In 2015, Swedish diving group Ocean X Team found the wreck of what initially appeared to be a foreign mini-submarine off the east coast of Sweden. The

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...

subsequently issued a statement that it was "most likely" a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

that went down with all hands in 1916.

Find

On 27July 2015, it was reported that a foreign mini-submarine, long and in diameter, had been located the previous week by Swedish diving group Ocean X Team, led by Dennis Åberg. The submarine was found offshore on the east coast of central Sweden. The group had received coordinates for where to search from Icelandic company Ixplorer. According to the divers who found the submarine, it was a modern model and it appeared to be intact, suggesting that the remains of the crew may still be on board. The hull was marked with

Cyrillic letters , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

. The pictures from the wreck showed that the yellow submarine was standing on the sea bottom with its tower pointing straight up. The diving group informed the

on Monday 27July 2015, and video material from the wreckage was handed over for analysis. The hull of the wreck features the "hard sign" Ъ in the final position. Since this usage was discontinued during the 1917 orthographic reform, it indicated that the ship predated the Soviet era. On 28July 2015, a statement was released by the Swedish Armed Forces public relations office that stated that analysis of the video footage and other evidence indicated that the wreck was "most likely" that of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

''Som''-class submarine ''Som'' (''Сомъ''). ''Som'' sank with all hands on active service in 1916 after a collision with the steamship ''Ångermanland'' in the

Sea of Åland The Åland Sea (or the Sea of Åland; sv, Ålands hav, fi, Ahvenanmeri) is a waterway in the southern Gulf of Bothnia, between Åland and Sweden. It connects the Bothnian Sea with the Baltic Sea proper. The western part of the basin is in Swed ...

, somewhere between

Arholma Arholma is an island in the northeastern part of the Stockholm archipelago in Norrtälje Municipality. It is long by wide. It is the northernmost island in the archipelago before the Sea of Åland. The island is characterised by a picturesque com ...

and the Svartklubben lighthouse. According to several sources who previously worked with submarine analyses for the Swedish Armed Forces, the location of the submarine had been known for at least one year. , the Swedish Armed Forces considered the wreck to be of historical or marine archaeological interest rather than military, and handed over the case to the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateralism, bilateral, and multilateralism, multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citi ...

. The ministry consequently informed the

Russian embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of Russia. These missions are subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russian Federation has one of the largest networks of embassies and consulates of any country. Russia has significant ...

in Stockholm.

Ocean X Team

The Ocean X diving group is a privately owned salvage operator not affiliated with the Swedish military. It previously found an American

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

in 1992, and 2,400 bottles of 1907

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

in 1994. The wreck was discovered by using an ROV (remote operated vehicle) called V8 Sii from Ocean Modules in

Åtvidaberg Åtvidaberg is a locality and the seat of Åtvidaberg Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,859 inhabitants in 2010. History Copper was mined in the area from the 14th century, and the name "Åtvidaberg" was originally the name o ...

. The ROV was equipped with a grapple, a video camera and a Blueview sonar made by

Teledyne Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an American industrial conglomerate. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky. From August 1996 to November 1999, Teledyne existed as part of the conglomerate Al ...

Find

Ocean X Team

See also

References

Further reading