Lost for 82 Years: Undersea Archaeology Brings Hope of Finally Naming a Missing WWII Crew

Marine archaeologists say they are closer than ever to identifying the crew of a long-lost World War II bomber after an underwater expedition recovered machine guns with intact serial numbers, a breakthrough that could bring closure to families still waiting for answers. According to Phys.org’s report on the mission, the find could help link the wreck to its crew manifest for the first time in over eight decades.

The wreck is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, an iconic heavy bomber used by the U.S. Army Air Forces during the Second World War. The aircraft went down in 1943 over the Baltic Sea and was lost along with its crew. The wreck was first reported by local divers in 2001, but only recently did a team from Texas A&M University, working in partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), locate and survey the site using modern underwater-archaeology technology.

Using side-scan sonar, magnetometry, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), researchers scanned a square kilometre of seafloor before identifying metal anomalies consistent with aircraft debris. Direct dive inspections confirmed the find, revealing scattered B-17 components such as turbine parts, wing fragments, and fuel tanks lying under cold, low-visibility water. Popular Science’s coverage of the expedition described how divers encountered “textbook Baltic conditions,” with visibility under three metres and silt-laden water obscuring the remains.

Amid the wreckage, the team made a remarkable discovery: two of the bomber’s .50-caliber machine guns, wrenched free in the crash but preserved on the seabed for over 80 years. After careful cleaning and desalination, the team revealed that the serial numbers were still clearly legible. Because these wartime weapons were tightly tracked, each number could be cross-referenced against archival records to pinpoint which aircraft and crew they were issued to. As Popular Science noted in its feature, the find represents “a forensic key to unlocking one of the Baltic’s great aviation mysteries.”

Project anthropologist Katie Custer Bojakowski from Texas A&M’s Department of Anthropology explained that matching the serials to U.S. Army Air Force maintenance records could finally confirm the aircraft’s identity. “As more archival research is done on the serial numbers, we’ll have a positive identification of the aircraft, and then a positive identification of the people who were known to be lost on the aircraft,” she said.

The mission forms part of a wider initiative between Texas A&M and the DPAA to help resolve the fates of America’s missing service members. More than 81,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, according to U.S. Defense Department records. As Phys.org observed, the project blends underwater science with humanitarian purpose, turning the Baltic’s cold silence into long-awaited closure for families.

For the diving and wreck-hunting community, the operation highlights how advances in marine archaeology continue to bridge technology and history. Tools like sonar mapping, 3D photogrammetry, and forensic conservation are transforming the way divers and researchers work together to uncover, preserve, and interpret heritage sites that once seemed beyond reach.

Even after eight decades beneath the sea, this B-17’s story reminds us that the ocean floor holds more than relics; it holds unfinished histories waiting to surface.