GERMAN military divers are working to hoist the wreck of a Stuka dive bomber from the floor of the Baltic Sea, a rare example of the plane that once wreaked havoc over Europe as part of the Nazis' war machine during World War II.
The single-engine monoplane carried sirens that produced a distinctive and terrifying screaming sound as it dove vertically to release its bombs or strafe targets with its machine guns. There are only two complete Stukas still around.
The Stuka wreck, first discovered in the 1990s when a fisherman's nets snagged on it, lies about 10 kilometers off the coast of the German Baltic island of Ruegen, in about 18 meters of water.
The divers have been working over the past week to prepare the bomber to be hoisted to the surface, using fire hoses to carefully free it from the sand. They have already brought up smaller pieces and also hauled up its motor over the weekend.
They are now working to free the main 9-meter fuselage piece and expect to bring it up today, depending on the weather, said Captain Sebastian Bangert, a spokesman from the German Military Historical Museum in Dresden, which is running the recovery operation.
Initial reports are that it is in good condition despite having spent the last seven decades at the bottom of the sea, he said.
The Junkers JU87 - known by most as the Stuka, which is short for the German word for dive bomber 'Sturzkampfflugzeug" - first saw service in the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, being sent by Hitler to help the fascists.
The only two known complete Stukas are on display at the Royal Air Force Museum in London and at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, United States. Both are later models.
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