The ''Hansa'' was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

passenger ship, in use on the route between the Swedish mainland and

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

. She was torpedoed and sunk by a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

submarine in 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History and sinking

The ''Hansa'' was a passenger steamship built in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1899 for Ångfartygs AB Gotland, of

. She was built along

luxury yacht A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from t ...

lines and had dining room for 40 guests. In addition to sailing between the Swedish mainland and

, she also called at a number of other ports in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

such as Danzig,

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

during the 1930s. At 05.57 on 24 November 1944, the ''Hansa'' was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

ed by the Soviet submarine ''L21'' . The ''Hansa'' was sailing between

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid-19th century, it was only ...

and Visby, and had clearly illuminated side markings in the Swedish colours, designating it a neutral ship, and was torpedoed in Swedish territorial waters. The Soviet submarine had followed the ''Hansa'' for more than two hours before firing three topedoes. One of these caused a large explosion, and the ship sank within a few minutes; 84 people died and two survived, including

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

captain

Arne Mohlin Lieutenant General Arne Herman Mohlin (9October 1909 – 2May 1992) was a Swedish Army officer. Mohlin served as Chief of the Army Staff and the General Staff Corps from 1961 to 1963 and he was commanding officer of the VI Military Distr ...

. The two survivors were rescued by the Swedish

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

''Landsort'' and ''Arholma''. Investigations after the war pointed to the Soviet submarine L-21 and its captain Sergey Mogilevskiy as being responsible for the sinking. In 1992, information uncovered in Russian archives confirmed the ''Hansa'' was sunk by the L-21. The wreck of SS Hansa lies north of Visby at a depth of . It was found in 1988.

Commemoration

A memorial plaque in

Visby Cathedral Visby Cathedral (), formally Visby Saint Mary's Cathedral (''Visby Sankta Maria domkyrka''), is a cathedral within the Church of Sweden, seat of the Diocese of Visby, Bishop of Visby. It lies in the centre of Visby, the main town on the Swedish ...

commemorates the sinking of the ship and the loss of innocent lives. The

ship's bell A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it. Strikes Timing of shi ...

of the ''Hansa'' is also preserved in the cathedral.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansa (1899) Ships built in Stockholm 1899 ships Passenger ships of Sweden Maritime incidents in November 1944 World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Ships sunk by Soviet submarines Gotland Soviet Union–Sweden relations 1944 in Sweden Sweden in World War II Shipwrecks of Sweden