10. A Soviet T-34 Tank was discovered in the Don River in Russia in 2015
The Soviet T-34 battle tank nearly changed the course of the war on the Eastern Front when it was first deployed in 1941. German armored tactics master Heinz Guderian claimed that the Soviet tank possessed “vast superiority” over the German armor it opposed. German forces invading the Soviet Union were stunned at the power of the T-34, and had it not been for inept Soviet leadership in the early days of the invasion, as well as the Germans converting their fabled 88 millimeter guns to serve as anti-tank weapons, the Soviets could well have repulsed the Germans sooner. The Soviet tank played a key role in the encirclement and reduction of the German Sixth Army in the battle of Stalingrad, a major turning point of the war.
In 2015, divers in the Don River in the Voronezh Oblast region discovered an intact Soviet T-34 sitting upright on the riverbed. Heavy fighting occurred in the area during the Stalingrad campaign, and speculation was that the tank, which was likely built at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, fell into the river as it tried to cross a temporary bridge. The bridge was unable to support the tank’s 30 tons. The river at the point where the vehicle was discovered was too deep for it to have attempted to cross by fording. After the discovery the tank was first checked for human remains, and none having been found it was hauled out of the Don by the Russian military. It was in such good condition after its long soak in the river that discussions to restore it to running condition were initiated by Patriot Park, a military museum near Moscow.
