Soviet Submarine Runs Aground
In October 1981 the Soviet submarine S-363 accidentally hit an underwater rock that was 2 kilometers away from the Swedish's naval base in Karlskrona, Sweden. The boat crashed inside the Swedish waters and interfered with a naval exercise that was being conducted which tested new equipment for the next few days. The Swedish naval force sent an officer over to the boat to see what had happened. The captain told the officer his nervation system failed and cause them to get lost. The Soviet navy later argued this explanation and claimed that the boat was forced into the Swedish territory due to high distress.
The Soviets sent over a rescue team to the area in Sweden in two boats. They were ordered to do the job as quickly as possible to protect their territory. As they approached the coast their defensive systems indicated that their were active coastal batteries near them. As they reached the 12 mile territorial limit they were ordered to go into war mode on the targeted radar. All vessels except the tugboat turned and stayed in the international waters.
The Swedish were decided to continue investigating what the current situation was. The Soviet captain was taken off the boat and asked questions with his representatives. Swedish naval officers then went and looked at the different parts of the submarine and the logbooks. They secretly measured for radioactive signals but a coast guard boat far away. In their search they found traces of uranium which had been used in the past for nuclear weapons. From this they suspected that the submarine was nuclear armed. The Soviets could never confirm the finding of nuclear weapons but they believed that the same type of bomb was dropped in Nagaski in 1945. They did confirm that some sort of dangerous substance was found on the boat so they were ordered to destroy the boat if the Swedish tried to gain back control of the ship.
As the captain of the Soviet ship was being questioned the weather turned bad and the submarine sent a distress call. This call interfered with the Swedish radar images. So they were not warned when two ships entered the 12 mile territorial limit. This caused crisis among the Swedish. The Prime Minister gave his order to protect the border and put everyone in "Action Stations" with artillery guns. After an hour and 30 minutes of this they finally determined that the ships were German grain carriers and were not a threat.
The Soviet boat was stuck for almost 10 days and finally on November 5th the Swedish rescued the ship and escorted it to international waters.
The Soviets sent over a rescue team to the area in Sweden in two boats. They were ordered to do the job as quickly as possible to protect their territory. As they approached the coast their defensive systems indicated that their were active coastal batteries near them. As they reached the 12 mile territorial limit they were ordered to go into war mode on the targeted radar. All vessels except the tugboat turned and stayed in the international waters.
The Swedish were decided to continue investigating what the current situation was. The Soviet captain was taken off the boat and asked questions with his representatives. Swedish naval officers then went and looked at the different parts of the submarine and the logbooks. They secretly measured for radioactive signals but a coast guard boat far away. In their search they found traces of uranium which had been used in the past for nuclear weapons. From this they suspected that the submarine was nuclear armed. The Soviets could never confirm the finding of nuclear weapons but they believed that the same type of bomb was dropped in Nagaski in 1945. They did confirm that some sort of dangerous substance was found on the boat so they were ordered to destroy the boat if the Swedish tried to gain back control of the ship.
As the captain of the Soviet ship was being questioned the weather turned bad and the submarine sent a distress call. This call interfered with the Swedish radar images. So they were not warned when two ships entered the 12 mile territorial limit. This caused crisis among the Swedish. The Prime Minister gave his order to protect the border and put everyone in "Action Stations" with artillery guns. After an hour and 30 minutes of this they finally determined that the ships were German grain carriers and were not a threat.
The Soviet boat was stuck for almost 10 days and finally on November 5th the Swedish rescued the ship and escorted it to international waters.