75 Years After A Russian Fighter Was Shot Down, Experts Heaved A Wreck From This Murky Lake
Two teams of Russian researchers have spent four years hunting for a WWII Soviet attack plane. The aircraft ditched in a lake near the Russian-Finnish border in 1943 after being damaged by enemy fire. It’s now 2017 and sonar has shown a promising signal from a 36-foot-deep lake bed near the city of Murmansk. Divers enter the chilly waters to check. It’s a delighted thumbs-up; they’ve finally found their quarry.
The Flying Tank
The plane in question is an Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, known during WWII as the “flying tank.” Its name came from the fact that its forward section was built with armor plating fashioned from an alloy expressly developed for the Shturmovik.It was a multi-purpose craft capable of bombing, ground attack and fighter operations. And its heavy armor made it a formidable fighting machine.
Captain Kalichev
Captain Alexander Ivanovich Kalichev was the Soviet airman piloting this particular Shturmovik on August 22, 1943 on a flight from an airfield near the north-western Soviet city of Murmansk. Along with the squadron he led, Kalichev was attacking German forces on Russian territory. His target was Loustari airbase not far from the border with Finland, a country then allied with the Nazis.
Crash Landing
Kalichev’s plane was hit by ground fire from anti-aircraft weapons at Loustari. His aircraft lived up to its name for toughness and despite extensive damage he was able to pilot it back towards his base. However, the Shturmovik was so badly stricken that he couldn’t make it back to his home airfield, although he did fly into Russian-held territory. He had no choice but to crash-land into a lake, where his plane sunk to the bottom.
Combat Workhorse
We’ll hear more about Captain Kalichev’s doomed mission and the ultimate fate of his sunken plane shortly. But first, let’s take the opportunity to learn more about the WWII combat workhorse of the Soviet air force, the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik. We can actually trace its origins back to pre-war days in the 1930s.
