U 137 - Videos

[Resurrection]

Here are a few videos about U 137. In case you aren't familiar with it, it was the Soviet sub that ran aground outside a Swedish naval base in 1981. There were quite a few videos, but I chose the ones with not that much talking to make it easier for those who don't speak Swedish. If you want something translated, just tell me the time frame of what video (ex. 0:16 - 0:30, video #453070) and I'll try my best.


http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41224&a=453070
The atmosphere is tense on board the submarine mostly due to the fact of the wide publicity. Meanwhile, Swedish naval divers are getting ready to examine the bottom of the submarine to see how stuck it really is.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41224&a=453124
Coastal Rangers and Airborne Rangers conduct live (?) training exercises in front of the world press and the submarine crew as a show of force.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41224&a=453109
First it shows a helicopter trying to localize what they believe is yet another Soviet submarine. After that they show the various Soviet ships trying to come in and rescue the submarine but were denied entry into Swedish territorial waters.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41224&a=453132
First they show the Swedish naval ship on which the interrogations were to be held. Then they show the captain along with his navigation officer being escorted to a helicopter which will take them to the ship.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41200&a=449225
Here the Navy isn't trying to find a submarine, but rather find evidence supporting the claim that there has been a foreign submarine this close to the core of Stockholm with the help of a remote-controlled underwater camera called Sea Owl.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41224&a=453116
The world press. There's quite a bit of english in this clip too.

http://svt.se/svt/road/Classic/shared/mediacenter/player.jsp?d=41224&a=453142
Fast-forward to 01:50 for a nice view of the sub. At the end they're also talking about how the Defence Ministry plans on sending the bill to Kreml for the expenses of this whole incident. 3 million SEK is what they want, which is mostly going to pay for the overtime of military personnel.


If you want the download links to any of these videos, PM me. Enjoy! :)

[Resurrection]

315 views and not one single reply - you guys make me cry. :p

[attackong]

Ok, when it happened ?

[Resurrection]

October - November 1981.

[rizzza]

well down:)

[Resurrection]

Damn dude this is an old thread.

[rizzza]

Damn dude this is an old thread.
Request any swedish navy vids:)

[Resurrection]

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you requesting videos of the Swedish Navy or what?

[Pytheus]

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you requesting videos of the Swedish Navy or what?

that would be nice indeed... :)

Any videos from the Gotland hunt exercises of the US navy?

Oh and, what happened with that U-137? I didn't understand a word, lol..

[Thor]

Soviet sub ran a ground very close to one of the most important naval bases in Sweden. The sub was of Whiskey-class and hence the americans came to refer to the incident as 'Whiskey on the rocks'. p-)

In short this was the closest we ever got to a war with Soviet Union. The soviets assembled much of their baltic fleet just outside our territorial waters. Had they moved in to free their sub they would have been put to rest at the bottom of the ocean - and then hell would have broken lose.

[Kekkonen]

In short this was the closest we ever got to a war with Soviet Union.

If reading Swedish tabloid headlines from those days it's easy to get the idea that world war three was near with the "journalists" making up headlines as "IT HAS NUKES", "VIOLENT FIGHT ON THE SUBMARINE", "MUTINY ON THE SUBMARINE?", "RUSSIAN DESTROYER on internation water might come and get the SUBMARINE" etc.

Only an idiot would base his his view of an historical event on what the media makes up. And I can't see how the Swedish politicians would ever even think about not handing it over as fast as they could given that it was an antique ww2 design. Mounting nukes on it as the "journalists" claimed would indeed have been quite an impressive act of engineering talent from the same Russian engineers that designed the Lada cars.

[Kekkonen]

By the way.

According to some Russian sources after the "wall came down" and the Russians now being able to talk somewhat openly about these events, U 137 was on its way to Poland to be scrapped. It navigated wrong because the captain (with crew?) was drunk.

[Thor]

Only an idiot would base his his view of an historical event on what the media makes up. And I can't see how the Swedish politicians would ever even think about not handing it over as fast as they could given that it was an antique ww2 design. Mounting nukes on it as the "journalists" claimed would indeed have been quite an impressive act of engineering talent from the same Russian engineers that designed the Lada cars.
You and your blatant ignorance.

We did not refuse to hand it back to them. What happened was that the soviets immidiatly demanded to send in their own rescue patrol and to that we refused. The official reply to Moscow was that "the submarine will be towed to international waters when the commander in chief of the swedish armed forces orders it".

Despite this message to Moscow the soviets decided to send 13 warships towards swedish territorial waters and their grounded sub. This was followed up with a swedish show of strength that clearly indicated what the next step would have been should they have tried to enter.

Next to that a new soviet sub trying to head in is also discovered but it returns to international waters before any action is taken. After this the soviets whitdraw their demands to enter swedish territorial waters.

The same night a team from FOA do different checks on the sub and finds out that the sub is carrying substantial amounts of enriched uranium. They did not expect to find this because of the model of the sub and now it turns up the heat of the whole situation.

The next day an excuse from Moscow is forwarded to the swedish government. The soviet captain is taken to interrogation at gun point. He maintains his claims that it's all because of a series of navigational errors and that they really were heading towards Poland. Due to a number of reasons the military remains sceptical.

