Soviet WWII sub wreck found in Baltic Sea

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Finnish-Swedish search team has found the wreck of a Soviet submarine sunk by the Finnish navy in the Baltic Sea during World War II.

The Soviet SC305 was fired on and rammed by a Finnish submarine in November 1942, sending it to the bottom in Swedish territorial waters off the island of Aland.

"SC305 went down with the bow into the mud and is in a good shape considering the circumstances," the search party said in a statement. "The origin of the wreck and its marking was verified by film from an ROV (remotely operated vehicle)."

The Soviet submarine, one of many used to prowl shipping lanes in the Baltic Sea during the war, was found at a depth of 136 meters (446 feet). All the 38 crew members were reported lost when submarine sank.

Bjorn Rosenlof, a spokesman for the privately funded team, said it first located the wreck last year using leads to the position found in Finnish archives, but only managed to identify it after returning to get more images two weeks ago.

"When we got the ROV in just right and could read the letters (the submarine's insignia) it was just an incredible feeling that can't be described in words," he told Reuters.

They were not able to dive to the wreck as it was too deep.

The team said it considered the site a war memorial and had only given the exact position of the wreck to Swedish authorities, leaving it to them to decide if the information should be published.

The Baltic Sea is littered with wrecks from both World Wars which saw Russian and Soviet forces battled the German navy for control of the transport routes across it.