Oleg Koshevoj

But the engine’s failure was more serious than thought. The repair dragged on, and work continued all night long while the weather got worse. When the Oleg Koshevoj began to drift, the ship’s anchor was lowered.

The wind that morning was so strong that the captain suggested raising the anchor and, using manual steering aft, sailing deeper into the archipelago, where they would have protection to continue repairing the steering engine.

When the anchor was up, they put the engine on full speed ahead and steered hard to port. Despite this move, they did not manage to get the ship up enough against the wind and sea. They sailed with a strong drift parallel to the shore. On a few occasions the ship seemed to cut slightly to port, but strong winds and waves hitting port side forced the bow back.

Shortly after passing the eastern pilot station, the ship touched bottom aft. The bow was pushed down and the ship keeled over parallel to the coast. With the help of locals from Landsort, the entire crew was saved including the ship’s dog. Soon after, the ship sank.

Who was Oleg Koshevoy?

The Soviet partisan Oleg Vasilievich Koshevoy was a founder of the communist organisation the “Young Guard”, which fought against the Germans during World War II. In February 1943, at not even 17 years old, he was captured and executed.  He was posthumously awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union”. In January 1946, a ship was delivered to the Soviets as a war reparation. The ship was named Oleg Koshevoy. That same year, the ship sank at Landsort.