At this point (and because of the weather threatening to wreck the sub) the swedish commander in chief (ÖB) orders that the sub shall be towed and escorted to international waters. He also orders that any means are to be used if the sub tries to escape.

The same night the prime minister confirms that the soviet sub carried nuclear weapons.

[Maskirovka]

By the way.

According to some Russian sources after the "wall came down" and the Russians now being able to talk somewhat openly about these events, U 137 was on its way to Poland to be scrapped. It navigated wrong because the captain (with crew?) was drunk.

LOL :) Yeah, thats right. "Da, its true. We were on our way to Poland and took a wrong turn. It was only a coincidence we ended up in the wrong country just outside a secret navalbase... it´s the pravda. Now wheres that vodka you promised? Spasiba, za zdaróvja!"

They just had a exercise on swedish waters, outside an enemy navalbase. Just like what every country does, but they ****ed up and ran aground. Nothing more to it...

[jerka71_1]

Here are some facts & figures so you might make your own assumptions! One thing at least is for certain:
THEY WERE IN THE WRONG PLACE AS FAR AS SWEDES ARE CONCERNED!

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4795/sjkort7xx.jpg
Nautical chart - overview. U-137 ending up in Gåsefjärden inside Swedish restricted area. ~10 km from Naval base Karlskrona.





http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4475/sistahu1376fu.jpg

Last hour of navigation! Depth in meters. U-137s depth of keel: 4.9m







http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7884/ruttermedium2ja.jpg
Red route - Russian log. Mission - Tracking patrol east of Bornholm.
Blue route - Actual route





http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8753/mtning7yl.jpg
Measurement of radiation alongside U137.
Pulses 766 & 1001 = indicates uran 238 = mines/torpedos nuke warheads??????

Who knows?!

[Kekkonen]

Back in 2003 I visited the inside of a Whiskey class submarine (the one that is a floating museum now, and well what can I say. This is a Russian attempt to copy German world war two technology and being Russian there is absolutely no comfort or space what so ever inside.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/Zvejnieki/andra/sub.jpg
Note the small size of the submarine. Although there were even smaller ones in the
Soviet Navy (such as the coastal defence Quebec class).

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/Zvejnieki/andra/mess.jpg
Only place with some signs of space and comfort was in the officers mess, but that was
not where the radiation measurements came from.

From Swedish Wikipedia;


Theories supporting that U 137 was not spying

* Eyewitnesses. Seven eyewitnesses, independtly of each other, on the islands Sturkö and Aspö has said that they heard the roaring of engines, about eight in the evening moving in the direction of Gåsefjärden. U 137 had silent electric engines but was still using the diesel engines.

* High speed. The ship held about 8 knots when it got stuck (which was why it got stuck), which is normal out on sea, but not very suitable in the archipelago. The high speed thus supports the Ruskie claim that it was on its way to Poland.

* FUBAR condition. Rustbucket. Some of the external equipment didn't work, the Swedish visit inside showed that some of the navigational equipment inside was also not working.

* Shallow waters. Gåsefjärden has a maximum depth of nine meters. The submarines total height is thirteen meters. For someone spying that is a pretty bad place to hide in.

[Thor]

Kekikonen, are you claiming that the swedes planted enriched uranium on a soviet sub?

http://svt.se/content/1/c6/44/87/63/u137_svtbild.jpg

[Kekkonen]

Kekikonen, are you claiming that the swedes planted enriched uranium on a soviet sub?

Of course not.

It was on its way to Poland to be scrapped. The uranium was probably just part of an ordinary delivery, not necessarily anything military related either. Pretty dumb to bring a nuke torpedo when spying on Sweden, with an antique broken submarine. Had it been spying in Sweden by the way the only place where they could have the equipment for that would be in the officers mess. And yes, the Swedes visited that.

[Gun commander]

Sailing to Poland via Karlskrona naval base is not directly a shortcut. But, hey, I´m rust russophobic!

[jerka71_1]

Of course not.

It was on its way to Poland to be scrapped. The uranium was probably just part of an ordinary delivery, not necessarily anything military related either. Pretty dumb to bring a nuke torpedo when spying on Sweden, with an antique broken submarine. Had it been spying in Sweden by the way the only place where they could have the equipment for that would be in the officers mess. And yes, the Swedes visited that.

Which source confirms that the sub was heading for Poland? The log and the Cpt stated that they were patroling east of Bornholm as I said earlier!

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7884/ruttermedium2ja.jpg

[Maskirovka]

Back in 2003 I visited the inside of a Whiskey class submarine (the one that is a floating museum now, and well what can I say. This is a Russian attempt to copy German world war two technology and being Russian there is absolutely no comfort or space what so ever inside.

Theories supporting that U 137 was not spying

* Eyewitnesses. Seven eyewitnesses, independtly of each other, on the islands Sturkö and Aspö has said that they heard the roaring of engines, about eight in the evening moving in the direction of Gåsefjärden. U 137 had silent electric engines but was still using the diesel engines.

