Resurrection

Relations between the US and Russia may well be at an all-time low. That makes it a good time to remember that this has not always been the case.

In April, a rusty, decrepit hunk of metal was loaded onto an Il-76 airplane and flown from one end of Russia to the other, from Murmansk to Vladivostok.

Said hunk of rusted metal was a Sherman Tank that had been sent to Russia from the US 73 years ago, to aid in the allied fight against Nazi Germany and its Axis allies.

But the tank went to the bottom of the Barents Sea on March 20, 1945, when the merchant steamer it was traveling on (along with 6000 tons of ammunition), the Thomas Donaldson, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat.

One officer and three crew members died when the torpedo hit the ship’s starboard side, while the other 68 officers and crew were evacuated  by British vessels in the convoy. Given the large amount of ammunition on board, a Soviet tug (not very unlike the one profiled in the story on page 52) tried to tow the ship toward the Kola Inlet, but the ship sank about a half mile from Kilden Island.

The wreck of the Thomas Donaldson was discovered 13 years ago, just inside Russian territorial waters. For the last three years, divers have been excavating the site as part of their naval training. So far three Sherman Tanks have been lifted from the bottom of the sea.

The tank sent to Vladivostok will reportedly be restored to working order and have pride of place in the city’s May 9 Victory Day parade. Another of the tanks will take part in the St. Petersburg parade.

The US sent 4,063 Sherman tanks to the USSR from 1942 to 1945. Some 3,664 of them arrived on Soviet soil.