Åland Islands · Finland · Wreck

Notung

Steamship sunk by Russian bombers, its helm and telegraph still on the bridge

The Notung was a steel steamship built in 1882 in Middlesbrough. Russian bombers attacked it in the fairway east of Sottunga, and a torpedo that burst at the stern sank it, though the whole crew survived. Its bridge still has the helm, the rudder indicator and the telegraph in place.

Where it is and how deep

Depths on a shared scale to 60 m (197 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

No published position for this site — the map shows Åland Islands and its other sites; operators know the mooring.

The dive

The Notung lies at 40–50 m, and an hour on the wreck leaves much of the ship unseen. Aft of the bridge the funnel stands upright with the steam whistle in place, and in front of it the signal room still carries its aerial on the roof. The midships section is quite broken, but the bow is intact, with the bowsprit pointing out and the ship's name carved into its side.

The wreck

Vessel: Notung
Type: Steel steamship
Built: 1882
Cause: A torpedo burst at the stern during a Russian bombing raid
Lies: In the fairway east of Sottunga, at 40–50 m

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Notung
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Off-season	Off-season	Off-season	Off-season	Good	Good	Good	Prime	Fair	Off-season	Off-season	Off-season

Season follows Åland Islands: Boats run from May to mid-September, with August the warmest month; nothing runs from October to April.

Know before you go

Visibility swings from about 1 m to 10 m and the wreck is very dark, which makes the Notung one of the harder wrecks to dive.
On an August dive the water below 40 m was 4–5 °C, against 14 °C from the surface to about 12 m.