Misplaced Pages

#30969

67-641: Vesikko was one of five submarines to serve in the Finnish Navy . The other four were the three larger Vetehinen -class boats Vetehinen , Vesihiisi , Iku-Turso and the small Saukko . The word "vesikko" is the Finnish name for the European mink . Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IvS), was a German front company in the Netherlands , established to secretly design a new German submarine fleet. According to

134-495: A 34 million euro contract for 12 fast transport boats with an option for more vessels with Marine Alutech , a Finnish company that had also built the Uisko - and Jurmo -class transport boats. The 19-metre (62 ft) Jehu transport boats can carry 25 troops and have a maximum speed in excess of 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph). Defensive capability is provided by a remotely controlled turret capable of providing fire support during

201-573: A first submarine type for the new fleet. Construction of both of these experimental submarines was funded by the Reichsmarine. Commander Karl Bartenbach , who had retired from active service in the Reichsmarine, worked as secret liaison officer in Finland. His official title was Naval Expert of the Finnish Defence Forces , and it was under his leadership that the 496-ton Vetehinen class and

268-471: A landing operation. The new class of landing craft has been named the Jehu class . The next-generation surface combatant, which will be larger than the current missile boats and more capable for international co-operation, is currently in the pre-development stage. This new class of multi-purpose naval vessels, referred to as Monitoimialus 2020 ("Multi-purpose vessel 2020") or Laivue 2020 ("Squadron 2020") in

335-492: A new missile squadron called Laivue 2000 (English: Squadron 2000 ). At first it was supposed to consist of two Hamina -class missile boats (already built at this date) and four Tuuli -class hovercraft . The Navy experimented with one prototype hovercraft, but announced in 2003 that the Tuuli class would not enter active operations and that no more of them would be built. Instead two new Hamina -class missile boats were built, and

402-517: A number of torpedo boats were manufactured as gunboats that could quickly be converted to carry torpedoes. Torpedoes were re-introduced in 2018. The Cold War limitations are no longer in place (they were nullified with the breakup of the Soviet Union), but the size of the navy has still remained roughly the same size (with the exception of tonnage). In the late 1990s, the Finnish Navy was developing

469-437: A thousand rounds per gun, two extra DK machine guns and one Lend-Lease quadruple Vickers .50 machine gun MK III mount. Kirov lacked any radar when war broke out in 1941, but by 1944 was equipped with British Lend-Lease models. One Type 291 was used for air search. One Type 284 and two Type 285 radars were for main battery fire control, while anti-aircraft fire control was provided by two Type 282 radars. Kirov

536-400: A total of 113,500 shaft horsepower (84,637 kW) and she reached 35.94 knots (66.56 km/h; 41.36 mph) on trials. Kirov carried nine 180-millimeter (7.1 in) 57- caliber B-1-P guns in three electrically powered MK-3-180 triple turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of six single 100-millimeter (3.9 in) 56-caliber B-34 anti-aircraft guns fitted on each side of

603-538: Is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces . The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short for "Finnish Navy ship", but this is not used in Finnish-language contexts. The Finnish Navy also includes coastal forces and coastal artillery . The current Commander of the Navy is rear admiral Tuomas Tiilikainen . The navy

670-752: Is organized into the Navy Command, three Brigade-level units, and the Naval Academy. Since 1998 the navy also includes the Nyland Brigade in Dragsvik , where Finnish Marines or Coastal Jaegers are trained. The Nyland Brigade is also the only Swedish -language unit in the country and it carries on the traditions and battle-honours of the Nyland (Uusimaa) Regiment of the Swedish Army. Total of 31,500 personnel During

737-535: The Pohjanmaa class . On 5 May 2021 the Finnish Ministry of Defense announced that the Finnish Navy was to obtain four Kewatec Work 1920 vessels for delivery between 2022 and 2024. The deal included options for five additional vessels. The contract (including options) is valued 12.8 million Euros. An additional 17 Jurmo-class vessels were ordered on 29 June 2023. Coastal forces include both coastal infantry and

SECTION 10

#1732848595031

804-685: The Allies ' Commission responsible for monitoring the observance of the Peace treaty ordered the Finnish submarines to be disarmed, and in 1947 according to the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty , the Finnish Defence Forces were forbidden to have any submarines. The Finnish submarines Vetehinen , Vesihiisi , Iku-Turso , and Saukko were sold to Belgium to be scrapped in 1953. Vesikko was spared because

