WWII Dornier bomber raised from English Channel

WWII Dornier bomber raised from English Channel

I expect many of my readers who are based in the U.K. will have been following this story as I have (and I'm sure overseas readers will be interested to hear about this project too), but only now do I feel justified in posting about it since it has (finally!) ended in practically complete success.

I can hardly believe that it has been nearly 3 years since I featured on this blog the news that the only known intact example of a Second World War German Dornier 17 bomber had been discovered resting in shallow water off the Kent coast.  In that time numerous dives had been made to study the wreck and devise a way to raise it from the Goodwin Sands - a plan that was put into action (as originally envisaged) last month.

Dornier 17: Salvaging a rare WWII plane from the seabed

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Alas the English Channel was not keen to relinquish its grasp of this aeroplane and it has taken until now - over a month from the anticipated salvage date - for it to finally see daylight for the first time in 70 years.  It has been a remarkable feat of engineering - not to mention patience! - to bring this aircraft out of the sea in as near as dammit one piece and one that very nearly looked like not coming off at all.  Thankfully all the time and money invested in this endeavour looks to have been worth it as the world's only extant Do17 airframe begins its new journey to the RAF Museum at Cosford, where it will undergo extensive restoration over the next two years and then eventually form a suitable counterpoint in the Battle of Britain exhibit at the Hendon museum.  Quite what form this will take I'm not sure, as I had thought the original plan was to keep it pretty much as it was found and the museum website talks about "conserving" it, but maybe they feel a full restoration is possible and desirable.  No doubt we shall see come 2015!  I shall look forward to continuing to follow Dornier 17 5K+AR's story over the next two years and hope to see it, in whatever form, at the RAF Museum in the future.

Luftwaffe Dornier 17 at Goodwin Sands 'still intact'

Luftwaffe Dornier 17 at Goodwin Sands 'still intact'

More details here of the rare Second World War German bomber that was discovered in remarkably complete condition beneath the shifting sands off the south coast of England back in September.

I posted about that initial find at the time and since then things seemed to have moved forward somewhat; a clearer picture of the state of the wreck is emerging and appears to confirm the original impression that it is by and large intact, missing only the parts that one might expect from an aircraft that has been on the seabed for the past 70 years after a forced water landing.

I'm pleased to see a place has already been earmarked for it in a new Battle of Britain display, less so that it has already become an attraction for unscrupulous souvenir hunters - let us hope that the monies required to raise the aircraft are quickly accrued and the thoughtless vandals found and prosecuted before too much damage, either natural or man-made, is done.  I also understand the thinking, now that it has been fully explained, behind keeping it very much as it is rather than fully restoring it.  By leaving it absolutely original it will save a lot of money, stop it from becoming little more than a reproduction and certainly add to its story!

All in all a one-of-a-kind, historically valuable aeroplane is on the verge of seeing the light of day for the first time in seven decades and will hopefully take its place alongside the remaining extant players of the Battle of Britain for us all to appreciate.

It suddenly occurred to me that, stored away somewhere, I had an old Airfix model of the aeroplane in question.  So having temporarily liberated it from its sadly currently moth-balled box, I present my own example of the Dornier Do-17Z.

 

WWII German bomber to be recovered from Goodwin Sands

WWII German bomber to be recovered from Goodwin Sands

An amazing find here, of the kind that is worthy of preservation. We hear a lot, particularly in this Battle of Britain/Blitz 70th Anniversary year, about the 'planes of the RAF and the gallant men who flew them and quite rightly so. What we don't see so much of are examples of the opposite number's equipment and the insight and understanding it can provide into the wider scale of the air war.

So the discovery of this Dornier Do17 bomber (nicknamed "The Flying Pencil" because of its slender fuselage) under the sands off the south coast of England is a welcome one, all the more so because it appears to be in such remarkably good condition all told (with air still in the tyres, no less!) and is able to be raised and restored without too much difficulty. From there it will soon be on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, where it should serve as a rare example of the type of aircraft British pilots were fighting on a daily basis in the skies of 1940 Britain.