Well known to our readers Badewanne Finnish divers group found and correctly identified a wreck of the Russian warship from the time of the First World War. The destroyer "Ispolnitelnyi" sank in 1914 in the western part of the Gulf of Finland.

As reported by the Daily Finnish Helsingin Sanomat, after finding the wreck it was classified into a "lieutenant burakow" and then on the basis of the location and structure of the wreck the experts began to try to identify the wreck.

By using advanced digital image processing technology it was able to expose and read the next letters - in total 5 Russian characters, which then allowed to identify the wreck as the destroyer "Ispolnitelnyi" (Исполнительный). Ships of this class were used during World War I for patrol cruises and putting mines.

In December 1914 the Russian destroyer sailed along with 7 other units from Helsinki to Estonia, where after regrouping the ships were to move into the northern Baltic Sea, controlled by the German Keiserlichemarine.

Unfortunately, during the voyage convoy hit a strong storm, and as its result of the 12 December 1914. "Ispolnitelnyi" and "Letuchiy" - also a ship of the class Lieutenant burakow, sank in the Gulf of Finland. In total on board of both ships died about 130 sailors.

"Ships of this class are long and narrow. Well suited to reach a high speed but fared very poorly with large waves" - summed up the reasons of the sinking Jouni Polko, a member of the Finnish diving group Badewanne.

"Ispolnitelnyi" was built in 1905 on request of the Navy of the Russian Empire, in the French shipyard Chantiers Forges et shipyard. The ship was 56.5 m long and 6.4 wide and could reach a speed of 27 knots.

Badewanne Group is a non-profit organization, bringing together technical divers, working on a voluntary basis. Among its activities, the group for nearly 20 years has been keeping the records of sunken wrecks in the Gulf of Finland (during WWII called Badewanne, hence the name of the group).

Source: www.divers24.pl