Klaus Oldendorff

2020-08-11 Klaus Oldendorff wreck on Hinkki boat
This was an after work evening TEC dive trip of diving club Kupla.

We were 6 divers: me, Jari K., Vode, TT, Tommi, Outi.

Planned departure time was 16:00 from Porkala Marin where Hinkki boat was parked for two weeks to dive the wrecks at Porkkala peninsula.
I had prepared and kitted up the previous evening and packed my car. I had D12 tanks with 21/29 Trimix and 7 L Alu tank with 49% Oxygen for deco, a 2 L tank for suit gas, and my camera set: Olympus TG-6 in PT-058, AOI UWL-4 lens. BGNing tray, attached on each side a Nanight 4000 lumen video light attached to tray with two pieces of BGNing 8" carbon fiber float arms.

4 of us arrived to Porkala Marin in good time at 15:30, Vode drove the boat to loading pier and we loaded the boat. Tommi and Outi arrived late, so we departed at 16:30. Vode was captain, Jari was navigating. We arrived to the dive site at 17:15 and there was no buoy. We located the wreck at know location by sonar and dropped one light shot. Then prepared a heavy shot with 8 kg lead and thick rope and dropped that 20 m more south where the sonar image looked more promising. It was 19 deg but very cloudy, at the beginning wind was 4 m/s was raising from North. I called the Upinniemi Sea Control to announce our diving operations starting.
Vode and TT went diving first with a 70 min plan. Then me and Jari. Jari was diving sidemount with 19/35 Trimix on two 12 L tanks, for deco he had 36% Nitrox and 100% Oxygen. We agreed to dive 30 min at the wreck, then ascend according to dive computers set to GF 30/85, do first gas change at 21 m, then for Jari at 6 m to Oxygen and last stop at 3 m. When we were at the buoy, Vode and TT came up already, as Vode’s main light had failed. They told that the shot was 1 min dive from right side of the wreck and they had drawn a reel to the bridge that we could follow. Me and Jari descended slowly and at 3 min 37 m we found the line to wreck. The reel was on the deck next to the fallen mast at 33 m. We turned left and started swimming the rear end. It was totally dark and visibility only 5 m. Usually at this site visibility is really good, much better than this and there would still be light from surface. Surface water was 19 deg, but at bottom it was 7 deg, no clear thermocline. We swam to the stern and saw the big streering wheel, an the huge spare propeller in front of it. Then we dropped over to take a look at the rudder and main propeller with 4 blades, each blade a meter long. The bottom here is at 35 m. An anchor chain is running out, so there is probably a big anchor out there, and apparently the ship has sank on the spot while at anchor. Then we continued back towards the bridge. After the bridge the ship is torn into pieces, apparently by a big torpedo, and you need to descend down to 37 m. In the poor visibility in total darkness it wasn’t a good idea to go further. In better visibility you can see your way to the bow, but not this time. At 29 min is was time to get back to the ascent line. Ascent went normally as agreed. At our 6 m deco stop we saw Outi and Tommi going down. Total dive time came to 52 min. I had used 100 bar of the Trimix and 100 bar of the deco tank. I took some pictures and video.

Notes about the wreck:
https://www.hylyt.net/item/klaus-oldendorff-1414/
S/S Klaus Oldendorff was a 71 m long and 1081 BRT steam ship built 1893, owned by the Egon Oldendoff shipping company at Lübeck in Germany. November 1942 the ship was on route from Tallinn to Turku. On the night of 1942-11-25 the ship was anchored south from Kallbådan, but next morning it had disappeared, and the crew was never seen again. The fate of the ship and crew was unknown until the wreck was found from bottom of the sea at location 59° 49.667' N , 24° 20.879' E, depth 35 to 40 m. The wreck was found by the Navy in early 1990’s and it is located in the military protection area of the Mäkiluoto fortress. The wreck has since become a popular dive site.
It is apparent that the ship was sunk by a Soviet submarine torpedo. The wreck is badly broken from the front of the bridge. The rear parts behind the bridge are in relatively good condition and standing upright. On the rear deck you can see the streering wheel, a huge spare propeller, and the rudder and main propeller are in place. There is a big skylet and you can see to the engine room. The bridge cabin has collapsed. Front part is badly damaged, the front hold has totally collapsed but the bow is still standing.