Lituanika the submarine was hauled to Tallinn, on Wednesday, by Lithuanian doctor Jonas Velžys. A submarine fan for 30 long years and working hard on his vessel, they have managed to take four dives. Now, in cooperation with Maritime Museum, Dr Velžys came to show the boat to Tallinners.
Submarine of Lithuanian doctor distressed in Tallinn seas
Please note that the article is more than five years old and belongs to our archive. We do not update the content of the archives, so it may be necessary to consult newer sources.
From a truck trailer, the submarine was lifted unto the slip by a crane. The underbody of the tiny vessel, filled with all sorts of wheels pointing various ways, made its way into the water tough and thorny. The Seaplane Harbour boatswain Lauri Niibo, rising to the occasion, managed to steer the boat towards the sea with a yellow excavator, buzzing like an angry bug. It took heaps of effort to get the boat – escaped, as if, from the pages of a kids colouring book – to swim. Mr Niibo, with his towering 2 metres frame, seems a least likely submariner. Still he decided, together with the captain, to squeeze into the metal box filled with wires and cords, for the test voyage.
The engine off an old Soviet time GAZ-51 lorry grumpily blurted into action, Lituanika proudly heading off the shores. The men undertook to dive. However, at that very moment the motor opted to go dead. The boat going into a troublesome decline.
Obviously, diving was not supposed to look like this. To add insult to injury, electric wires sent off fumes of smoke – the men getting into a hurry to leave the sinking ship.
Soon, luckily, the hatch sprang open and the duo emerged. Thankfully, the yacht Marielle happened to be nearby, her crew acquiring initial experience in salvaging submarine refugees. In addition to the yacht folks, two motor boated fishermen offered their friendly help. «Why don’t we go over and check out this orange object. A buoy? Then, all of a sudden, here comes the smoke. And then two men jump out,» said the stunned fishermen.
According to Lauri, he and Jonas were just about to dive, as the engine overheated and stopped. Soon, the electric motor followed suit. Thereafter, the main switch overheated and the boat was instantly filled with smoke.
Pulled by the Seaplane Harbour launch, the submarine obediently swims to the slip and the shore. With their motorboat of a smaller size, the fishermen take the rope to the berth. High time, for as the initial waves created by a high-speed craft go over, Lituanika’s nose is hazardously underwater.
«Experts in action,» Lauri says, curtly – asked, how he intends to get the submarine, entangled amidst the stones, back to the shore. Lauri being the first Estonian surviving a submarine wreck. In Tallinn Bay, at least.