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Has a Lancaster bomber been discovered under Denmark’s seas?

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Has a Lancaster bomber been discovered under Denmark’s seas?
Photo: Foto-VDW/Depositphotos"

A World War 2 aircraft may have been found at the bottom of the sea near the Danish island of Langeland.

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The aircraft, discovered in waters off the southern tip of the island, could be a Lancaster, a British bomber used during the 1939-45 war.

Denmark’s Navy has issued a temporary ban on diving, fishing, sailing or anchoring in the area due to the possibility of live ammunition being amongst the wreckage, vice commander of the Royal Danish Navy’s diving unit Bo Petersen told Ritzau.

“We received a civilian report that a diver had seen what looked like the wreckage of an old aircraft. It is probably a Lancaster bomber down there. The diver said there were also objects that could be bombs. We are responding to that,” Petersen said.

The vice commander stressed that the identity of the airplane was yet to be confirmed.

“We can’t go out and check what we’ve been told because there is too much wind and high waves,” he said on Sunday.

But a Navy diving team would be despatched at the earliest possible juncture, he added.

In a tweet, the Danish military confirmed investigation would take place "in the coming days".

“We’ll dive down to the wreckage and conduct a thorough investigation of the surrounding area for ammunition. We will thereby be able to state whether the area can be re-opened or whether we need to remove the ammunition to make the area secure,” Petersen said.

The Lancaster, a four-engine British bomber, was first produced in 1941.

According to British Royal Air Force figures, 7,377 Lancasters in total were made. After the war, they were used as reconnaissance aircraft until 1956.

There are now only two airworthy examples of the aircraft in the world – one in Canada and one in the UK.

Although the discovery in Danish waters is highly unusual, Petersen noted that a bomber aircraft was also found in the area during the construction of the Great Belt Bridge in the late 1990s.

READ ALSO: Danish schoolboy finds buried German WW2 aircraft and pilot

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