On 19 August 1961, a driverless Volvo PV544 car crashed into a docked HSwMS Bävern submarine in Lysekil, Sweden. It is the only collision between a car and a submarine recorded in history.

Collision

A Volvo PV544 car was parked by the telephone exchange building at Fiskaregatan Street, near the South Harbor in Lysekil. The car's driver did not notice that the parking lot was sloped and did not use a handbrake. The car began to move downhill towards the sea. After passing by a shipment of barrels of herring, it crossed the Södra-Hamngatan Street and crashed into the bow of the HSwMS Bävern docked at the pier.

As a result of the collision, the front part of the car was crushed, and the submarine's rail was dented. No people were hurt. The submarine continued its service until 1980.

In culture

The aftermath of the accident was captured in a photograph by Hans Johansson, editor of the local Kuriren [sv] newspaper, who happened to witness the collision. The incident was reported by the Swedish TT News Agency. It was also described in a 2004 book Röd storm by Terje Fredh [sv].