Hello Mats,

More information about Jussi H (including a photo) can be found in the following link:

[personal.inet.fi]

I translated the story for Miroslav a while ago so I'll post it here as well:

PURCHASE

During the economical depression of 1930's Werner Hacklin decided to once again concentrate in shipping business. The ships were cheap and even though high profits were not likely in the shipping market, his business instinct told him that this was the right time to invest in ships.

Ships were purchased throughout the 1930's at a rate of approximately one ship per year. The ships were named after members of his family and all names contained the well known suffix H (for Hacklin).

In early 1937 Werner Hacklin travelled to England to finish the purchase negotiations of his eight steamship. The name of the ship was Ospringe. It was built in 1910 in Dunkerque, France and sold to England in 1931. The ship was owned by a London based company Constants (South Wales) Limited. After negotiations Hacklin bought the ship on Jan 15, 1937 at a price of 9000 sterling pounds.

After necessary equipment and crew arrangements, the ship steamed towards Finland in March 1937. It arrived to Mariehamn for measurement and registration on Mar 22, 1937 and was renamed Jussi H. The capacity of the ship was 2215,61 grt and 1197,06 nrt. She was equipped with two boilers that fed steam to a 1150 hp triple expansion steam engine. Her length was 87,89
meters, breadth 13,06 meters and the depth of the cargo holds 5,96 meters. The shipping company was called Laiva Oy Jussi H. Members of the board were Werner Hacklin, Johan Fredrik Illman, Halvar Hacklin, Kalervo Tamminen, Bertel Hacklin and Assar Salonen.

After the formalities had been taken care of, Jussi H entered regular service. She mostly carried Finnish timber to Baltic and Atlantic harbours. In the return trips she carried general cargo and coal.

LAST VOYAGE

Jussi H's last and fatal voyage began on Friday Sep 11, 1942 at 20:30 from Rauma towards Königsberg. The ship was loaded with general cargo including wooden barracks. The intention was to steam accross the Gulf of Bothnia to Swedish waters and along the neutral coast towards Germany in a convoy protected by the Swedish navy. Enemy activities were concentrated in the Gulf of Finland so that crossing the Gulf of Bothnia was considered to be reasonably safe and protected convoys were not considered necessary. On the other hand all naval units were busy protecting the convoys in the Gulf of Finland so that there simply would not have been enough resources fo Mariehamn for measurement and registration on Mar 22, 1937 and was renamed Jussi H. The capacity of the ship was 2215,61 grt and 1197,06 nrt. She was equipped with two boilers that fed steam to a 1150 hp triple expansion steam engine. Her length was 87,89
meters, breadth 13,06 meters and the depth of the cargo holds 5,96 meters. The shipping company was called Laiva Oy Jussi H. Members of the board were Werner Hacklin, Johan Fredrik Illman, Halvar Hacklin, Kalervo Tamminen, Bertel Hacklin and Assar Salonen.

After the formalities had been taken care of, Jussi H entered regular service. She mostly carried Finnish timber to Baltic and Atlantic harbours. In the return trips she carried general cargo and coal.

LAST VOYAGE

Jussi H's last and fatal voyage began on Friday Sep 11, 1942 at 20:30 from Rauma towards Königsberg. The ship was loaded with general cargo including wooden barracks. The intention was to steam accross the Gulf of Bothnia to Swedish waters and along the neutral coast towards Germany in a convoy protected by the Swedish navy. Enemy activities were concentrated in the Gulf of Finland so that crossing the Gulf of Bothnia was considered to be reasonably safe and protected convoys were not considered necessary. On the other hand all naval units were busy protecting the convoys in the Gulf of Finland so that there simply would not have been enough resources for the Gulf of Bothnia anyways.

On the next day, Saturday, Werner Hacklin started to get worried about his ships. Also Edit H had left from Mäntyluoto towards Sweden at about the same time. He phoned the Öregrund pilot station in Sweden and asked if the ships had passed the station. The answer was that Edit H had passed the station
but Jussi H had disappeared. Hacklin got even more worried and phoned the port authorities in Mäntyluoto and asked them to take action in order to solve the situation. He also phoned the military authorities in Helsinki.

Sunday passed without any new information but on Monday the military authorities delivered bad news. During a patrol flight, lots of floating timber had been seen north from Åland and a womans body had been found in the archipelago. The body had been identified as Jussi H's ship hostess. Later Jussi H's 18-year old stoker Pauli Kankaala was found on an island badly chilled but alive. He was the only survivor of Jussi H's crew of 23 people.

DESTRUCTION

Following is stoker Kankaala's story of the ships destruction as it was attached to the ship's maritime declaration.

"We left Rauma on Friday Sep 11 at approximately 20:30 when I was off duty. My shift began at midnight when I went down to the boiler room. At least third engineer Andersson, trimmer Virtanen and later also stoker Salolahti were present. On Sar the Gulf of Bothnia anyways.