871-619: The Archipelago of Turku during 1933–34. Vesikko was a prototype for the German Type II submarines . Six Type IIA submarines (U-1 to U-6) which were almost identical to Vesikko were built in the Deutsche Werke dock in Kiel , and after these, 44 Type IIB, IIC, and IID submarines were built before and during World War II . According to the agreement between the Finnish Ministry of Defence and

938-682: The Crimean War , albeit mostly with on-shore duties. The Meriekipaasi also manned the coastal batteries at the Santahamina Island during the siege of fortress Viapori in Helsinki. The ships the Meriekipaasi operated included the steam frigates Rurik and Kalevala , named after the Finnish national epic. These ships later served in the Russian Pacific Fleet . The first ships that

1005-621: The Finnish Government . Since The Liliput Project broke the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, there was no mention of Germany in the agreement, and it was decided that the new submarine could only be sold to nations belonging to the League of Nations . The would-be buyers also had to have the rights to own such a weapon. The Finnish Government gained primary rights to purchase the submarine. The construction of CV 707 begun in 1931 at

1072-534: The Gulf of Finland by Finnish, Soviet and German naval forces. The Soviet Navy laid 16,179 mines and 2,441 mine sweeping obstacles, the Finnish navy 6,382 mines, and the German navy's vessels, submarines and aircraft laid some 45,000 mines, of which 3,000 were magnetic mines. The last mine sweeping season was held in 1957, but the mine danger continued for some 10 more years, and there are still hundreds of World War II-era mines in

1139-457: The Gulf of Finland . The Soviets lost several smaller vessels (patrol and torpedo boats) together with 128 men. One-hundred and two Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner. During 1943 the navy received 14 new motor torpedo boats which were used to replace the old pre-war ones. In 1944 the Soviets launched a major offensive against Finland , during which the navy fought in support of Finnish land forces

1206-518: The Gulf of Vyborg . In the end the ships were forced to pull out. In September 1944, the military operations against Germany started. The main focus was in the north, the Lapland War , but the Germans also tried to capture Suursaari in an operation named Tanne Ost . The attack was repulsed. During the battle, Finnish motor torpedo boats sank several German vessels. The last action of the Finnish Navy

1273-545: The Irben Strait on the evenings of 24–25 and 26–27 June. Off-loading her fuel and ammunition to reduce her draft, she passed through the shallow Moon Sound Channel (between Muhu island and the Estonian mainland) with great difficulty, and managed to reach Tallinn by the end of June. Kirov provided gunfire support during the defense of Tallinn and served as the flagship of the evacuation fleet from Tallinn to Leningrad at

1340-725: The Karelian Isthmus . Due to the armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union, Vesikko was ordered to return to port on 19 September 1944. Vesikko sailed the last time as a combat vessel of the Finnish Navy in December 1944. During wartime, several officers were commanders of the submarine: Ltn. Kauko Pekkanen (1939), Capt. Ltn. Olavi Aittola (1940 and 1941), Capt. Ltn. Antti Leino (1942), Capt. Ltn. Pentti Airaksinen (1942), Capt. Ltn. Eero Pakkala (1943), Capt. Ltn. Olavi Syrjänen (1943), and Capt. Ltn. Lauri Parma (1944). In January 1945,

1407-678: The siege of Leningrad . She bombarded Finnish positions during the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive in mid-1944, but played no further part in the war. Kirov was reclassified as a training cruiser on 2 August 1961 and sold for scrap on 22 February 1974. Kirov was 191.3 metres (627 ft 7 in) long, had a beam of 17.66 metres (57 ft 11 in) and had a draft between 5.75 to 6.15 metres (18 ft 10 in to 20 ft 2 in). She displaced 7,890 tonnes (7,765 long tons ) at standard load and 9,436 tonnes (9,287 long tons) at full load. Her steam turbines produced

SECTION 20

#1732848595031

1474-542: The 100-ton Saukko were built in Finland. Both submarine types were designed by IvS. For the German Navy, his mission was to oversee the developing and construction of a 200–250 ton submarine, which would still equal the combat effectiveness of the Vetehinen class. The whole task was named The Lilliput Project . The official decision allowing Vesikko to be constructed in Finland was made in 1930 after several meetings with

