aggressive in taking the land and I suspect that it could have stuck on the shore - note the damaged track - and was susequently overwhelmed by sea over these years. As far as I know there no remains of its crew had been found. It might have been abandoned.

How did they find it? About year and a half ago one person started a thread on Odkrywca's Forum that about a dozen years ago he had been playing in a tank sunk in the sea

I suspect it all started then. Of course there was a lot of wondering whether this is just another fable or not. You should know, that there are a lot of tanks sunk in swamps all over the Poland. Of course all of them Tigers

This was the second attempt to recover the vehicle - previous time stormy weather did not allow to even start the operation.

Regards,

MJU

phylo_roadking · Post by **phylo_roadking** » Sun May 27, 2007 1:06 pm

Well, OF COURSE theyre all Tigers - I mean, who wants to have childhood rose-tinted memories of just another bloody PzIV at the bottom of the garden to play in???

Njorl · Post by **Njorl** » Mon May 28, 2007 1:09 am

Hello,

Yet another gallery eg. showing the beast emerging from sea http://www.odkrywca.pl/galerie.php?nazwa=433

Regards,

MJU

TPMM · Post by **TPMM** » Mon May 28, 2007 3:48 am

By the way: what are they doing to do with it? will it end in Poznań's barracks as most of such vehicles?

Doktor Krollspell · Post by **Doktor Krollspell** » Mon May 28, 2007 6:52 am

Hello Njorl and thanks for the great pictures!

It makes me wonder how it must have felt to go to the beach back in the fifities, sixities and so, building sand castles and playing arond the Hetzer...

Great pics!

Krollspell

sniper1shot · Post by **sniper1shot** » Mon May 28, 2007 9:48 am

This is just GREAT.
Love it when they find WWII Relics.

Keep us informed.

Thanks!

Njorl · Post by **Njorl** » Mon May 28, 2007 11:43 am

You welcome Gentlmen

Another gallery - the last I know of: http://www.odkrywca.pl/galerie.php?nazwa=434

The thing stuck in the barrel tuned out to be a ramrod, not the projectile.

The vehicle is to enrich the collection of Museum of Motorisation in Gdynia.

Regards,

MJU

PS. Also RSO's chasis was excavated last friday as well, but it is in rather poor condiction.

Roddoss72 · Post by **Roddoss72** » Mon May 28, 2007 6:11 pm

Another ghost of the past resurfaces, that is simply awesome, hope to see more stuff on the subject.

Dragunov · Post by **Dragunov** » Mon May 28, 2007 7:22 pm

what beest thy rod like thingies here?
http://www.odkrywca.pl/slajd.php?gn=433&f=hetzer225.jpg