Ξαναγεννιέται η "Καλυψώ" του Κουστώ!

Όσοι είμαστε πλέον... μεσήλικες, στα δεύτερα "...άντα", μεγαλώσαμε με τα ντοκιμαντέρ του Γάλλου εξερευνητή και ωκεανογράφου Ζακ-Υβ Κουστώ και της θρυλικής "Καλυψούς" του, του ξύλινου πρώην ναρκαλιευτικού που καθελκύστηκε το 1942.

Στις 8 Ιανουαρίου του 1996, η "Καλυψώ" βυθίστηκε στο λιμάνι της Σιγκαπούρης και λίγες ημέρες αργότερα, στις 16 Ιανουαρίου του 1996 , ανελκύστηκε. 

Ο διάσημος Γάλλος πέθανε στις 25 Ιουνίου του 1997.

Ακολούθησαν μακροχρόνιες δικαστικές περιπέτειες ανάμεσα στους κληρονόμους του Κουστώ, αλλά και του εγγονού του ιδιοκτήτη του θρυλικού σκαριού  την ώρα που η "Καλυψώ" περίμενε υπομονετικά, αρχικά ξεχασμένη στη Μασσαλία και στη συνέχεια στη Λα Ροσέλ.

Τα χρόνια περνούσαν χωρίς να υπάρχει ουσιαστική εξέλιξη στις εργασίες ανακατασκευής της "Καλυψούς", ενώ παράλληλα τα χρέη ανέβαιναν. 

Τελικά, φαίνεται ότι πλέον η "Καλυψώ" θα ξαναπετάξει στα κύματα, καθώς οι εργασίες ανακατασκευής της συνεχίζονται με αμείωτο ρυθμό σε τουρκικό ναυπηγείο, στο οποίο μεταφέρθηκε.

Οι φωτογραφίες είναι από την επίσημη ιστοσελίδα http://www.cousteau.org/

 ΠΗΓΕΣ ΦΩΤΟ: 

http://www.cousteau.org/

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WW2 Pacific Treasures: B-25 "stubborn Hellion" ditched in Papua New Guinea, 1944

B25 Stubborn Hellion
PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton

Photo by Andrew Hamilton

On February 15, 1944 took off on a low level strike mission against Kavieng. 

Leading a three plane flight over the main wharf and Chinatown areas, this B-25 was hit by anti-aircraft fire that damaged in one engine and left shrapnel holes down the left side of the fuselage. 

B-25 "Stubborn Hellion" with the nose art of a white mustang that spanned the entire nose.

This B-25 lagged behind the formation and pilot Hochella unsuccessfully attempted to feather the propeller and dove down to sea level.

The damaged engine caught fire forcing this B-25 to ditch roughly 75 yards off Selapiu Island near New Hanover at roughly Lat 2.21° Long 150.37°. 

During the ditching, the B-25 spun 180 degrees before sinking. 

On impact, pilot Hochella was thrown through the cockpit windshield strapped to his seat and armor plate, before inflating his life jacket and releasing his seat belt and briefly passed out. 

Navigator Howard was never seen again and presumed to have gone down with the sinking bomber.

Rescue

On February 16, 1944 a B-25 Mitchell pilot by Captain Dougherty from the 345th Bombardment Group spotted the downed crew. On April 17, 1944 he guided a PBY Catalina to the location. It landed and successfully rescued the surviving crew members.

Memorials

Howard was officially declared dead the day of the mission. He is memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery. 

Howard also has a memorial marker at Fairview Cemetery in Pryor, OK.

Hochella attained the rank of Lt. Col. and earned the Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) with oak leaf cluster and the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster. 

Hochella died on September 13, 2005 and is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery (Bethlehem Memorial Park) in Bethlehem, PA in section B.

Wreckage

Wreckage is in excellent condition, but water visibility is poor. Both engines were torn off on impact and rest prop down in the mud about 100 feet from the fuselage.

SOURCES AND ADDITIONAL INFO

Coming soon! Rowing in an ancient Athenian trireme!

New exclusive soon at WW2 Wrecks and pierrekosmidis.blogspot.com

Rowing in an ancient Athenian trireme!

Stay tuned!

The Lenormant Relief, from the Acropolis of Athens, depicting the rowers of an Athenian trireme, ca. 410 BC. Found in 1852, it is one of the main pictorial testaments to the layout of the trireme.

