Finnish divers find Russian warship sunk in Baltic Sea 100 years ago

Finnish diving research team Badewanne said it discovered the wreck of a Russian warship sunk in the Gulf of Finland in 1914, reported Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat on Friday.

The team told Helsingin Sanomat that the wreck was found at 80 meters below the sea level in the western part of the gulf.

The vessel was identified as Letuchi, a Russian destroyer, which belonged to the Imperial Russian Navy during the First World War.

The wreck of Letuchi was located by using the route information of the fleet and an eyewitness' observation made one hundred years ago.

Letuchi was the sister ship of Ispolnitelnyi, another battle ship whose wreck was discovered by Badewanne at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland in 2014.

In December 1914, Letuchi and Ispolnitelnyi departed from Helsinki with six other torpedo boats traveling to Estonian archipelago, where the fleet had to regroup and continue to sail to the German operated water in the northern Baltic Sea to lay mines.

The ships encountered a heavy storm when they sailed in the Golf of Finland. The rogue waves brought down Ispolnitelnyi first, and Letuchi sank about one hour later. The accidents killed a total of 130 crew members on the two ships.

The identification of the wreck was confirmed, when the divers saw a brand mark of the vessel's French manufacturer on the margin of the door leading to the engine room, Jouni Polkko, member of the diving team, told the daily.

The wreck of Letuchi was in better condition than its sister ship Ispolnitelnyi. The well-preserved wreck has a significant museum value, according to the diving team.

Built in 1905 by French Le Havre and La Seynen shipyards, Letuchi and Ispolnitelnyi were two of the 11 destroyers of the Imperial Russian Navy's Lieutenant Burakov class, which participated in the First World War in the Baltic Sea for patrol and mine-laying purposes. Endit