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BERLIN -- German military divers are working to hoist the wreck ofa Stuka dive bomber from the floor of the Baltic Sea, a rareexample of the plane that once wreaked havoc over Europe as part ofthe Nazis' war machine. The single-engine monoplane carried sirens that produced adistinctive and terrifying screaming sound as it dove vertically torelease its bombs or strafe targets with its machine guns. Thereare only two complete Stukas still around. The Stuka wreck, first discovered in the 1990s when a fisherman'snets snagged on it, lies about 10 kilometers (6 miles) off thecoast of the German Baltic island of Ruegen, in about 18 meters (60feet) of water. The divers have been working over the past week to prepare thebomber to be hoisted to the surface, using fire hoses to carefullyfree it from the sand. They have already brought up smaller piecesand also hauled up its motor over the weekend. They are now working to free the main 9-meter (30-foot) fuselagepiece and expect to bring it up on Tuesday, depending on theweather, said Capt. Sebastian Bangert, a spokesman from the GermanMilitary Historical Museum in Dresden, which is running therecovery operation. Initial reports are that it is in good condition despite havingspent the last seven decades at the bottom of the sea, he said. "From my perspective there's a lot of damage – it's beenunder water for 70 years – but our restoration crew says it'sin really good condition for being restored," said Bangert,speaking from the deck of the Navy ship being used for theoperation. "That's our goal – a complete restoration and notconservation as a wreck." So far, little is known about this particular plane – when itcrashed, who its pilot and gunner were and whether they survivedthe crash, Bangert said. Once the plane is brought to the surface,researchers will use the serial number to track down all of theinformation. The Junkers JU87 – known by most as the Stuka, which is shortfor the German word for dive bomber `Sturzkampfflugzeug" –first saw service in the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, being sent byHitler to help the fascists. The only two known complete Stukas are on display at the Royal AirForce Museum in London and at the Museum of Science and Industry inChicago. Both are later models. Bangert said from the motor, theone just found is also likely a later model "JU87D." Still, to find such a complete example is "terrific," said AndrewSimpson, curator of the aircraft collection at the RAF Museum. "You are still talking about less than a dozen in the world, evenif you include every back end and center section found on theRussian steppes," he said. "Any Stuka is good." Following its service in Spain, Stukas fired the first shots ofWorld War II, dropping Nazi bombs on the Polish town of Wielun onSept. 1, 1939, killing some 1,200 civilians in what is consideredone of the first terror bombings in history. German ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel claimed to have destroyed more than500 tanks, mostly on the Eastern Front, and several ships includinga Soviet battleship, primarily in the Stuka. The Stuka was used throughout the World War II, but for all itssuccesses in the early days on the Western Front and in the laterinvasion of the Soviet Union, the aircraft was later overmatched byquicker and more maneuverable Allied fighter planes. As museum pieces today, they're a big draw for visitors and alsoimportant for researchers and historians, said Kathleen McCarthy,director of collections at Chicago's Museum of Science andIndustry, whose Stuka had been shot down over Libya in the lastyear of the war. "The discovery and raising of a third Stuka from the sea floor willbe a great asset for both scholars and the general publicinterested in learning more about historic military technology aswell as this critical period in our world history," she said. The German Military Historical Museum plans to eventually displaythe Stuka at its Air Force Museum, located at the former Gatowairport in Berlin. Also on HuffPost:. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Smd Led Module , China Dimmable Led Spotlight, and more. For more , please visit Dimmable Led Spotlight today!
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