WW2 Pacific Treasures: Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" and Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" by Andrew Hamilton

The Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea 

PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton

Australian underwater photographer Andrew Hamilton recently shot images of the Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" and Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" aircraft wrecks in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea.

Kavieng peninsula and airstrip 

The Mitsubishi F1M "Pete"in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea 

PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton

Andrew Hamilton plans to visit Kwajalein and Majuro later this year to see the aircraft graveyard and other Japanese merchant shipwrecks. 

"I have heard a little about the plane graveyard and seen a few photos and have no idea how many planes were dumped from the aircraft carrier but when I was in Bikini Atoll I spoke to an American there and he said there were more than fifty aircraft if you were prepared to look as they are spread about" Andrew Hamilton said to WW2 Wrecks

Greek and British soldiers on the eve of "Operation Marita"

A propaganda photo, from a WW2 publication in Greek, mentions the following: "British and Greek troops side by side in Greece are waiting  for the battle with the nazi hordes".

Read about "Operation Marita", the German invasion of Greece, in April 1941

Soviet T-34 tank recovered from river in south Russia

A Soviet T-34-76 tank produced at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory has been retrieved from the Don River in south Russia.

The operation to recover the WWII Soviet tank was carried out near the village of Ukrainskaya Builovka in the Voronezh Region by specialists of Patriot Park in the Moscow Region, servicemen of Russia’s Western Military District and divers.

The tank was successfully retrieved by a BREM-1 repair and evacuation vehicle based on a T-72 tank from the 7-meter depth. 

The armored vehicle that had stayed at the river bottom for more than half a century endured the operation well.

All T-34 tanks produced at the Stalingrad Factory had been destroyed in battles during the first years of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in WWII.

Two versions exist about how the T-34-76 tank got into the river bed. 

The first version has been offered by local residents who say that the Soviet troops sank the tank during their retreat so that it would not get into the enemy’s hands. 

However, as Kalemberg said, the tank’s armament was not removed, which speaks against this version.

According to the second version, the tank was moving along a pontoon bridge when it fell into the river. 

This version appears to hold true as the sunken pontoons, transport vehicles and small-size vessels stayed close to the tank at the river bed. As Kalemberg said, the tank was most likely lost in the summer of 1942.

Patriot Park specialists said earlier the tank weighs about 30 tons.

The unique T-34 tank recovered from the river has remained in a very good condition and can run again, Kalemberg said.

"If it is restored externally, this won’t be difficult and won’t take much time as it has remained in a very good condition. 

If we start restoring it to its running condition, this will take more time," he said, speaking about the time limits of the tank’s restoration.

"I hope we’ll restore it to the running condition," Kalemberg said.

According to preliminary data, there are neither munitions and other dangerous items nor crew remains inside the tank.

Source: Tass.com

Salvaged! An Arado Ar196 (No. 216) lost in 1944 recovered in the Aegean Sea, Greece!

A German Arado Ar 196 seaplane, which was lost on February 28, 1944, at a depth of about 480 meters between Naxos and Ikaria islands in the Aegean Sea, Greece, was the unexpected catch of a fishing boat, the "Fearless II". 

Surprisingly, Thanasis Sorokos the captain of the trawler found that something heavy was entangled in their nets.

When raised, they found that part of the fuselage, the engine and a wing of the seaplane, with the German cross still visible, returned from the abyss of the Aegean, carrying nuggets of the dramatic history of the Second World War as it unfolded in Greece.

The identity of the airplane was confirmed thanks to the strenuous efforts of a distinguished researcher and writer. 

According to Byron Tesapsides, who published his book "The German Luftwaffe in Greece in World War II", an Arado 196 made ​​an emergency water landing due to mechanical damage and later sank close to the island of Ikaria.

"This is the only reference in German seaplane records for loss of that type, so it is highly likely that it is the No. 216 model A3”

Arado Ar 196: 526 built, 3 survive today

Just three Arado Ar 196 are preserved today from the 526 that came off the production line. 

Two are exhibited in the US and one in Bulgaria, an ally of the nazis during the Second World War. 

In Greece Arados were mainly used for reconnaissance and convoy cover in the Aegean. The most notable success was the capture of a British submarine, the HMS Seal, in the North Sea near Denmark in 1940.

The Arado Ar 196 is currently waiting patiently for its restoration at the Hellenic Air Force Museum, Tatoi, Athens