Finnish submarine AG 16

AG 16 (ex "AG-13") was a Russian submarine of Holland 602GF/602L type (AG = "Amerikansky Golland"), which served in the Gulf of Finland during the First World War.

During WWI Russian and British submarines operated from bases in Finland. The Russian submarines of "Holland" type ("AG 11", "AG 12", "AG 15" and "AG 16") were scuttled in the harbor of Hanko on April 3, just prior to the German landing there. These submarines had good sea going qualities and were easy to handle. When the German troops advanced on Helsinki, the British submarine group sailed out and scuttled their submarines outside the city, on April 4, 1918. The Squadron consisted of the submarines "E 1", "E 8", "E 9", "E 19", "C 26", "C 27" and "C 35". The British crews could return to Britain via Murmansk.

Two of the Russian subs, the "AG 12" and the "AG 16", seemed to be in relatively good shape and the Finns decided to lift them and to repair them. After salvaging, the "AG 12" was transferred to Turku and the "AG 16" to Helsinki. AG 12 was however a hopeless case and was soon scrapped. The Finns asked both Germany and Electric Boat Co. for estimates on the cost of repairing the AG 16. The latter was so costly so only the German alternative remained. German experts evaluated the AG 16 and gave a cost estimate. The Finnish government would however never give funds for the repairing of the sub, since the young nation had so much else to use their money on. The repairing would be costly and no shipyard were prepared to guarantee that the result would be good. The submarine was stored on dry land until 1929 when the Finnish government finally agreed on the new Fleet program, which also included new submarines. The AG 16 was then scrapped.