Whiskey on the Rocks Volume 2: The Swedish-Soviet Confrontation, 1981

On 27 October 1981 the Soviet Navy’s Whisky-class submarine S-363 of the Baltic Fleet ran aground on the south coast of Sweden, close to Naval Base Karlskrona, one of Sweden’s largest military bases. The incident triggered a grave diplomatic and military crisis.

Upon discovery, Swedish navy and army units quickly surrounded the submarine, and closed off the immediate area. Surveillance of Sweden’s sea and land borders intensified. Swedish intelligence stepped up activities against Soviet Navy activities and communications. A tense diplomatic game began over the fate of the stranded submarine and its crew. The Soviets claimed that the submarine had entered Swedish waters by accident, and demanded that it be allowed to leave without further inspection of the vessel or interrogation of its crew. The Swedes demanded further clarification with regard to the submarine’s mission and activities. Meanwhile, Swedish technical intelligence concluded that the submarine carried nuclear weapons, ultimately identified as torpedoes with nuclear warheads. The submarine crew took measures to blow up the submarine, in case Swedish special forces would storm the vessel – a contingency that the Swedish Armed Forces indeed prepared for.

To exacerbate the political and military crisis, Swedish intelligence and naval reconnaissance noted the unannounced arrival of a number of Soviet warships which anchored just outside Swedish territorial waters. The Soviet naval task force, commanded by Vice Admiral Aleksey Kalinin on the destroyer Obraztsovyy eventually consisted of more than 10 Soviet warships. In response, Sweden’s Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin ordered the Armed Forces to ‘hold the line!’ and defend the border should the Soviets attempt a rescue of the stranded submarine.

At the time, the international media saw the incident as evidence of extensive Soviet underwater activities in Swedish waters. The Swedish Armed Forces concluded that the violation was deliberate and part of illegal intelligence collection directed against Sweden. Yet, others argued that the violation was due to incompetence and substandard technical equipment rather than a conscious policy of aggression.

In Whiskey on the Rocks, Volume 2, Michael Fredholm von Essen describes the submarine incident, and presents new research on what happened based on recently declassified Swedish, Soviet, and U.S. military intelligence archival documents. He details the submarine’s voyage into Swedish waters and the confrontation between Swedish and Soviet navy and air force elements He also explains the Soviet naval doctrine and fleet organization that formed the background to the submarine incident and indeed the Soviet Union’s global naval stance.

Whiskey on the Rocks, Volume 2: The Swedish-Soviet Confrontation, 1981 is illustrated throughout with original photographs and includes the @War series’ signature colour artworks of the men, ships and aircraft involved in this event.