1541-573: The Baltic Sea. The greatest loss of the Finnish Navy occurred on 13 September 1941 when Ilmarinen ran into a mine and sank. 271 sailors died and only 132 were rescued. Most of the survivors later served in the Lake Onega flotilla, using old captured ships, including a steam-engined paddlewheeler. In 1942 the main focus of the war at sea was on anti-submarine warfare. Finnish and German naval forces tried to prevent Soviet submarines from gaining access to

1608-465: The Baltic Sea. However, the mine barrier had proven to be insufficient to completely stop Soviet submarines activities. The Soviet subs sank 18 ships, seven of which were Finnish. 12 Soviet submarines were also sunk - three by Finnish submarines. The next step in submarine warfare was to completely block the Gulf of Finland with anti-submarine nets between Naissaar and Porkkala . This was done immediately after

1675-653: The Crichton-Vulcan company, Finland had the primary purchase option until 1937, and the Finnish Government took over the submarine during August 1934. After the Finnish Parliament had approved the acquisition in 1936, the submarine joined the Finnish Navy under the name of Vesikko . Vesikko was deployed with Vesihiisi to the Hanko region on 30 November 1939 as several Soviet surface combatants were headed towards

1742-473: The Crichton-Vulcan dock in Turku. At the time of its construction, CV 707 was one of the most advanced submarine designs. For example, the maximum depth was over twice that of earlier German submarines, and its hull could be built completely by electric welding. By eliminating rivets there was increased resistance to water pressure, decreased oil leakages, and the construction process was faster. Germans tested CV 707 in

1809-523: The Finnish Defence Forces hoped that Finland could in future gain permission to use submarines again, and Vesikko was then meant to be used for training purposes. Vesikko was stored at the Valmet Oy dock in Katajanokka district in Helsinki. In 1959, the Finnish Navy decided to sell Vesikko because Finland had not managed to obtain the right to use submarines again, and because Valmet Oy complained that

1876-550: The Finnish Navy was ordered to participate in the demanding mine clearance operation. The operation lasted until 1950. There were many casualties among the clearance crews. The war time fleet was replaced in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to Finland's neutrality she tried to balance her purchases of equipment between the two blocs and also tried to produce its own vessels. A Bay-class frigate ( Matti Kurki ) for training purposes, two Dark-class fast patrol boats ( Vasama 1 and Vasama 2 ) and four BYMS-class minesweepers were bought from

1943-522: The Marines ( Coastal Jaegers ) as well as the remnants of the coastal artillery units, which have moved from fixed and towed guns to truck-mounted and infantry-carried anti-ship missiles . The towed guns have been phased out as obsolete and all artillery-based coastal defences are to be retired in the near future. The Euro-Spike coastal missile system was taken into use in 2005 at the Uusimaa Brigade and

2010-603: The Naval Act. Instead, it was part of the secret rebuilding of the German Navy, the Reichsmarine . The objective of Germans was to design a modern submarine type to be used during general mobilization ; technology and standards were to be new and not based on World War I designs. For this purpose two prototypes were built, E1 in Spain and CV 707 in Finland . The latter was later chosen as

2077-457: The Soviet Union began to occupy Latvia , continuing on to Liepāja the following day. During the Winter War , Kirov , escorted by the destroyers Smetlivyi and Stremitel'nyi , attempted to bombard Finnish coast defense guns at Russarö , 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Hanko on 30 November. She only fired 35 rounds before she was damaged by a number of near misses and had to return to

Finnish submarine Vesikko - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-608: The Soviet naval base at Liepāja for repairs. She remained there for the rest of the Winter War and afterwards was under repair at Kronstadt from October 1940 to 21 May 1941. Based near Riga at the time of the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Kirov was trapped in the Gulf of Riga by the rapid enemy advance. She supported minelaying sorties by Soviet destroyers in the western half of

2211-720: The Swedish era, the Finnish Gulf saw many battles between the Swedish and Russian fleets. Many of the Swedish naval bases were located in present-day Finland and many sailors came from Finland (see Archipelago Fleet ). During the Russian rule (1809–1917) an entirely Finnish Navy unit, named Suomen Meriekipaasi was defending the Finnish coast, alongside the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy . The Meriekipaasi participated in

