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Look what the cat dragged in!

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Look what the cat dragged in!
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 1:52 AM
I found this while out surfing. Released from it's boggy tomb in Estonia, a T-34/76 in German markings;



Complete with ammunition!
Here is the link for some more photos;
http://www.mil.hiiumaa.ee/2000_09_14_kurtna_T-34-36/index.html
Word has it that the engine has already been fired up and this machine is well on it's way to a complete restoration. Party [party]
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Ozarks of Arkansas
Posted by diggeraone on Thursday, September 2, 2004 2:23 AM
What I want to know is how did they find it buryed in all that mud and water.It looks like it has been pesreved by all that mud and water.Digger
Put all your trust in the Lord,do not put confidence in man.PSALM 118:8 We are in the buisness to do the impossible..G.S.Patton
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: United Kingdom / Belgium
Posted by djmodels1999 on Thursday, September 2, 2004 2:44 AM
Wonder if the crew was still in..?!
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posted by ridleusmc on Thursday, September 2, 2004 3:26 AM
I'd love to know the story of how that old warhorse got lost in the mud for 60 years. It's story is most likely lost to history.
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Spartanburg, SC
Posted by subfixer on Thursday, September 2, 2004 5:43 AM
It still has the patriotic slogans painted on the port side of the turret put there by the original owners. I would really like to know what it says. If it is as reliable as legends say, then a couple of good whacks with a hammer should be enough to start it up and drive out of there. What a great find!

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 6:50 AM
How cool would that be. I bet some kids were out fishing or swimming or something and ran across the beast. It looks like if you hosed it off and ran some eather through the tanks, you could fire it right up. Amazing. Must have been very low O2 content in that water.

Ted
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 6:57 AM
Wish I could find something like that. But a great find none the least, especially in German markings.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 10:13 AM
Wish I could see one of those in real life, let alone own one. lol, that'd be a good project to restore it, looks in ok condition. The turret top looks open, so it might be ruined inside.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 10:56 AM
Amazing. I too wanna know how it was noticed, and why is it in german markings??
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Long Island
Posted by Moses on Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:34 AM
Isn't it finders keepers. The guy who found it, owns it right. The statute of limitations would have to be up by now, especially since it was stolen by the Germans in the first place Wink [;)] In all seriousness...I think that is awesome.
"ZIM FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER!!"
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:38 AM
I'm scared to see the cat that dragged that in! Wink [;)]
Nice find.
  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: PA
Posted by mjohnson on Thursday, September 2, 2004 12:13 PM
It would be interesting to find out what happened to the Russian crew and German crew. Did the tank have a long and eventful service or did roll off the assembly line into battle into the mud? Just some of the questions that surround this tank.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 1:22 PM
nNow all we need to do is learn Russian.Tongue [:P]
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Belgium
Posted by DanCooper on Thursday, September 2, 2004 1:38 PM
That must have been hell of a BIG cat !!!

Seriously I've tried to use Photoshop to make the slogan readable, but either it's too far gone, or my photoshopskills are by far not good enough.

Personally I think the problem is with my skills Smile [:)]

On the bench : Revell's 1/125 RV Calypso

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Belgium
Posted by DanCooper on Thursday, September 2, 2004 1:47 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by djmodels1999

Wonder if the crew was still in..?!


I've red they were and according to the article, the first thin they asked for was a schnapps. Smile [:)]

Tediam, judging by the pics on that site the area over there looks swampy-ish, that would explain the low O2 level, that's why sometimes they still find bodies of people who died centuries ago.

