WWII Russian tank found with German markings after 62 years  WW II

      Buffs will find this interesting. Even after 62 years (and a little

      tinkering), they were able to fire up the Diesel Engine!

      A Komatsu D375A-2 pulled an abandoned tank from its archival tomb

      under the bottom of a lake near Johvi , Estonia . The Soviet-built

      T34/76A tank had been resting at the bottom of the lake for 56 years.

      According to its specifications, it's a 27-tonne machine with a top

      speed of 53km/hr.

      From February to September 1944, heavy battles were fought in the

      narrow, 50 km-wide, Narva front in the north-eastern part of Estonia

      Over 100,000 men were killed and 300,000 men were wounded there.

      During battles in the summer of 1944,the tank was captured from the

      Soviet army and used by the German army. (This is the reason that

      there are German markings painted on the tank's exterior.) On 19th

      September, 1944, German troops began an organized retreat along the

      Narva front. It is suspected that the tank was then purposefully

      driven into the lake, abandoning it when its captors left the area.

      At that time, a local boy walking by the lake, Kurtna Matasjarv,

      noticed tank tracks leading into the lake, but not coming out

      anywhere. For two months he saw air bubbles emerging fro m the lake.

      This gave him reason to believe that there must be an armored vehicle

      at the lake's bottom. A few years ago, he told the story to the

      leader of the local war history club 'Otsing'. Together with other

      club members, Mr. Igor Shedunov initiated diving expeditions to the

      bottom of the lake about a year ago. At the depth of 7 metres they

      discovered the tank resting under a 3 metre layer of peat.

      Enthusiasts from the club, under Mr Shedunov's leadership, decided to

      pull the tank out. In September of 2000 they turned to Mr Aleksander

      Borovkovthe, manager of the Narva open pit of the stock company AS

      Eesti Polevkivi, to rent the company's Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer.

      Currently used at the pit, the Komatsu dozer was manufactured in

      1995, and has 19,000 operating hours without major repairs.

      The pulling operation began at 09:00 and was concluded at 15:00, with

      several technical breaks. The weigh t of the tank, combined with the

      travel incline, made a pulling operation that required significant

      muscle. The D375A-2 handled the operation with power and style. The

      weight of the fully armed tank was around 30 tons, so the active

      force required to retrieve it was similar. A main requirement for the

      68-ton dozer was to have enough weight to prevent shoe-slip while

      moving up the hill.

      After the tank surfaced, it turned out to be a trophy tank that had

      been captured by the German army in the course of the battle at

      Sinimaed (Blue Hills) about six weeks before it was sunk in the lake.

      Altogether, 116 shells were found on board. Remarkably, the tank was

      in Good Condition, with NO RUST,and ALL SYSTEMS (except the engine)

      in working condition. This is a very rare machine, especially

      considering that it fought both on the Russian and the German sides.

      Plans are under way to fully restore the tank. It will be displayed

      at a war history museum, tha t will be founded at the Gorodenko

      village on the left bank of the River Narv.

      Preparing to pull it out.