Unearthed Russian tanks from WWII - Latvia

In August 1999 in Latvia in places of battles in Kurland (late December 1944) two Soviet tanks: T-34/85 and IS-2 of the 19th Tank Corps were extracted by a group of enthusiasts.

They sank in the marsh without crews and any damages while attempting to break through the defense line of German troops. The tanks are in good condition, particularly T-34/85 (year of prod. 1944). After having changed oil and some parts of the starter and refueling, three days after its lifting and cleaning from clay and peat, we were able to start the engine and to drive the tank. This fact was filmed by Latvian TV channel LNT.

The tanks are very well preserved, especially T-34. Their battalion numbers, painted in white, are clearly visible: A-412 (T-34) and 304 (IS-2). The tanks had almost 100% set of arms, ammunition, spare pats and instruments set. While extracting T-34 from a bog, it has lost one of its external fuel tanks. Probably, they remained in a bog and were lost during extraction of the tank, since both tanks laid in a bog upside down .

www.geocities.com...

T-34




IS-2



IS-2 122mm Ammunition

That is just ten kinds of cool. I knew Soviet machinery was tough, but...well, this is quite surprising. You can pull these bastards out fo seventy odd years of muck, and still fire cannon and machine guns. Plus, they still run! Can you link to the footage?

Goes to show- in thirty million years, when teh human race is long gone, giant mutant cockroaches will be killing each other with kalishnakovs and T-34s.

DE

Damn... I knew about well made equipment..

But this is insane. I wonder way current equipment don;t last as long as they do back in he old days

There are still some Shermans off the coast of France but they didnt hold up as well in the sea. Duplex Drive Shermans didnt fair too well in the ocean


Shermans were junk compared to T-34 though luckly we had like 50,000 of them.

DD Shermans worked fine when not launched too far out - proved very useful on the UK / Canadian beaches

Shermans were pretty average in general, petrol-fuelled ones were even worse - AKA Tommy Cookers.

Made in the Urals by peasant workers during wartime, 60 years in a peat bog, and the engine starts - now that's impressive, really impressive.

They were quite something those Russians.

Great post and great pics!
Thank you

The tanks started because the mechanics involved were simple. Today's tanks, on the other hand, are anything but simple. Today's tanks and, for that matter, any "modern" vehicle are reliant upon advanced electronics and computerized components.

I don't think that it's a "miracle" that the Russian tanks started after nearly seventy years in a Latvian bog. The conditions were merely "right" for this to happen. As far as Soviet technology being advanced, thus being better is simply not correct. Simple mechanics and the proper conditions would allow almost any vehicle from that era to start. It's all a matter of chance that this occurred. Though I would have to concur with almost everyone else in saying that this event is pretty darn cool.

actually IMHO the " engine starting " is highly suspicious

" simple technology " still corrodes

valve faces and seats rust - and wil not maintain compression

valve followers rust and become siezed in ther sleeves

piston rings corrode - and will shatter when cranked

cylinder liners corrode and become pitted exacerbating ^ above

the tolerances between crank shaft and bearing shells is > 0.1mm -

oil will serarate - and rust will form on crank journals - siezing the engine solid

fuel oil in the injection pump and injectors will separate and waxes ill perciptate - blocking the injector pump elements - these are incredibly precice metal on metal tolerances that are lubricated by the fuel - EVEN proplonged exposure to air will corrode them - thats how finely machined they are

rubber seals will perish and harden

60 years burried in water logged ground is hell on an engine

as for attempting to fire a machine gun - i would shoot the marroon who tried that when i was stranding in the

i have seen 15 year old ammo that was " sealed " in plastic sheet and burried - and the condition of it was appaling - the bomb squad came and conducted controled dettonations - as it was too dangerous to move

i would not touch 60 year old rounds under any circumstance

these are the reasons the story stinks wose than the peat swamp the tank was dragged from - IMHO

Well they did say they replaced some parts and changed the oil to get them working. Peat bogs are also some of the best natural preservers on the planet.

Remember the bog people
www.pbs.org...

They were just dumped in peat bogs some sat there for thousands of years and still had skin, hair and even eye lashes. They were often preserved better then the mummies of Eygpt.


[edit on 25-2-2006 by ShadowXIX]

QUOTE : "Well they did say they replaced some parts and changed the oil to get them working. "

I guess one mans ` some parts ` is another mans ` total rebuild `



QUOTE : "Peat bogs are also some of the best natural preservers on the planet. "

peat bogs are weakly accidic - and inhibit bacretiolgical activity - thats why they act as an excellent preservative - for ORGANIC remains - rather like a pickle jar - lol

the same environment is NOT condusive to the survival of meytal objects - hint take a look at the swords and spear heads revovered from the bog digs .

and especial not precision machined parts with ultra fine tollerances and bearings

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
and especial not precision machined parts with ultra fine tollerances and bearings

I do believe that is the first, last, and only time I'm going to hear those words associated with Russian military machinery. That is, in fact, the complete opposite of their arms doctrine.

The thing is a T-series tank, the AK of war machines. It was, indeed, made by peasants in the Urals in alarming numbers. "precision machined parts" and "ultra fine tolerances"? Said peasants were lucky to have even seen a car engine in their lives, much less have the training to accomplish either feat.

DE

QUOTE : " do believe that is the first, last, and only time I'm going to hear those words associated with Russian military machinery. That is, in fact, the complete opposite of their arms doctrine. .......... The thing is a T-series tank, the AK of war machines. It was, indeed, made by peasants in the Urals in alarming numbers. "precision machined parts" and "ultra fine tolerances"? Said peasants were lucky to have even seen a car engine in their lives, much less have the training to accomplish either feat. "

WHAAA ???? where the feck do you get this info ???? - do you think these peasants whittled pistons out of wood ????

contrary to your delusions - the soviets did have lathes , mills , micrometers etc etc etc

THE t-34 series used a V-12 deisel engine - with a published compression ratio of 15:1 - thats very low for a deisel - but still requires VERY fine loterences - as an example the petrol car probally sitting out site your hose will have a compression ratio of between 9 and 12 : 1

the T33 engines being desiel also requried injector pumps and fuel injectors - have you ACTUALLY seen how they work ???? you simply CANNOT build one to ` rack of the eye ` tolerences

your " urals peasants " - were molded into an elite factory work force VERY quickly - they had tp be - stalin did not accept failure

stop denigrating the acheivements of the soviet war industries

To me, this comes at no surprise.

Soviet and Russian made arms are always extremely rugged and durable.

Just look at the mig29, it can even land on dirt strips!