Run Silent, Run Where?

By James Kelly

The navy nets a spy sub, but can it be landed?

On a sunny Friday afternoon, two Swedish naval officers aboard a motorboat chugging through the waters near a naval base on Musk Island, about 30 miles south of Stockholm, glimpsed a periscope flashing through the waves. The alert quickly went out that a foreign submarine was lurking in Swedish waters, and within hours the hunt was on. Throughout last week, dozens of ships and helicopters swept back and forth across Hars Bay, dropping depth charges to try to bring the mystery sub to the surface. "We don't intend to pat it on the back or just follow it out to sea," vowed Rear Admiral Christer Kirkegaard, leader of the hunt. "We want to find out where it came from and what it left down there."

It was strongly suspected that the submarine was from a Warsaw Pact nation, most probably the Soviet Union, although Moscow scoffed at the notion, calling it a hoax designed to disrupt Scandinavian-Soviet relations. The naval base on Musk Island is Sweden's largest and most sensitive; its radar keeps constant watch over the country's eastern coastline, which faces the Soviet Union in the Baltic Sea. If the vessel were from the Soviet bloc, its probable mission was to gather as many details as possible about the base and the surrounding waters. Washington believes that in the event of war the Soviets would try to invade Norway through Sweden, hoping to control the northern Atlantic sea lanes. Submarines can better chart the underwater conditions than the Soviets' sophisticated trawlers, which are laden with electronic surveillance gear.

Moscow had snooped in Swedish waters before. In October 1981, a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine ran aground near a naval base at Karlskrona. Ten days later, after a humiliating interrogation of the ship's captain, the indignant Swedes hauled the sub out to sea. Last June, the Swedish navy spent 14 days in futile pursuit of a reported sub in the Gulf of Bothnia. But the latest trespass raised the greatest fears. "This is so far inside a restricted area, so close to our main naval base, that it seems more aggressive and ruthless than anything before," declared Commander Hans von Hofsten, who is in charge of briefing the more than 300 reporters who have flocked to Hars Bay.

For that reason, Swedish authorities decided to try to trap the sub, force it to the surface and question those aboard. Within a few days after the first sighting, the Swedes managed to bottle up the sub in Hars Bay, a narrow channel (12 miles long and 3 miles wide) between the mainland and Musk Island. Both major openings in the bay were blocked by a forest of submarine nets, chains and magnetic cords.

Some 40 patrol boats, torpedo boats, minesweepers, surveying ships and buzzing police launches joined in the hunt. Many of the pursuers carried highly sensitive sonar equipment. Overhead clattered ten antisubmarine helicopters, which lowered hydrophones into the water like stethoscopes. When a telltale noise was heard, a chopper or a boat would drop depth charges in an attempt to force the sub to the surface. The waters of the bay rose in explosive plumes, and the air was filled with the smell of dead fish.

On Thursday, the sub suddenly made its move. Early in the morning, a trail of air bubbles showed that the vessel was edging toward the northern end, but the sub pulled back after Swedish ships rushed to the area. Then, in midafternoon, a Swedish ship guarding the northern exit of the bay picked up the sounds of an underwater vessel. At the same time, something thudded against the submarine nets that blocked off the bay. Two choppers quickly swooped over the spot and dropped four 330-lb. depth charges.

The hidden sub, which apparently was making a desperate attempt to break through the nets, drew back and lay silent and deep, about 230 ft. below the surface and only 600 ft. from a popular beach at Arsta. As naval divers plunged into the water to examine the damaged nets, a submarine salvage ship examined the sea floor with its underwater cameras. It reportedly found nothing.

Later that evening, a second submarine was detected trying to nose into the bay, apparently seeking to aid its imprisoned comrade. The new arrival later gave up and backed away from the barrier netting. At about the same tune, Swedish officials exploded three mines by remote control after detecting a sub passing outside the bay. Again, nothing was found.

At week's end the hunted sub was believed to be still trapped in the bay, exact whereabouts and identity unknown. There were unconfirmed reports that a Soviet spy plane was crisscrossing the Baltic, presumably to attempt to make radio contact with the mystery vessel. Whatever it was, wherever it was, Stockholm remained determined to find out, no matter how long it took. "It's a. war of nerves," said Captain Sven Carlsson, the Swedish navy spokesman. "Time is on our side.'' --By James Kelly. Reported by Mary Johnson/Stockholm

With reporting by Mary Johnson

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