On the next day, Saturday, Werner Hacklin started to get worried about his ships. Also Edit H had left from Mäntyluoto towards Sweden at about the same time. He phoned the Öregrund pilot station in Sweden and asked if the ships had passed the station. The answer was that Edit H had passed the station
but Jussi H had disappeared. Hacklin got even more worried and phoned the port authorities in Mäntyluoto and asked them to take action in order to solve the situation. He also phoned the military authorities in Helsinki.

Sunday passed without any new information but on Monday the military authorities delivered bad news. During a patrol flight, lots of floating timber had been seen north from Åland and a womans body had been found in the archipelago. The body had been identified as Jussi H's ship hostess. Later Jussi H's 18-year old stoker Pauli Kankaala was found on an island badly chilled but alive. He was the only survivor of Jussi H's crew of 23 people.

DESTRUCTION

Following is stoker Kankaala's story of the ships destruction as it was attached to the ship's maritime declaration.

"We left Rauma on Friday Sep 11 at approximately 20:30 when I was off duty. My shift began at midnight when I went down to the boiler room. At least third engineer Andersson, trimmer Virtanen and later also stoker Salolahti were present. On Saturday morning I went to the engine room to see the clock
and to find out if my shift would soon be over. The time was 03:55.

As soon as I had returned to the boiler room, a huge explosion took place and all lights went out. I hurried to the deck and tried to enter the aft deck but it was not accessible because the deck cargo was messed and the mast had fallen down. Then I ran to the bow and after I had grabbed my coat from the crew quarters I jumped to a liferaft that was on the deck. As far
as I could hear also donkeyman Jokela, stokers Salolahti and Luukkonen, trimmers Savijoki and Virtanen as well as apprentice Aalto were on the raft. At the same time the boilers exploded and the raft fell to the sea together with the ship. I got caught under the raft and when I managed to climb back on it, the other men were gone.

The weather was stormy and waves hit over the raft. Cargo was floating in the sea and the ship's bow remained visible for a short while. Other men could be heard yelling among the floating cargo and approximately 30 minutes after the explosion I noticed second officer Hytti floating on a lifebelt. I pulled him on the raft but his condition was so weak that his words were not understandable and he died at about 10 o'clock. Later in the evening he was washed away from the raft by wave.

On the morning of Sunday Sep 13 the raft washed ashore on some rocks in the Ålandturday morning I went to the engine room to see the clock
and to find out if my shift would soon be over. The time was 03:55.

As soon as I had returned to the boiler room, a huge explosion took place and all lights went out. I hurried to the deck and tried to enter the aft deck but it was not accessible because the deck cargo was messed and the mast had fallen down. Then I ran to the bow and after I had grabbed my coat from the crew quarters I jumped to a liferaft that was on the deck. As far
as I could hear also donkeyman Jokela, stokers Salolahti and Luukkonen, trimmers Savijoki and Virtanen as well as apprentice Aalto were on the raft. At the same time the boilers exploded and the raft fell to the sea together with the ship. I got caught under the raft and when I managed to climb back on it, the other men were gone.

The weather was stormy and waves hit over the raft. Cargo was floating in the sea and the ship's bow remained visible for a short while. Other men could be heard yelling among the floating cargo and approximately 30 minutes after the explosion I noticed second officer Hytti floating on a lifebelt. I pulled him on the raft but his condition was so weak that his words were not understandable and he died at about 10 o'clock. Later in the evening he was washed away from the raft by wave.

On the morning of Sunday Sep 13 the raft washed ashore on some rocks in the Åland archipelago. I swam to a nearby island that had two empty fishermen's cabins. On Tuesday Sep 15 four fishermen came to the island with a boat. They had seen the raft on the rocks. The fishermen took me to an other island and from there on Wednesday Sep 16 to Brändö and on Thursday Sep 17
to Kumlinge where the civilian and military authorities organized a hearing. At the time of the sinking no military or other vessels were visible because it was dark."

WHAT SANK THE SHIP ?

During 1942 three groups of Soviet submarines were sent from Leningrad to operate mostly in the western part of the Gulf of Finland and in the Baltic Sea. The first group that consisted of 10 submarines left in May. The second group of also 10 submarines left in August. The biggest group of 16 submarines left later in the fall.

