MOSCOW, November 21 (Sputnik) — A group of Finnish divers say they have discovered the wreck of a Russian warship that sunk in the Gulf of Finland when it was claimed by the sea 100 years ago, according to a report in the Finnish Daily Helsingin Sanomat.
What is believed to be the wreck of the Russian destroyer “Ispolnitelnyi” was found in the western part of the Gulf of Finland, Helsingin Sanomat quotes Badewanne, a Finnish diving research team, as saying.
The battleship was identified using digital image processing technology, based on five Russian letters found on the wreckage.
"These vessels are long and narrow. They were built for speed, but they couldn't stand heavy sea waves," explained Jouni Polkko, a member of the diving team.
The battleship was built for Russia at the Forges et Chantiers shipyard in France in 1905.
In December 1914, Ispolnitelnyi left Helsinki along with seven other Russian warships to engage in a minelaying operation.
The ships encountered a heavy storm. Ispolnitelnyi, together with Letuchiy, another battleship in the Russian Navy's Lieutenant Burakov class, was sunk by rogue waves on December 12, 1914.
