WWII German Aircraft Located in Norwegian Fjord

While surveying the seabed in Trondheimsfjorden, the Norwegian Navy found the wreck of the legendary flying boat Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking, which was sunk on 10 October 1945. They also found a Heinkel He 115.

Wrecks & Archaeology
Blueye Robotics

The two wrecks are located at depths of 318m and 253m, a few kilometres from Trondheim city centre, and have never been visited by divers or underwater vehicles before. The Norwegian Navy located the wrecks using a Hugin AUV, an autonomous wireless underwater robot that can be programmed to map the seabed with sonar.

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Aircraft Wrecks of Gran Canaria

For over a year, I had been looking forward to a very special expedition that was planned for May 2014. But as you know, life does not always go the way you plan. The expedition was postponed, and once again, I had to find an alternative, at relatively short notice.

Words:
Sabine Kerkau
Images:
Sabine Kerkau
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Travel & Trips
Wrecks & Archaeology

After getting some interesting offers in March 2014, I met a rebreather diver from Gran Canaria at the Dive and Travel Show in Madrid. He suggested that I come to Gran Canaria for wreck diving. At first, I was not particularly interested, because I really wanted to do some nice wreck dives, and the Canary Islands were not necessarily known for their wealth of wrecks. I had been to Lanzarote a few times, but I had never seen any interesting wrecks there. On the contrary, I was told again and again that there were no wrecks anywhere on the Canary Islands.

Divers confirm discovery of WWII bomber in Gander Lake

An international team of divers, supported by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (SPSNL), and Ocean Quest Adventures, has confirmed the discovery of a World War II-era B-24 Liberator Bomber.

Diver reaches Liberator 589D aircraft wreck
Wrecks & Archaeology

The plane crashed upon take-off when the engine failed on 4 September 1943. The aircraft made a slow turn and barrel-rolled into Gander Lake, Newfoundland. The four-crew members did not survive.

At the time of the crash in 1943, military hardhat divers found the aircraft “Liberator 589D” on a ledge in Gander Lake. They attempted to attach cables to the fuselage to salvage the plane. They were also recovering the body of Squadron Leader John G. MacKenzie.

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Hudson Plane Wreck: WWII Light Bomber in Sweden's Gullmarsfjord

There are not many wrecks in the fjord of Gullmarn. What wrecks there are here should, of course, be slightly inaccessible, at a depth of 64m. For a long time, our dive team had talked about going down to the Hudson plane hidden in the fjord. Now, the wait was finally over

Words:
Susanne Paulsen
Images:
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Wrecks & Archaeology

History

On the night of 23 June 1942, the Lockheed Hudson Mark III G-AGDF Loch Leven—a US-made light bomber, converted into a transport plane—was on its way from Stockholm to Leuchars Airport, north of St Andrews in Scotland, as a courier. In addition to the two crew members, there were also eight passengers on board the plane.

British WWII torpedo bomber found in Norwegian fjord

Norwegian divers have localised the wreck of a Fairey Barracuda - a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber which saw extensive service during WW2, most notably the large-scale attack upon the German battleship Tirpitz on 3 April 1944.

Wrecks & Archaeology

On 22. February 1945 nine Fairey Barracuda from 821 Naval Air Squadron are launched from the aircraft carrier HMS Puncher in the North sea on a minelaying operation along the western coast of Norway, or more specifically Karmsundet which is a narrow strait south of the coastal town of Haugesund.

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Black Sea Wrecks

The distant Black Sea is a legend for all times. Tender and harsh, calm and violent, lukewarm and ice-cold—much can be said about this marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, which has enchanted sailors from all over the world since ancient times.

Words:
Pavel Lapshin
Images:
Pavel Lapshin
Oksana Istratova
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Wrecks & Archaeology

Throughout its long history, this inland sea has been called by different names. The ancient Georgians called it Spersky, the ancient Greek name was Pont Aksinsky, and even its Scythian name has survived to this day, but when and why the sea became “Black” is not certain. There are different versions that propose the name “Black” as the designation of the northern side of the world, others say that the name was given because of the anchors that turned black after serving in these waters. We will leave it to the historians to figure it out one day.

Aqaba sinks airplane for new artificial reef

On Monday, 26 August 2019, the former airliner slipped slowly below the surface, just south of Aqaba's main port, to become the latest addition to the already substantial number of artificial reefs along Jordan's stretch of Red Sea coastline.

On Monday, 26 August 2019, the former airliner slipped slowly below the surface, just south of Aqaba's main port, to become the latest addition to the already substantial number of artificial reefs along Jordan's stretch of Red Sea coastline.
Travel & Trips

The TriStar plane is a commercial airliner that has been out of service and parked at King Hussein International Airport for several years. The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) recently purchased the plane with the intention of sinking it, and it was transferred to the main port to prepare it for is final role. The TriStar is the second aircraft to become an artificial reef off Jordan's coastline. In November 2017, a Hercules C130 was scuttled a bit farther down the coast.

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Aircraft Wrecks of Papua New Guinea

World War II came to the Australian territory of Papua New Guinea in January 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Rabaul in New Britain, followed shortly after by the taking of Kavieng in New Ireland. The invasion turned Papua New Guinea into a major theatre of war in the battle for the Pacific, and there were many brutal encounters between the invading Japanese and the defending Allied forces.

Words:
Don Silcock
Images:
Don Silcock
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Travel & Trips

Conditions were often appalling and the fighting was incredibly fierce, with many young lives lost on both sides. To this day, relics of those battles are part of the fabric of Papua New Guinea.

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France: Focke-Wulf 58 Wreck

There are places in the world where time seems to stand still, where you will find contemporary witnesses of events that can take your breath away. I visited just such a place more than 100 meters deep in a French lake—Lac du Bourget. Here, for more than 70 years, rests a Focke-Wulf Fw 58C—a German WWII airplane. This particular aircraft is one of the last of its kind that exist in the world.

Words:
Sabine Kerkau
Images:
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Wrecks & Archaeology

On the nights of 26 and 27 November 1942, Airport Bruon in France was under German control. The Navigation School Number 4 of the 3rd Air Fleet was housed there. Young students were trained on the Focke-Wulf Fw 58C aircraft to become radio operators of the bomb squadron of the air force. The Focke-Wulf was used in WWII for the connection between the air bases in Bruon on Lac du Bourget and Lyon, and for monitoring the surrounding area.

The dive

Oliver and I descended along the shotline. The visibility was good but it grew dark quickly. At a depth of 95m (312ft), we reached the tail of the aircraft. I got a shiver down my spine when I saw the swastika symbol, which was lit up by my torch. It looked like it had been painted on the airplane only yesterday.

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