They perished at the bottom of the sea - honored after 80 years

17 April, 2023

80 years ago, the submarine Ulven sank in Gothenburg’s archipelago. Hitler’s mine meant the death of 33 Swedish sailors. Now the victims are being honored by both the Swedish Defence Force and relatives.

Hitler’s mine killed 33 Swedish sailors when the submarine HMS Ulven sank in the Gothenburg archipelago in 1943, in the middle of a raging war.

The submarine was out on an exercise, and during the morning of April 15, it was sighted for the last time. After that, all contact was lost. During the night, repeated attempts were made to make radio contact with the submarine, but there were no answers.

Help was sent from, among other places Stockholm, but the Ulven was only found on May 5 after the shadow of a submarine was spotted on an aerial photograph.

Now the dead are being honored in a ceremony at sea, 80 years after the disaster, writes Gothenburg Post.

From the ship HMR Belos, with the same name as the submarine rescue ship that took part in the search operation in 1943, a wreath-laying will be carried out. On board are the naval commander Ewa Skoog Haslum, the flotilla commander (flottiljchefen) Fredrik Lindén and also relatives of those who died on the submarine HMS Ulven.

Byggdes på Karlskronavarvet och sjösattes 6 mars 1930.

Ubåten var 66 meter lång och 6,4 meter bred. Dykdjupet var på omkring 60 meter och topphastigheten i ytläge var 13,8 knop.

Bestyckningen bestod av fyra torpedtuber och två automatkanoner.

Ubåten sänktes av en tysk mina i Göteborgs skärgård den 15 april 1943. Den hittades den 5 maj och alla 33 ombord konstaterades döda. I slutet på juli bärgades ubåten och fördes till Eriksbergsvarvet i Göteborg.

Källa: NE och GP

Text: TT/nyhetsbyrån
Photo: Pressens Bild/TT Arcive picture

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