''S-2'' was a Soviet S-class submarine. In early 1940, it entered Swedish

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

in the Sea of Åland where it hit a Swedish

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

, and sank on January 2, 1940, with the loss of all 50 crew members.

Wreck discovery

A search for the submarine wreck was begun in April 1999 by a team of divers from Sweden and

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

. According to the

Military Archives of Sweden The Military Archives of Sweden ( sv, Krigsarkivet) is the part of the National Archives of Sweden that keeps archives related to agencies that answer to the Ministry of Defence. The Military Archives were established in 1805 and contain listin ...

, the submarine hit the mine in Swedish territorial waters, but the Finnish archives specify the sinking occurred on Finnish territorial waters. The uncertainty of position necessitated a prolonged search. The diving team finally discovered the wreck inside Swedish territorial waters. One member of the diving team, Ingvald Eckerman, is a grandson of J. A. Eckerman who, as the lighthouse-keeper of the

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

at Märket, witnessed the submarine sinking in 1940. The wreck was emptied of munitions during the summer of 2012.Ahvenanmeren venäläissukellusvene tyhjennetään räjähteistä
Ilta-Sanomat, 25 April 2012.

References

Soviet S-class submarines Ships built in the Soviet Union 1935 ships World War II submarines of the Soviet Union World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Lost submarines of the Soviet Union Ships sunk by mines Maritime incidents in January 1940 1940 in the Soviet Union Soviet Union–Sweden relations Submarines lost with all hands {{submarine-stub