* High speed. The ship held about 8 knots when it got stuck (which was why it got stuck), which is normal out on sea, but not very suitable in the archipelago. The high speed thus supports the Ruskie claim that it was on its way to Poland.

* FUBAR condition. Rustbucket. Some of the external equipment didn't work, the Swedish visit inside showed that some of the navigational equipment inside was also not working.

* Shallow waters. Gåsefjärden has a maximum depth of nine meters. The submarines total height is thirteen meters. For someone spying that is a pretty bad place to hide in.

I´ve been inside one of those museum-Whiskeys to, man was that a flashback from watching the TV-show "Das Boot". The old swedish Draken-class subs seemed modern in comparison.

And offcourse U-137 wasn´nt spying, no one claimed that. IMHO she was on a regular exercise outside Karlskrona (on swedish territorialwaters, wich ofcourse is against international law, some might call it "spying", I don´t), got disoriented somehow and ran aground. At that time the swedish navy had virtually no anti-submarine capability so the russians subs could violate swedish waters without the risk of getting caught.

Those who heard the dieselengines roar I believe was the sound of the sub trying to get off the rocks, not heading towards it...

About the depth in Gåsefjärden. It´s a brilliant idea to travel surfaced in the dark night. On radar you just look like a fishingboat and if anyone should happen to be there you sound like a normal fishingboat aswell.

[Vandervahn]

Back in 2003 I visited the inside of a Whiskey class submarine (the one that is a floating museum now, and well what can I say. This is a Russian attempt to copy German world war two technology and being Russian there is absolutely no comfort or space what so ever inside.

Its not a russian specialty to build uncomfortable boats. Every single Uboat the world has ever seen is limited in size and therefor uncomfortable, and moreso a small WW2 design as the XXI (which the Whiskey was built upon - and that was considered of revolutionary crew comfort back then, having fridges, showers and 2 toilets ;) )

There is no way to make a submarine with a beam of ~6m like the Whiskey class spacious. OTOH the soviets had the Typhoons, coming with a gym, a sauna and a friggin pool inside. Cant get much more comfortable in a submarine if you ask me ... apart from an inbuilt arcade...

So no, its not an idea of the Russians to make it crampy - its physical necessity.


Only place with some signs of space and comfort was in the officers mess, but that was
not where the radiation measurements came from. ...

Actually that mess is quite large in conventional submarine scales - even for today.

[ENSIGN FOREVER]

By the way.

According to some Russian sources after the "wall came down" and the Russians now being able to talk somewhat openly about these events, U 137 was on its way to Poland to be scrapped. It navigated wrong because the captain (with crew?) was drunk.

And you actually believe this?? Of course since you actually believe that the Chicom Navy is something to fear, I'm not surprised.

A drunken navigation error of over 200km, yet drunkenly manage to work their ways through shallows and islands? Yeah right.

[Kekkonen]

So no, its not an idea of the Russians to make it crampy - its physical necessity.

I haven't been inside that many submarines, but what I compared it too was the Swedish submarine U3 that is these days a museum submarine in the city of Malmö. U3 was built 1942 and is thus older than the Whiskey class, but good God it's the Enterprise (not the carrier, that thing in Startrek) in comparison, and it's not anywhere near as cramped either.

http://www.malmo.se/images/18.33aee30d103b8f1591680007787/ubat.exterior.jpg
More photos here (with interior): http://pixels.highone.nu/ubat03

http://www.svensktkulturarv.com/promotionbilder/destination/nordkaparen.jpg
Nordkaparen of Draken class at Gothenburg Maritime Centre (floating shipmuseum), also
this is indeed a spaceship in comparison, but this also twenty years younger than U3.

[NixXxoN]

Newsflash!

Apparently they had some sort of nuclear torpedoes onboard according to the political officer Vasilij Besedin.

Link(in Swedish):http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_13936377.asp

A show on Swedish TV tonight might say something more.

[Luno]

The scary part is that they Russian where planning to blow up the submarine if Swedish soldiers where gone try to take the sub with force :|

[phasio]

torrent with the U137 documentary. Swedish sound/subs. Very interesting

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3546726/Ub__t_137_p___grund_(xvid)


Ubåt 137 på grund
För 25 år sedan gick den sovjetiska ubåten U137 på grund i Blekinge skärgård. Under elva dagar bjöds det på mer dramatik och dråpligheter än vad dåtidens medier kände till. I en rafflande dokumentär om ubåtsdramat i Gåsefjärden 1981 presenteras bilder och vittnesmål som kastar nytt ljus över vad som verkligen hände.

[BoabDilDK]

Do you know any internet ressources with the political aspects?

[name already taken]

Newsflash!

Apparently they had some sort of nuclear torpedoes onboard according to the political officer Vasilij Besedin.

Link(in Swedish):http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_13936377.asp

A show on Swedish TV tonight might say something more.
Doing exercises on the way to scrap the boat in Poland ?

And having nuclear torpedoes on board on the way to scrap the boat in Poland ?... What would've they done with them when they'd arrived in Poland for scrapping ?

This scrapping hypothesis looks very much like a diplomatic cover up to me.

But the hypothesis of the exercice gone wrong still holds... Having nuclear torpedoes giving to it that much more realism for the crew.