S7
The submarine S7 was built in 1939 in Nizhny Novgorod, 40 miles east of Moscow. She had two guns and six torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern, with capacity on board for twelve torpedoes. The S7 was one of the submarines that in 1942 managed to bypass the barriers in the Gulf of Finland to attack Swedish and foreign ships carrying iron ore to supply the German war efforts.
On the night of 21 October, the S7 was heading north in the Sea of Åland and went into surface mode to recharge its batteries. The commander, Captain Lisin, stood with three crewmen in the tower, scouting for suitable targets to attack.
The Finnish submarine Vesihiisi was in the same waters. The moon shone over the Swedish mainland, so the contours of the S7 could be made out by the Finnish crew. The scout on the S7 only saw darkness since they were looking east. Vesihiisi snuck in closer, and at a distance of 1.5 nautical miles, a torpedo was fired their way.
On the Vesihiisi, they initially thought the torpedo had missed, so they too open-fired. Right about the same time, the torpedo hit. The crewmen in the submarine’s tower flew into the water upon impact. The S7 sank almost immediately with 42 crewmen on board. Captain Lisin and three crew members were spared, and they began to swim towards the Swedish coast. But the freezing water quickly zapped their strength. Vesihiisi came to the rescue, and the men were saved.
Lisin was taken to Finland for questioning and then sent to Germany for further questioning. He later proved to be one of Finland’s most valuable sources of information during World War II.
The wreck of the S7 was found in the summer of 1998. The submarine is located in Swedish waters and is excellently preserved. Only the stern is in pieces as a result of the torpedoing.
Facts
Deep
40 metres
Build
1939
Length
78 metres
Width
6,4 metres
Shipwreck
1942
Ship type
Ubåt