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8. A nearly intact German fighter airplane was found at the bottom of a Russian lake
The Messerschmitt Bf-109 was a workhorse of the German Luftwaffe throughout the Second World War, serving on the Western and Eastern Fronts and in North Africa, the skies over England, and along the Atlantic European coastline. It was a major component of the German blitzkrieg which launched the war, and a scourge for the Allied bombers which flew missions over targets over Europe. One Bf-109 which was built in 1939 flew against the Allies during the Battle of France and against the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, later being transferred to the east to take part in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Flown there by Wulf-Dietrich Widowitz, who earned 36 victories in the war, it was damaged in combat with a Soviet Hurricane and made a forced landing on a frozen lake. Widowitz was unhurt and evaded capture.
As the ice thawed the airplane sank beneath the surface of the lake, settling to the bottom where it remained until 2003, when it was discovered and brought to the surface in nearly perfect condition, other than the battle damage to the engine which had forced it down. The airplane was sent to California for preservation. The pilot was killed later in the war attempting to make another forced landing of a damaged aircraft. Another Bf-109 was found in a Russian lake, forced to land in similar circumstances in 1944, and salvaged in 2018, according to some aviation websites. Other German fighter planes have been located in various locations three quarters of a century after they were lost in action.