The Swedish Armed Forces said the submarine, believed to have been lost on patrol in late 1941, was found in the Swedish economic zone southeast of the Baltic island of Oland in an area which German forces had mined during the war, Swedish and Russian news agencies reported.

The wreck – which is diesel, not nuclear – is thought to be that of the S-6, which disappeared in August or September 1941, in which 50 sailors perished.  

“There is much to indicate that the submarine headed straight into the minefield while on the surface and was blown apart by a mine,” the Swedish military said in a statement.

In the statement, the Swedish military said: “In the autumn of 1941, several Russian submarines left their home bases to patrol the Baltic Sea.

Several of them never returned. One of them has now been found, blown up into large pieces, southeast of Oeland.

On its website the military posted a video and still images of the wreckage, which had broken into two large sections.

According to rusnavy.com, the submarine was identified by letters which were still readable on the ship’s hull and the year 1936 stamped on its main 100mm gun.

The wreck was first reported by civilian divers during this past summer. The Swedish submarine salvage ship HMS Belos in the following months confirmed the find and photographed it, the military said.

Swedish authorities have informed Russia of the find in order to give family members and the Russian navy the opportunity to conduct a memorial ceremony at the site, the Swedish military added in its statement.

Several Soviet submarines that sunk during World War Two have been found in Swedish waters over the years, it added.

According to rusnavy.com, the S-6 was a Soviet diesel-electric sub that participated in the Soviet-Finnish was and later World War Two. It’s hull was laid in December 1938 in Leningrad, and designated by the serial number 279 and the call letters N-6.

It was commissions for service in 1939. On August 2, 1941, the sub left on the deployment during which it was apparently destroyed by German mines en route to Bornholm Island, Denmark.

Following is the video of the sunken vessel released by the Swedish military: