Soviet Submarine discovered in Swedish waters

It has just been revealed that wreckage from a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine was found in Swedish waters, off the coast of Gotland in 2009.

According to Svenska Dagbladet the submarine was discovered by accident by a company conducting measurements on the ocean floor and immediately reported to the Swedish Royal Navy. The Navy, however, showed no interest in the wreckage, even though it was officially previously unknown. Its existence became public knowledge only recently when the CEO of the measurement company that discovered the wreckage told the story at a seminar, according to Aftonbladet.

A Swedish Navy spokesperson confirmed today that they have no interest in conducting further investigation into the matter. The Navy claims that pictures taken by the measurement company clearly show that the submarine had sunk while being towed (to be scrapped, it is assumed) and showed no signs of damage from external weaponry fire and therefore couldn’t have sunk while being on a covert mission in Swedish waters.

Former Naval Commander in Chief Bengt Gustafsson disagrees and believes that the finding could help explain what the Swedish Navy was so intensively looking for in the beginning of the 1980s when Soviet submarines where believed to be operating in Swedish waters. During that time the destroyer Halland fired depth charges off the cost of Uto against what they believed to be an intruding Soviet submarine and Gustafsson speculates that the wreckage could be a result of that.

Leading members of the Swedish Parliament’s defence committee say that the presumed submarine violations almost thirty years ago have influenced the country’s security policy debate ever since and that everything that could be done to shine a light on the subject should be explored and that the finding should therefore be investigated further.

Svenska Dagbladet´s pictures of the Submarine can be seen here.