The task of one submarine in the second group was to penetrate to the Gulf of Bothnia and disturb sea traffic in this otherwise quiet area. This submarine was the new S-13 that had a long operating distance. The captain was young Pjotr Malatshenko. He managed to get throught the straits of the
Åland Sea to the Gulf of Bothnia by diving below the Swedish mine barrage. The first victim was Finnish s/s Hera that was sunk a while after midnight on Sep 12 with two torpedoes. The ship had first been stopped with artillery fire. A few hours later S-13 spotted Jussi H which was also sunk with tw archipelago. I swam to a nearby island that had two empty fishermen's cabins. On Tuesday Sep 15 four fishermen came to the island with a boat. They had seen the raft on the rocks. The fishermen took me to an other island and from there on Wednesday Sep 16 to Brändö and on Thursday Sep 17
to Kumlinge where the civilian and military authorities organized a hearing. At the time of the sinking no military or other vessels were visible because it was dark."

WHAT SANK THE SHIP ?

During 1942 three groups of Soviet submarines were sent from Leningrad to operate mostly in the western part of the Gulf of Finland and in the Baltic Sea. The first group that consisted of 10 submarines left in May. The second group of also 10 submarines left in August. The biggest group of 16 submarines left later in the fall.

The task of one submarine in the second group was to penetrate to the Gulf of Bothnia and disturb sea traffic in this otherwise quiet area. This submarine was the new S-13 that had a long operating distance. The captain was young Pjotr Malatshenko. He managed to get throught the straits of the
Åland Sea to the Gulf of Bothnia by diving below the Swedish mine barrage. The first victim was Finnish s/s Hera that was sunk a while after midnight on Sep 12 with two torpedoes. The ship had first been stopped with artillery fire. A few hours later S-13 spotted Jussi H which was also sunk with two
torpedoes. After this incident the submarine continued towards north and on Sep 18 shot Dutch m/s Anna W on fire. After this no more targets were found and the sub returned after a difficult and eventful journey to its base in Leningrad. During the return voyage it was hunted with depth charges and was
seriously damaged. The patrol had lasted for 43 days.

Jussi H's crewlist on the fatal voyage:

Captain: Pietilä, Heikki Nestor from Pyhämaa
1.Officer: Väisänen, Viljo Johannes from Oulu
2.Officer: Hytti, Matti Taisto Tapio from Riihimäki
1.Engineer: Grönholm, Karl Erik from Vaasa
2.Engineer: Lumme, Onni Olavi from Jyväskylä
3.Engineer: Andersson, Pentti Olavi from Pihlava
Carpenter: Nurmi, Ilmari Aleksej from Pyhämaa
Apprentice: Aalto, Vieno Aleksanteri from Uusikaupunki
Apprentice: Sorokin, Antti from Loviisa
Deck boy: Nyström, Heikki from Rauma
Deck boy: Virta, Erkki Valdemar from Rauma
Deck boy: Maaretdin, Gaijar from Helsinki
Deck boy: Aronen, Paul Johannes from Rauma
Donkeyman: Jokela, Arvo Pietari from Oulu
Stoker: Luukkonen, Väinö Villehard from Kymi
Stoker: Salolahti, Vilho Johannes from Helsinki
Stoker: Kankaala, Pauli Henrikki from Oulu
Trimmer: Savijoki, Reijo Rikhard from Tampere
Trimmer: Määttä,o
torpedoes. After this incident the submarine continued towards north and on Sep 18 shot Dutch m/s Anna W on fire. After this no more targets were found and the sub returned after a difficult and eventful journey to its base in Leningrad. During the return voyage it was hunted with depth charges and was
seriously damaged. The patrol had lasted for 43 days.

Jussi H's crewlist on the fatal voyage:

Captain: Pietilä, Heikki Nestor from Pyhämaa
1.Officer: Väisänen, Viljo Johannes from Oulu
2.Officer: Hytti, Matti Taisto Tapio from Riihimäki
1.Engineer: Grönholm, Karl Erik from Vaasa
2.Engineer: Lumme, Onni Olavi from Jyväskylä
3.Engineer: Andersson, Pentti Olavi from Pihlava
Carpenter: Nurmi, Ilmari Aleksej from Pyhämaa
Apprentice: Aalto, Vieno Aleksanteri from Uusikaupunki
Apprentice: Sorokin, Antti from Loviisa
Deck boy: Nyström, Heikki from Rauma
Deck boy: Virta, Erkki Valdemar from Rauma
Deck boy: Maaretdin, Gaijar from Helsinki
Deck boy: Aronen, Paul Johannes from Rauma
Donkeyman: Jokela, Arvo Pietari from Oulu
Stoker: Luukkonen, Väinö Villehard from Kymi
Stoker: Salolahti, Vilho Johannes from Helsinki
Stoker: Kankaala, Pauli Henrikki from Oulu
Trimmer: Savijoki, Reijo Rikhard from Tampere
Trimmer: Määttä, Reino Henrikki from Kemi
Trimmer: Virtanen, Frans Viljo from Rauma
Ship hostess: Huvinen, Veera Katariina from Helsinki
Cook: Andersson, Amanda Sofia from Helsinki
Mess boy: Adolfsson, Hans Hjalmar from Turku