German tank busters have been pulled from the bottom of the Crimean sea after a cargo ship sank during World War II.

They sunk with the cargo carrying 12 StuG III assault guns, 2 Jagdpanzer tank destroyers and 1,278 tons of shells, air bombs and petrol in casks, in the early morning of November 23, 1943.

They floated to the depths of the sea after an explosion happened near the forward hole, off the Black Sea coast of Crimea in the Kalamitsky Bay.

A German tank buster is lifted from the bottom of the Crimean sea after it was sunk with a destroyed cargo ship in the early morning of November 23, 1943

Russian military spent three months planning the rescue of the Sturmgeschutz III (StuG III) assault gun and decided to raise the tank buster after difficulty in clearing the 300sqm area because of the large number of unexploded munitions

A second explosion broke the ship into two pieces and it sank almost immediately - killing 44 crew members.

The decision was then made to raise the guns after an operation by the Russian Black Sea Fleet where the wreck of the German cargo ship Santa Fe was explored by Navy divers engaged in blowing up the unexploded munitions.

This shocking image shows the buster lying at the bottom of the sea off the Black Sea coast of Crimea in the Kalamitsky Bay, where it was sat for 76 years

Russian military spent three months planning how to lift the Sturmgeschutz III (StuG III) assault gun because of the number of unexploded munitions in the 300sqm area. They decided to raise the tank buster for ease.

The hull has been heavily damaged and protruding parts of frames and the ship's plating are also scattered around with the torn off stern separate from the rest of the hull.

Coal covered a second StuG III which will be hoisted from the Crimea next year.

Evgeny Binyukov, Head of the Expedition Centre at the Russian Ministry of Defence, said the three-month task of planning and retrieving the German artillery (pictured) was 'unexpectedly difficult'

The military (pictured), who managed to hoist the tank buster, aim to lift a second StuG III next year and restoration will be carried out by the Russian Geographical Society. Once it is restored it will be sent to a museum

Evgeny Binyukov, Head of the Expedition Centre at the Russian Ministry of Defence, said the three-month task was 'unexpectedly difficult'.

Military divers were used to clear the guns and these images show the lifting of the armoured vehicle from the sea bottom using buoyancy aids where steel cables were attached to the bottom of the gun to bring it to the surface.

The thick armour covering of the tank was reportedly well preserved, while fragments of the dashboard are visible.

What are the Jagdpanzer tank destroyers? This translates to 'hunting tank' and was a German self-propelled anti-tank gun. It was part of the last generation of 'tank hunter lineage' in World War II. German Jagdpanzer 38(t) tank destroyer. Also known as the 'Hetzer', circa 1942 Early Jagdpanzers had open topped hulls, later ones like the Hetzer and the Jagdpantherwere fully enclosed. They came into existence after Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia from 1938 and acquired their Panzer IV tank. This model was able to provide the Germans more than 5,000 tanks during the war and their Jagdpanzer tank destroyers were based on this tank. Their first wooden mock-up was ready in January 1944 and the first three were delivered two months later. Otherwise known as the Hetzer, the Jagdpanzer was based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. And the Jagdpanzer tank destroyer was used in Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and on the Eastern Front. It has been estimated that at least 10,000 of the Jagdpanzer 38 were produced by BMM before the autumn of 1945. Source: Tank Encyclopedia Advertisement

Restoration work on the gun will be carried out by specialists at the Russian Geographical Society. Once it is restored it will be sent to a museum.

The StuG III was Germany's most-produced fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle during World War II and was built on the chassis of the Panzer III tank but had a more powerful gun.

It carried a crew of four and was created as a mobile assault gun for infantry support but was later modified as a tank destroyer.