I guess if you have to ditch then a Mirage, with it's clean under-belly and large delta wing, is the plane to choose.

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.

Interesting article... Never heard of this incident.

Lots of reasons for salvaging an intact combat jet from shallow water... BUT it could NEVER fly again without heroic effort. Parts/pieces/equipment/engine/etc could be salvaged... maybe... but airframe in sea-water is 'toast'.

Sorta reminds me of the F-106 in the 1960s? that entered an unrecoverable spin... so pilot ejected... which tipped the balance and the jet recovered wings-level with engine idle... landed in a flat corn field and engine ran until fuel exhaustion. It was recovered and repaired and flew again, I think!

Regards, Wil Taylor
o Trust - But Verify!
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation, Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", HBA forum]
o Only fools and charlatans know everything and understand everything." -Anton Chekhov

Wil,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber

"Following its misadventure, the "Cornfield Bomber" was repaired and returned to service, operating with the 49th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, the final Air Force unit to operate the F-106. Foust flew the aircraft again in 1979 while training at Tyndall Air Force Base. Upon its retirement, it was presented to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in August 1986, where it remains on display."

From the Daily Mail article: "Both pilot and co-pilot were able to eject safely"

So doesn't qualify as a ditching per se.