Divers find remains of Finnish WWII plane that was shot down by Moscow with a US diplomat aboard

The Junkers Ju 52 aircraft “Kaleva” by the Finnish airline Aero is parked at the Katajanokka seaplane harbor in Helsinki equipped with floating bottom skis. Photo dated July 14, 1936. With U.S. and French diplomatic couriers aboard, the civilian plane was shot down over the Baltic Sea by Soviet bombers on June 14, 1940 just days before Moscow annexed the three Baltic states.

The news about the fate of the plane was met with disbelief and anger by authorities in Helsinki who were informed that it was shot down by two Soviet DB-3 bombers 10 minutes after taking off from Tallinn’s Ulemiste airport. But perhaps more importantly, the downing of the plane happened at a critical time just days before Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union was preparing to annex the three Baltic states, sealing the fate of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for the next half-century before they eventually regained independence in 1991.

An Associated Press wire item dated June 15, 1940 noted that “Henry W. Antheil Jr. of Trenton, N. J., attached to the United States Legation in Helsinki, was killed in the mysterious explosion of a Finnish airliner yesterday.” In the U.S. media, Antheil’s death was overshadowed by much bigger news from Europe at the time: the Nazi occupation of Paris.

“Lots of speculation on the plane’s cargo has been heard over the years,” Geust said. “What was the plane transporting? Many suggest Moscow wanted to prevent sensitive material and documents from exiting Estonia.”Various attempts to find Kaleva have been recorded since Estonia regained independence more than three decades ago. However, none of them have been successful.

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