A fascinating video surfaced recently showing the remarkably intact frame of a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka in the Adriaticย sea off the coast of Croatia close toย the island ofย ลฝirje.ย Divers from the Croatian Department of Underwater Archeology, alongside ย members of the diving club ZG-SUB, and the Ministry of Defense Military Museum discovered the ย seventy year old wreck following details from local fishermen. The video byย Hrvoslav Pavic is provided below courtesy of Avialogs.com.
Part of the Stuka’s control panel, showing some surprisingly intact instruments. (video capture as noted earlier)
The Stuka is sitting on the bottom on its landing gear. It’s engine, ripped from its bearers, is lying nearby. Judging from historical records, the discoverers believe the German-made machine is actually a Ju-87R-2ย operated by theย Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force), during the Axisย invasion of the former Yugoslavia. The Royal Yugoslavian Army shot down two such aircraft in the local area from Squadriglia 239,ย Grupp0 97ยฐ on April 12th, 1941 when they were attacking a Royal Yugoslavian Navy flotilla anchored in Jadrotovac Bay near ล ibenik. One of these aircraft crashed heavily with the loss of its crew, but the other ditched more gracefully, and is very likely the aircraft discovered this September.
Considering how well preserved the Stuka appears to be, WarbirdsNews hopes that someone will soon raise and preserve it. There are only two completeย examples of this formidable, and once greatly feared dive bomber left in the world today, with a handful of relatively substantial wrecks also preserved. Croatian authorities have stated that they expect to recover the wreck, but have not set any time line just yet. We hope it is handled with care. Many thanks to Hrvoslav Pavic for taking the video, and to Avialogs.com for allowing us to share it.
Related Articles
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonianโs National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
