06.09.2010
Wrecked Soviet submarine S-34 was found in the Black Sea off Varna. A 70-meter long sub was detected at the depth of 35 meters; the hull is halved, most probably due to a mine explosion or airbomb strike. Divers cleaned periscope, top part of the fin and the gun from bottom beddings, took picture series and reported to Bulgarian Navy, said Orlin Tsanev, a diver from Black Sea Dive Odesos.
Historian Atanas Panaiotov who has spend years studying operations of Soviet subs off Bulgarian coast confirmed that available photographs and archive information prove that the sub found is 48-man crewed
S-34.
"Primary data given by
Black Sea Dive Odesos divers that the sub was detected in Varna bay made the version of
S-34 almost improbable. First, because the bay is shallow-watered; second, in accordance with the schedule the submarine's patrol zone was near Sozopol, so
S-34 could by no means appear in Varna bay; third, in the wartime even the most hotshot commander would not risk to wriggle way into the bay totally closed by mine obstacles. Later on, however, divers recognized that they had intentionally disguise coordinates of the finding, having specified that the sub was detected 10 km out of the bay's external frontier", said Mr. Panaiotov to
ITAR-TASS.
"We assumed that the bodies of two submariners of
S-34 – chief officer Violet Dushin and boatswain Flor Terekhov - found in Nov 1941 on the seashore could be floated there by the Black Sea currents", said the scientist. "These doubts will be completely dispelled only after thorough examination of the sub, but there is over 50 per cent probability that the submarine found is really
S-34", underlined Panaiotov.
