The Baltic expedition of the RGS Underwater Research Center has ended. The search crews of the expedition examined Soviet submarines that sunk during the war. During the search, the divers accidentally discovered an interesting object - the German ship UJ 1204, which sank 78 years ago near the island of Maly Tyuters.
“This object was discovered by chance. Our colleague, the captain of the “Akvanavt” Mikhail Marichev moved from one point to another and saw a certain object at the bottom. It was not entirely clear what it was,” commented Andrei Lukoshkov, a scientific consultant at the Underwater Research Center of the RGS.
After finding the object, the science team requested information from German colleagues. The Germans sent photos and data on the overall dimensions of some ships, which, presumably, could have sunk in the Baltic.
“When we studied these photos, looked at the dimensions of the ships, I concluded that this most likely was a fishing trawler UJ 1204. After that, special expeditions were carried out, the ship was examined using a remote-controlled autonomous underwater vehicle,” says Andrei Lukoshkov.
According to the data obtained, it can be understood that due to a powerful explosion, the ship sank very quickly, and the entire crew died. Moreover, the object is very well preserved. Submariners explored the stern, motorboat, steering wheel. At the stern on the port side, as in the description, there was an anti-aircraft single-barrel gun.
“The Germans in their reports write that the ship was blown up by a Soviet anchor mine, but this is unlikely because these ships were on duty on the western side of the minefields, where the main Baltic fleet could not place their mines. Our documents mention that on October 26, 1942, Soviet intelligence discovered German transport in the area, and the ДБ-3 torpedo bombers of the 1st Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces flew there and attacked it. So, most likely, the ship was sunk by an air torpedo, and the Germans wrote about the mine because they had no information, " notes Andrey Lukoshkov.
Now the researchers at the Underwater Research Center of the Russian Geographical Society are planning to find three other German ships, which should lie relatively close to UJ 1204.