18.08.2010
Text:
Photo: Finnish Coast Guard ship
Tursas.
Among attendants of the on-board ceremony were relatives of died submariners, Russian official delegation headed by Russian ambassador to Finland Alexander Rumiantsev, delegation of St. Petersburg Submariners' Club led by its chairman Capt 1 rank Igor Kurdin, the governor of the Aland Islands Peter Lindback, Swedish naval attaché to Russia Capt Christian Allerman, and all five divers led by Bjorn Rosenlef who found the sub early summer 2009.
In accordance with Ship Regulations, a memorial ceremony was conducted at the shipwreck site – a wreath with sailor's hat was laid on water, and archpriest Alexei (the rector of Chesmenskaya Church, St. Petersburg) held a service to "warriors died at sea…" In honor of lost Soviet submariners the ship gave three long sound blasts, and national flag of Finland was half-masted. A memorial plaque with inscription "Here rests in peace the self-sacrificing crew of Soviet submarine S-2 perished in January 1940" made by
Baltiysky Zavod shipyard, St, Petersburg was given to the divers team headed by Bjorn Rosenlef. Later on, it will be fixed on the sank submarine's hull. During the ceremony, the Finnish ship hove to the shipwreck site by dynamic positioning system.
A commemoration banquet was given on board the ship by the governor of the Aland Islands. The third toast traditionally was "To those who are at sea". Finnish party arranged all events at a highest level, the atmosphere was extremely kind and steeped in heart-grief, said St. Petersburg Submariners' Club chairman Igor Kurdin in the interview to the
Central Navy Portal.
Soviet Baltic Fleet submarine
S-2 with 50 crewmen aboard sank on Jan 3, 1940 off the Aland Islands near Gulf of Bothnia, Baltic Sea during the Soviet-Finnish War. The accident cause is unknown. As for one version,
S-2 collided with Finnish or Swedish mine.
