|
|
| September 15, 2012 | Wreckage of German WW II warplane found off Sardinia coast | |
Washington: The wreckage of a huge German aircraft of the Second World War era has been found off the coast of Sardinia nearly 70 years after it was shot down by a British fighter in the during the war. A team of Italian researchers have revealed that, employed between 1942 and 1944, the plane known as Messerschmitt 323 "Giant," was the largest land-based transport aircraft used in World War II. ""Until now, no Me-323 had survived from the war, which makes
this finding of great historical importance," Discovery News quoted Cristina Freghieri,
a diver and amateur historian who discovered the wreck at a depth of 200 feet
off the coast of the island of Sardinia, as saying. With a 181-foot wingspan and
six engines, the aircraft was 33 feet tall and 92 feet long and could carry a
load of up to 12 tons, or 120 fully-equipped men into battle, the report said.
After spending a year searching military archives and flight path records, Freghieri
identified the wreck with a wire-guided camera and then explored it with a small
team of researchers. "It was a pure emotional charge to suddenly see the airplane
in the veiled blue of the sea. First we saw a piece of a sheet of metal, then
another until the plane appeared, in an explosion of images, in all its beauty.
My heart skipped a beat," Freghieri said. It is the second important discovery
of a WW II wreck off Sardinia in just three months, the report said.
|
|
|
|
Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
|
