Whiskey on the Rocks
Karlskrona, Sweden
 S-363 grounded | |
| Date | 27 October 1981 |
|---|---|
| Location | Karlskrona, Sweden |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Description | Soviet submarine that ran aground on the south coast of Sweden in 1981 |
| Participants | Soviet Union, Sweden |
The Whiskey on the rocks incident involved Soviet submarine S-363. This was a Soviet Navy Whiskey-class submarine of the Baltic Fleet, with the designation U137 when it ran aground on 27 October 1981 on the south coast of Sweden, approximately 10km from Karlskrona, one of the largest Swedish naval bases. U137 was the unofficial Swedish name for the vessel, as the Soviets considered names of most of their submarines to be classified at the time and did not disclose them.
Official narrative
The most common interpretation is that the submarine accidentally entered Swedish waters because of a navigation error.
The Swedish government concluded that the submarine had entered Swedish waters knowingly to conduct illegal activities.
What the incident did, was to create the foundation for the narrative of widespread Soviet infiltration of the Swedish coastline. Every submarine observation from now on, would be attributed to the Soviet Union. This was to form the base for a multi-year psy-op by NATO secret services in collaboration with sections of the Swedish armed forces, in attempt to topple Prime Minister Olof Palme.
Problems with the official narrative
The official narrative of an accidental grounding has several problems. While the clunky Soviet submarine was obviously unsuited for coastal operations, and thus the Official Narrative of it having "knowingly entered to conduct illegal activities" can be dismissed, the way the submarine was precisely navigated to a place where it was bound to be grounded, is curious.
