On August 5th our dive team made the first documentation dives to the wrecksite of the German Junkers JU 88 A-5 off Hanko.
Due to the Covid 19 situation the planned extensive diving and documentation mission had to be cancelled and we were very fortunate that even this short dive was possible. The dives to the wreck were made by researchers Stefan Wessman and Matias Laitinen (Finnish Aviation Museum). Despite excellent diving conditions and lot´s of hard work no sign of the wreck could be observed on the seabed.
The sea bottom on the crashsite is made up of very fine sand forming underwater dunes that are constantly on the move depending on the sea currents, waves etc. Seems like we will need to arrange for another dive next season and use some metal detecting equipment to locate the wreck now completely covered by the moving sand dunes.
This years dive was made possible by help from Hangö Sommaruni, The Finnish Aviation Museum and The Military Museum of Finland. We will continue our co-operation in 2021.