From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Tue Nov 30 2004 - 10:59:17 PST
Hi Ryan,
>Wow, talk about preserved. The rubber on the road wheels is still
>there. Russian mud seems to be a great way to preserve an MV.
Very true. There have been a number of such recoveries in recent years,
including a rather rare T-34/76 variant that fell through the ice during
winter 1941/42 near Moscow during training. All the ammo, shy of one or
two rounds, were pulled out intact.
It would seem that a combo of moderate/cold temps, lack of oxygen and
sunlight, and soil type act as excellent preservatives. The T-34/76 I
mentioned looked like it could have been started up with a little gas and
a new battery!
BTW, there is a German Sturmgeschutz III on display at Ft Knox's Patton
Museum that was recovered from a swamp in somewhere in the north.
Unfortunately the first attempt to raise it, a few decades ago, involved
some "brilliant thinkers". They simply put a hook into the commander's
hatch and tried to yank it up that way. The physics of suction never
entered into the equation and the top structure was seriously damaged.
Years later it was recovered again and found its way to the Patton Museum
in trade for some junker helos we had lying around. Good trade for us :-)
Steve
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