Crete · Greece · Wreck
Messerschmitt Bf 109 Wreck
A Bf 109 upside down on sand, its guns and ammunition still in place
Photo: PervyPirate at en.wikipedia · Public domain
A single-seat German fighter lying upside down on sand about 800 m off Anissaras, on Crete's north coast. The wings and fuselage are still recognisable at around 24 m, the tail broke off and sits roughly 50 m away at about 30 m, and the machine gun and belted ammunition are still in place. It is a boat-only dive on a GPS mark, and the depth makes it an advanced one.
Also known as Bf-109 Anissaras, Messerschmitt 109 Wreck.
Where it is and how deep
35.3360° N, 25.3934° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You are dropped on a GPS mark with nothing to tie to, so the descent is a free one onto open sand. The airframe is upside down and broken into several pieces, the wings and fuselage together at about 24 m and still clearly an aircraft: cockpit frame, machine gun, belted ammunition. Two oxygen bottles lie at the site as well, part of the same scatter.
The tail sheared off and lies roughly 50 m away in about 30 m of water, which is the deep end of the dive and worth planning for rather than drifting into. A small reef sits about 20 m from the main wreckage at 24 m and gives the dive somewhere else to go once the circuit of the airframe is done.
The wreck has built up a covering of growth over the years and now holds large groupers and moray eels, with nudibranchs on the structure and Posidonia seagrass meadows on the sand around it. Visibility runs anywhere from 10 to 30 m, so whether the aircraft reads as one shape or as scattered parts depends on the day you get.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/U5
- Type
- Single-seat German fighter aircraft
- Length
- 8.94 m (29 ft)
- Sunk
- 1945
- Cause
- Unknown; the aircraft hit the water nose-first and broke apart
- Lies
- Upside down on sand about 800 m off Anissaras, tail section 50 m from the wings
The wreck is popularly tied to the Battle of Crete in 1941, and that is still how most local accounts describe it. The dating does not work: the Bf 109 G-6/U5 was not built until the spring of 1942, so this airframe cannot have been shot down in the 1941 fighting. No source documents when it actually came down. The one account that attempts a date places the loss at the end of the war and identifies the aircraft as a fighter of Jagdgeschwader 27, and the cause of the crash is not known.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Crete: April to November is the season, warmest from July to September; the summer meltemi can blow out the exposed north-coast sites for a day or two at a time.
Know before you go
- Current is usually reported as none, but one operator lists currents and poor visibility on some days; the site is well offshore and open to the Meltemi from the north-northwest.
- There is no anchoring and no shot line. The boat holds position by GPS, so both the descent and the ascent are free ones and the group has to stay together.
Dive videos
diving adventure, Messerschmitt BF 109 crashed 1945, Crete · Mario Pieschel on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Is the Messerschmitt Bf 109 wreck from the Battle of Crete?+
Almost certainly not. The G-6/U5 variant was not built until the spring of 1942, so it cannot have been shot down in the 1941 fighting, despite that being the story attached to it locally. No source documents the actual loss date; the one account that dates it puts the crash at the end of the war.
What certification do I need for the Bf 109 wreck?+
Advanced. The main wreckage is at about 24 m and the tail at around 30 m, it is boat-only with no anchor and no line to follow, and operators recommend it for experienced divers only.
Sources
- Messerschmitt Airplane Wreck in Crete — Diver's Club Crete
- Messerschmitt Bf-109 Wreck (Agia Pelagia) Dive Report — Diveline
- An Aegean Wreck: The German Warplane that Chronicles the Battle of Crete — EasyDive24
- Messerschmitt Bf 109 Wreck, Hersonissos Dive Site in Crete, Greece — Scubadiver.gr
Photo credits
- Overturned Messerschmitt Bf 109 fuselage resting on the sandy seabed off Hersonissos by PervyPirate at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In The Logbook
- WWII wrecks you can dive, by theatreWrecks · 7 min read
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