2278-500: The UK, two Riga-class frigates ( Hämeenmaa and Uusimaa ) and four Osa II-class fast attack craft ( Tuima -class missile boats ) were obtained from the Soviet Union. Some of the vessels, such as two Turunmaa -class gunboats ( Turunmaa and Karjala ) and the Nuoli-class fast attack craft were produced domestically. The Paris peace talks in 1947 resulted in a treaty that limited

2345-496: The aft funnel, the mainmast, and killed 86 sailors and wounded 46. Repairs took two months during which her catapult was removed; a lighter pole mainmast was fitted and her anti-aircraft armament increased. After Leningrad was liberated in early 1944, Kirov remained there, and took no further part in the war except to provide gunfire support for the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive in mid–1944. Kirov

2412-505: The area. However the submarine failed to arrive in time to intercept the Kirov and its escorts. Vesikko was able to get close enough to see the cruiser but was unable to reach firing position as it had to evade shellfire. When on 17 December and on two following days the Soviets sent the battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya to bombard Finnish positions at Koivisto , the Finnish Navy decided to send out Vesikko to hunt for it. However, by

2479-631: The areas where the Finnish Navy would operate in two. This included the coastal artillery positions at Russarö and Osmussaar , which guarded the minefields blocking the entrance to the Eastern Gulf of Finland . Large mine fields were laid down in cooperation with the German Kriegsmarine when the war began. The coastal defence ships bombarded the Soviet base at Hanko until the Soviets evacuated Hanko in December 1941. Between 1941 and 1945 some 69,779 mines and mine sweeping obstacles were laid in

2546-500: The coast guard. When the Winter War broke out the Finnish Navy moved to occupy the de-militarized Åland Islands and to protect merchant shipping. In the first month of the war, battles between Soviet ships and Finnish coastal batteries were fought at Hanko, Finland , Utö and Koivisto . At Koivisto and Hanko, the batteries forced Soviet battleships to retire with damage. Finnish efforts to use submarines ( Vesikko and Saukko ) to sink Soviet capital ships failed. In December 1939

2613-520: The cost of a new Project 68bis Sverdlov -class cruiser, it was deemed a success and allowed Kirov to serve for another two decades. Kirov was laid down at the Ordzhonikidze Yard , Leningrad on 22 October 1935. She was launched on 30 November 1936 and was completed on 26 September 1938. She was commissioned into the Baltic Fleet in the autumn of 1938, but was still being worked on into early 1939. Kirov sailed to Riga on 22 October when

2680-440: The current maritime anti-ship missile 85M (SAAB RBS15) system, which will reach the end of its life cycle in the 2020s. The new PTO2020 missiles will be installed on Hamina- and Pohjanmaa- class ships and vehicle platforms. The planned life cycle of the system extends to the 2050s. As the Finnish Defence Forces are building multi-branch joint strike capability and Gabriel 5 is capable of strikes to both naval and land domain,

2747-478: The end of August 1941. For most of the rest of the war she was blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by Axis minefields and could only provide gunfire support for the defenders during the siege of Leningrad . She was damaged by a number of German air and artillery attacks, most seriously on 4–5 April 1942 when she was hit by three bombs and one 15-centimeter (5.9 in) shell that damaged all six 100 mm AA guns,

Finnish submarine Vesikko - Misplaced Pages Continue

2814-517: The equipment had been removed after the war and put to other use. In addition, Vesikko had been subject to vandalism in the dock. However, with donations and voluntary work, the restoration was completed, and Vesikko opened as a museum on the anniversary of the Finnish Navy, 9 July 1973. 60°08′33.1″N 024°59′22.5″E  /  60.142528°N 24.989583°E  / 60.142528; 24.989583 Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( Finnish : Merivoimat , Swedish : Marinen )

2881-541: The extra weaponry from the hovercraft were installed on the Hämeenmaa -class minelayers. The cable layer Putsaari and pollution control vessel Hylje were replaced in 2011 by a new multipurpose vessel built by the Uudenkaupungin Työvene shipyard. A new icebreaking oil spill response vessel was named Louhi on 8 March 2011. The 1979-built minelayer Pohjanmaa was decommissioned in 2013, after which

2948-582: The ice became so thick that only the icebreakers could still move. The two coastal defence ships were moved to the harbour in Turku where they were used to strengthen the air defences of the city. They remained there for the rest of the war. Before the Continuation War five more torpedo boats were ordered from Italy . The base that the Soviets had acquired after the Winter War at the Hanko Peninsula divided

