WWII Rare German Bomber Found Off Of The English Coast

The wreck of a Doernier Do-17 bomber has just been officially confirmed to have been found on a Kent sandbank.

This twin engine Doernier Do-17 bomber is the only known remaining example of the type. The bomber was found by a fisherman and then identified by some recreational scuba divers. It currently rests at a depth 50 feet on a sandbank and is in such good condition that the Royal Air Force Museum plans to raise and recover it.

Up and away: Rare German wartime bomber found in Kent seabed to be raised for museum display


Some very neat side-scan sonar pictures, showing the aircraft as it currently lies in the sand can be seen at the link.

This Do-17 is most likely the bomber that was shot down on August 26, 1940, the original combat report of the downing of the bomber can be read here.

None of the over 2,000 Do-17s built were known to have survived to the present, so if this one can be recovered and restored, it will be a unique historical aircraft and a fitting display for the memorialization of the Battle of Britain.