On the bench : Revell's 1/125 RV Calypso

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 1:51 PM
Since it was found in Estonia and is in German markings I wouldn't be surprised if it was abandoned
by the Germans and deliberately sunk in the bog (to prevent the Russians re-acquiring it!) during their hasty retreat from the Baltic area later
in the war. The Germans often used captured vehicles for security duties in occupied areas, I think.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 2:08 PM
I think that most of the tank would be intact. Leather, and other fibers might be too far gone to use, but the basic vehicle would be fine. On the shot showing the left rear quarter, you can see how the sides of the tank have rusted on an internal weld line. Nothing that can't be fixed though. As far as owning one of these, they are available on the international market. Do a Google search for T-34 and militiary vehicle sales, and you should find someone who has one. Why not, after the guns are removed, it becomes nothing more than a large tractor. Legal both in Canada and the U.S.!
Gives a new meaning to the old jalopy in the garage! (HAHAHAHH!)

Rob Savage
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 3:11 PM
If you look at the second to the last photo on the webpage, you can see at least one white stripe running diagonally through the Balkankreuz across the front of the hull.



My guess is that this is the remains of a rather sparse winter camouflage and the crew of this Wehrmacht employed T-34 mistakenly drove the vehicle across the snow covered, frozen bog, thinking it was just a meadow, and fell through the ice. I'm sure this happened countless times throughout the war, that is why we keep seeing folks dragging these beasts out of swamps. No one in there right mind would have driven a tank straight into a swamp if they could see it.
Peat bogs are remarkable for their ability to preserve things which has been dropped into them. The low oxygen levels, cold temperatures and reducing environment of peat bogs have lead to some spectacular finds of animal and human remains being recovered after centuries and even millennia of burial. The Iron Age Bog Man of the British Museum in London is a prime example. Skin, hair, fingernails, cloth, leather, even tattoos have been preserved. If the crew of this tank did not make it out alive, chances are they would still be preserved, albeit a lot worse for wear and tear, inside the vehicle. Notice the almost total lack of rust on this vehicle, an indication of the low oxygen, reducing environment that this tank has sat in for the last 60 odd years.
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Alberta, Canada
Posted by stukabomb88 on Thursday, September 2, 2004 3:36 PM
that's incredible!!!
"If you live for personal gain, you have lived in vain." -Devon OpdenDries
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 4:07 PM
It would suck if they didn't do much with it for a while and it got covered in rust. It would be another thing ruined by man (and in this case built by man)
  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Dallas
Posted by KINGTHAD on Thursday, September 2, 2004 4:23 PM
What a cool find, Thanks for the pics

Thad
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Thursday, September 2, 2004 5:39 PM
Just goes to show you that there's still a lot of history out there waiting to be stumbled across at the right moment in time. Who knows how many countless other examples of different equipment might have met similar fates? Very nice find, thanks for posting the pics/links!
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA
Posted by tigerman on Thursday, September 2, 2004 6:44 PM
Wonder how many Tigers might be in those? Or whatelse lays below.

   http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/wing_nut_5o/PANZERJAGERGB.jpg

 Eric 

  • Member since
    October 2003
  • From: Clovis, Calif
Posted by rebelreenactor on Thursday, September 2, 2004 7:28 PM
Thats crazy! Its in german markings too. Wow. Thanks for the pics
John
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 8:33 PM
Amazing I say! Ahh to be a Eastern European with a metal detector must be a wonderful lot indeed! I personally would give my left testicle to walk through those forests searching for history. Thanks for the pics!
Ryan
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: NE Georgia
Posted by Keyworth on Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:24 PM
Fantastic find. Thanks for posting it for us.
"There's no problem that can't be solved with a suitable application of high explosives"
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:41 PM
Here is some more info and some more photos at the bottom of the page;
http://www.diving.ee/articles/art035.html

Be sure to check out the video clip of them starting the engine!
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Northeast Washington State
Posted by JCon on Friday, September 3, 2004 12:32 AM
That is a truly amazing find and thanks for sharing it with us!
Happy Modeling, Joe Favorite Quote: It's what you learn after you know it all that counts!
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Texas
Posted by wbill76 on Friday, September 3, 2004 9:49 AM
After 50+ years submerged in a bog and it starts right up. Amazing!
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 3, 2004 8:54 PM
Makes one wonder how may other relics are reposing in remote bogs just waiting to be discovered. Now if someone would just find a Panther or Tiger!
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