3015-427: The ice cover melted on the sea. That barrier with its accompanying minefields effectively contained Soviet Naval vessels to the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland until the autumn of 1944, when the Soviets were able to use Finnish coastal seaways to circumvent the barrier. In spring 1942 Finnish forces captured the island of Gogland . In July 1942 the Soviets made an attempt to occupy the small island of Sommers in

3082-725: The independent Finnish Navy obtained were a mix of obsolete vessels left behind by the Russians during the Finnish Civil War and vessels that had not been able to make the winter voyage to Kronstadt as the Russian Navy retreated from German forces. Thus, the Finnish Navy of the late 1910s and early 1920s consisted of a few gunboats ( Klas Horn , Matti Kurki , Turunmaa , and Karjala ), six S-class torpedo boats , eight C-class torpedo boats, one minelayer ( Louhi ), several minesweepers, and five T-class minelaying boats. In addition to

3149-570: The minelayer Hämeenmaa took over the role of flagship of the Finnish Navy. In February 2015, it was reported that fatigue damage had been discovered in the hulls of the recently refitted Rauma -class missile boats and that the vessels would be removed from active duty to prevent further damage until its cause has been found. However, while peacetime use is now limited, the missile boats can be taken back into full service if needed. In 2018 Finnish Navy announced procurement of IAI's Gabriel 5 naval strike missile system. The system will replace

3216-676: The minesweepers Altair , Mikula , MP 7 , MP 11 , Ahvola , T 12 , fifteen tugs, four smaller transports and 54 motorboats. Finland lost three more ships (the torpedo boats C1 , C2 and C3 ) in supporting the British campaign in the Baltic Sea . The three vessels remained in the Baltic even when winter froze over the sea, and the expanding ice damaged the vessels beyond repair, and they were all scuttled. The last remaining C-class torpedo boats were placed in reserve after this incident. In 1927, after years of wrangling with various plans for how to modernize

3283-558: The navy, and partly due to the loss of the torpedo boat S2 in heavy seas in October 1925, the Parliament of Finland approved a plan to build two coastal defence ships ( Panssarilaiva in Finnish), as well as four submarines . Motor torpedo boats were also acquired both from Britain , as well as from domestic sources. New minesweepers were also constructed. The training ship Suomen Joutsen

3350-520: The new missile was given designation of PTO2020, (Pinta Torjunta Ohjus 2020 or Surface Strike Missile 2020) instead of old designation(Anti Ship Missile). Once Squadron 2000 was operational, the Navy shifted its attention to mine countermeasures with a view to replacing the old Kuha- and Kiiski-class minesweepers with three Katanpää -class mine countermeasure vessels , previously known as the MCMV 2010 and MITO classes. In October 2012, The Finnish Navy signed

3417-424: The offensive capability of the Finnish military. For the navy, this meant a limitation to a fleet of no more than 10,000 tons and 4,500 personnel. As for the weaponry, torpedoes, submarines, mines and missiles were forbidden. The restrictions were eased in the 1960s and missiles and mines were allowed. The torpedo restriction was not either fully exercised as the Riga-class frigates were equipped with torpedoes and

SECTION 50

#1732848595031

3484-414: The old submarine hampered the work in the dock. Thanks to the Institute of Military History and the former submarine officers, the sale was cancelled and Vesikko was conveyed to the Military Museum. The Military Museum moved Vesikko to Susisaari island in Suomenlinna , on the shores of Artillery Bay, and restored the submarine. The restoration process lasted over a decade and was very difficult; most of

3551-460: The older truck-mounted RBS-15 missiles have been complemented with new, upgraded RBS-15 Mk.3 (known as MTO-85M ). The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . Soviet cruiser Kirov 59°56′31″N 30°12′31″E  /  59.9420402°N 30.2086731°E  / 59.9420402; 30.2086731 Kirov (Russian: Киров , IPA: [ˈkʲirəf] )

3618-430: The preliminary papers, is intended to replace the Hämeenmaa - and Pohjanmaa -class minelayers and Rauma -class missile boats as they are retired. The goal is to replace seven vessels with four new corvette -sized surface combatants. In September 2015, the Finnish Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö officially authorized the Finnish Navy to start developing "Squadron 2020" and an official Request for Information (RFI)

