Louhi 1945
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | Louhi | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1945 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | minelayer | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Fire or explosion | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Finland | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Finnish Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | Winter War | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Gulf of Finland | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Finland | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 17 km from land |
| Position | 59.6667, 23.0833 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Louhi was a Finnish Navy minelayer. The ship was originally constructed for the Imperial Russian Navy but was taken over by the Finns during the Russian Civil War. She had originally been named Voin, but was renamed as M1 (Miinalaiva 1) in Finnish service. In 1936 she was given the more personal name Louhi, following the procedure of all other major ships in the Finnish Navy.
The ship was designed as a minelayer but was not particularly good at it due to its slow speed, bad seakeeping qualities and inadequate storage space. During peacetime, Louhi or M1 was used as depot ship with its storage rooms refitted as crew quarters.
Louhi sunk on 12 January 1945, while returning from a mine laying operation. An explosion at the stern of the ship at 12:50 sank the ship in two minutes, with 11 casualties.
Location
- Recorded position: 59.6667, 23.0833 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Gulf of Finland
- Nearest coast: Finland
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Finnish minelayer Louhi (revision 1380113053), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- U-745 1945 · 6 km
- U-676 1945 · 8 km
- U-679 1945 · 30 km
- U-479 1943 · 38 km
- SMS Schleswig-Holstein 1944 · 45 km
- Kazanets 51 km
Other wrecks of the Winter War
- Ilmarinen 1941
Browse more: Europe wrecks · wrecks off Finland · Gulf of Finland · Second World War