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US vintage tank from sunken ship to be restored for V-Day parade in Vladovostok

The hull of a US vintage tank has been brought to Vladivostok for restoration and subsequent participation in Victory Day ceremonies

VLADOVOSTOK, April 9. /TASS/. The hull of a US vintage tank has been brought to Vladivostok for restoration and subsequent participation in Victory Day ceremonies, the Pacific Fleet’s spokesman, Nikolai Voskresensky, said on Monday.

"On April 8, an Ilyushin-76 transport plane landed at the Knevichi airbase of the Pacific Fleet to deliver from Murmansk the hull of a World War II US-made tank Sherman," he said.

According to earlier reports, two Sherman tanks were recovered from the sunken cargo ship The Thomas Donaldson from a depth of more than 50 meters in the area of Kildin Island in the Barents Sea. One of the two combat vehicles will be participating in forthcoming V-Day celebrations in St. Petersburg. The other tank will be restored to its original condition and put on display in Vladivostok.

The Thomas Donaldson cargo ship carrying batch of Sherman tanks was sunk by a Nazi U-boat in March 1945. The Arctic convoy was on the way to Murmansk. In February 1942 through July 1945 a total of 50,000 such tanks were made. It was the world’s third most widely used tank in history and number one US tracked combat vehicle. About 4,000 such tanks were brought to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease program.