WW2 German flying boat with a US Flag?

[Sea Plane Driver]

This picture is from Trondheim, Norway in 1945.
Recently a wreck of a similar BV 222 flying boat was found on the bottom of the fjord close to Trondheim.
Same plane? Why the US flag?
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1258/img_6980_93254602de2596ca9c5626e22dfbc39ace0849b7.jpeg

[Jhieminga]

Captured and test flown after the end of the war perhaps? In 'Wings of the Weird and Wonderful' Eric 'Winkle' Brown recounts how he traveled up to Norway in July 1945 to fly a Bv.222 that was captured there. He had to abort the first take-off as the Luftwaffe co-pilot had locked the controls and was trying to go down in flames as it were.

[Sea Plane Driver]

Captured and test flown after the end of the war perhaps? In 'Wings of the Weird and Wonderful' Eric 'Winkle' Brown recounts how he traveled up to Norway in July 1945 to fly a Bv.222 that was captured there. He had to abort the first take-off as the Luftwaffe co-pilot had locked the controls and was trying to go down in flames as it were.

Wow, ok.
Probably the same boat then.
Wonder why it sank, did the copilot suceed…? 😳

[Liffy 1M]

Additional information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blohm_%26_Voss_BV_222#Postwar

[Jhieminga]

Wow, ok.
Probably the same boat then.
Wonder why it sank, did the copilot suceed…? 😳
Now that I've read the Wiki page, the one Brown flew ended up in the UK so the one on your photo must be one of the other two that were captured. The co-pilot was escorted off the flight deck after Brown aborted the take-off. He was not involved in the rest of the flying and I guess ended up in a lock-up somewhere.

[DH106]

Apparently two Bv222s were surrendered at Trondheim - one made it's way to the UK and was allocated the serial VP501, but wasn't tested very much due to very unreliable engines, and was scrapped soon after.
The second was a Bv222V-2, was allocated to the Americans and painted in American markings with the intention of ferrying it to the U.S. However, engine issues again apparently prevented this.
Since there is a record of a scuttling of a Bv222 at Trondheim, and only two were surrendered, it is assumed that the one scuttled is indeed the one pictured by the OP in American markings.

Source: "War Prizes" by Phil Butler.

[Mechta]

Having recently found a 1945 guide to the 'Exhibition of German Aircraft and Equipment' at RAE Farnborough, I posted a picture of it and one of the land-based aircraft on the airfield which I had annotated. I then received a reply from a chap who said that his uncle, who is now 102, had flown in the BV222, along with the pilot who was later killed in the Dornier 335 that crashed on a school in Cove. Fortunately his uncle has recorded his experience which is online.

Google "Laurie : Telling story of landing inside a captured German Flying boat aircraft wing during WW2"

[Sea Plane Driver]

Thanks for the information gentlemen: I was born and raised in Trondheim, but long after the Germans left.
I knew they were busy in the fjords with seaplanes and they also built an airport pretty close to the city.
(The airport is long gone, but the main runway was converted to a long and wide street with commercial and industrial buildings alongside, but these days more and more residential.)
They also used a lake near Trondheim to land wheel or ski planes on the ice and rumor says the ice broke and 5 planes went to the
bottom of the lake, Not sure if they were salvaged or not, Guessing they were light planes like “Fieseler Storchs”.
I used to fish on that lake from rowboats and we would occasionally snag a metal part, but at the time, as an 11 year old I had
no idea if they were airplane parts or not.
The name of the lake is “Jonsvannet”.

[Sea Plane Driver]

Picture from a corner of the German built airport in Trondheim from the early 1960s.
(Probably a Lockheed twin sitting on the grass ramp, Electra Junior?)
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1205/img_7014_63ac576c0f6fde36a435bfe972f95b0baf0e6d5c.jpeg

[Sea Plane Driver]

They also used a lake near Trondheim to land wheel or ski planes on the ice and rumor says the ice broke and 5 planes went to the
bottom of the lake,

Will answer my own question here, using Google to ask the question:

​​​​​​​ Jonsvatnet hides the remains of two of Nazi Germany's most effective weapons, a Junkers 88 and a Heinkel 111. At the end of April 1940, the Luftwaffe used the frozen water as an emergency airfield. The undercarriage of the planes went through the rotten ice and a little later the planes sank.

[Jhieminga]

Certainly a Lockheed model 12 in that photo if you ask me. Doesn't have the more round-shaped rudders of the model 10 or the deeper fuselage of the model 14. Nice photo!

[Sea Plane Driver]

More pictures from the old airport in Trondheim

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1800x1034/img_7021_836919e43d5d41b180007f5f6bbbfd41d4d07768.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x675/img_7022_1d0eae35d5bb8b0c6e5b25b2dc01c66756162c71.jpeg

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

Aaah Braathens - that's going back a bit !

[Sea Plane Driver]

Aaah Braathens - that's going back a bit !

Yup, they had the Herons from 1952 to 1960.
One of them crashed into a mountain after encountering heavy icing, several survivors..

[Mechta]

Considering that its seawater, the BV222 & He115 parts look in remarkably good condition: Video of dive: Dive on BV222 & He115 in Trondheim Fjord (https://www.blueyerobotics.com/blog/discovery-of-two-historic-world-war-ii-aircraft-wrecks-in-trondheimsfjorden)