The wreck of a warship from 1914 was discovered in the Baltic Sea.

The Finnish diving group Badewanne, well known to our readers, has found and correctly identified the wreck of a Russian ship from the First World War. The destroyer “Ispolnitelnyi” sank in 1914 in the western part of the Gulf of Finland.

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According to Finnish Daily Helsingin Sanomat, once the wreckage was found, it was classified as a ‘beetle leaker’ type, and then based on the location and structure of the wreckage, attempts were made to identify it.

Through the use of advanced digital image processing technologies, it was possible to uncover and read further letters – a total of 5 Russian characters, which then allowed the wreck to be identified as the destroyer “Ispolnitelnyi” (Исполнительный). Ships of this class were used during the First World War for patrolling and mine laying.

In December 1914 the Russian destroyer sailed with 7 other units from Helsinki to Estonia, from where, after regrouping, the ships were to proceed to the northern Baltic area controlled by the German Keiserlichemarine.

Unfortunately in the course of voyage the convoy has met with the strong storm, as a result of which on December, 12th, 1914. The “Ispolnitelnyi” and the “Letutsij” – also the ship of the class Lieutenant Burakov, sank in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. In total on board of both ships about 130 sailors have died.

“Ships of this class are long and narrow. They were great for developing high speeds, but they handled large waves very poorly,” Jouni Polko, a member of the Finnish diving group Badewanne, summarised the causes of the sinking.

“Ispolnitelnyi” was built in 1905 by order of the Navy of the Russian Empire, in the French shipyard Forges et Chantiers shipyard.

Specification of the beetroot lieutenant class:

• dimensions: 56.1 m x 6.1 m x 3.5 m
• maximum speed: 26 knots
• operational range: 1860 NM at 10 knots
• 2 75 mm guns
• 2 torpedoes 457
• 6 Maxim 7.62 mm rifles
• 10 min

The Badewanne diving group is a non-profit organisation of volunteer divers who have been documenting wrecks in the Gulf of Finland (called Badewanne during World War II) for the past twenty years. The group brings together individuals specialising in various fields such as filming, photography, sketching and drawing and 3D modelling of underwater objects. In addition, the group also includes specialists in engineering or marine biology and environmental science.

For more detailed information, please visit badewanne.fi and at the e-mail address: info@badewanne.fi. For those interested in wrecking and the group’s activities, we recommend subscribing to their official account on facebook.

Source: badewanne.fi – all material used with the permission and consent of the authors. All rights of use and further distribution without permission reserved.