A team of Swedish and Finnish divers have located the wreckage of a Soviet WWII S-type diesel submarine near the Aland islands in the Baltic Sea, a Swedish news agency said on Tuesday.
The S-2 submarine sank on January 2, 1940 in a minefield during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland (November 1939-March 1940). The entire 50-member crew was lost.
"After searching through a section of water the wreck has been found in the Aland Sea near the [maritime] border between Sweden and Finland by a Swedish-Finnish dive team," the TT agency cited a team statement.
The team started the search for the sub more than a decade ago in April 1999.
Swedish authorities as well as the Russian embassy in Sweden have been informed about the discovery, the team said.
S-type medium submarines, unofficially dubbed Stalinets, were one of the most widely produced and deployed submarine class in the Soviet Navy during World War II.
Boats of this class were extremely successful and achieved more victories than any Soviet submarine. In all, they sank 82,770 gross registered tons of merchant shipping and seven warships, which accounts for about one-third of all tonnage sunk by Soviet submarines.
The S-2 submarine sank on January 2, 1940 in a minefield during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland (November 1939-March 1940). The entire 50-member crew was lost.
"After searching through a section of water the wreck has been found in the Aland Sea near the [maritime] border between Sweden and Finland by a Swedish-Finnish dive team," the TT agency cited a team statement.
The team started the search for the sub more than a decade ago in April 1999.
Swedish authorities as well as the Russian embassy in Sweden have been informed about the discovery, the team said.
S-type medium submarines, unofficially dubbed Stalinets, were one of the most widely produced and deployed submarine class in the Soviet Navy during World War II.
Boats of this class were extremely successful and achieved more victories than any Soviet submarine. In all, they sank 82,770 gross registered tons of merchant shipping and seven warships, which accounts for about one-third of all tonnage sunk by Soviet submarines.
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