3685-399: The rear funnel. Her light AA guns consisted of six semi-automatic 45-millimeter (1.8 in) 21-K AA guns and four DK 12.7-millimeter (0.50 in) machine guns. Six 533-millimeter (21.0 in) 39-Yu torpedo tubes were fitted in two triple mountings. By 1944 Kirov exchanged her 45 mm (1.8 in) guns for ten fully automatic 37-millimeter (1.5 in) 70-K AA guns with

3752-439: The ship simultaneously, and that over twenty torpedoes had been launched against it. During fall 1941 Vesikko operated from Helsinki and made three patrols to the coast of Estonia . In 1942, equipped with depth charge rack, she acted as an escort to convoys in the Sea of Åland , and hunted suspected hostile submarines near Helsinki. In the beginning of June 1944, Vesikko escorted the convoys which were evacuating people from

3819-488: The target. The target stopped but did not appear to be sinking so Vesikko fired another torpedo which failed to explode. Very soon after the strike, three Soviet patrol boats started to chase Vesikko and tried to destroy it with depth charges and assist the damaged ship but failed to accomplish either task. Vyborg sank on 3 July at 14:15. Soviet historiography later downplayed the sinking of Vyborg , insisting that several submarines and German naval bombers had assaulted

3886-401: The terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty after World War I , Germany was banned from building and operating submarines among other "offensive" weaponry. This resulted in moving the armaments' research to foreign countries. For example, German tanks and aircraft were tested and developed in the Soviet Union . Therefore, unlike the other submarines in the Finnish Navy , Vesikko was not part of

3953-413: The time the submarine reached the area a day later the Soviet battleship Marat which bombarded on that day had already departed and temperature had dropped to −15 °C (5 °F) which prevented the submarine from diving. In summer 1941 all Finnish submarines were once again readied for combat operations and they sailed to the staging area in the Gulf of Finland. Vesikko ' s base of operations

4020-464: The warships, the Russians also left behind numerous other types of vessels. Additionally, the Germans handed over two netlayers ( Hämeenmaa and Uusimaa ) to the Finnish Navy, and these two ships formed the core of the Finnish Navy until the coastal defence ships were commissioned. With the Treaty of Tartu , Finland had to return some of the equipment they had operated earlier. This equipment included three S-class torpedo boats ( S3 , S4 and S6 ),

4087-446: Was a Project 26 Kirov -class cruiser of the Soviet Navy that served during the Winter War and World War II , and into the Cold War . She attempted to bombard Finnish coast defense guns during action in the Winter War , but was driven off by a number of near misses that damaged her. She led the Evacuation of Tallinn at the end of August 1941, before being blockaded in Leningrad where she could only provide gunfire support during

SECTION 60

#1732848595031

4154-419: Was also acquired. The strength of the Finnish Navy at the beginning of World War II was limited. Some of the planned ships had not yet been constructed and wartime constraints on the economy prolonged ship building times. The Finnish Navy operated the following vessels in the Baltic Sea: On Lake Ladoga, the Finns operated: The navy also had several auxiliary warships , icebreakers and patrol boats from

4221-628: Was completely overhauled from 1949 to 1953. Her secondary armament was upgraded with electrically powered, fully automated 100 mm B-34USM mountings and her fire-control system was replaced with a Zenit-26 system with SPN-500 stabilized directors . All of her light AA guns were replaced with nine twin gun water-cooled 37 mm V-11 mounts. All of her radars were replaced with Soviet systems: Rif surface search, Gyuys air search, Zalp surface gunnery and Yakor' anti-aircraft gunnery radars. All anti-submarine weapons, torpedo launchers, aircraft equipment and boat cranes were removed. While expensive, about half

4288-413: Was damaged by a German magnetic mine while leaving Kronstadt on 17 October 1945 and was under repair until 20 December 1946. She was refitted from November 1949 to April 1953, during which her machinery was completely overhauled and her radars, fire control systems and anti-aircraft guns were replaced by the latest Soviet systems. She participated in fleet maneuvers in the North Sea during January 1956. She

4355-405: Was during the amphibious landing of troops from Oulu in Tornio . The Finnish gunboats successfully shelled German batteries, which had posed serious threat for the transport ships, while their anti-aircraft batteries defended the convoy from German air attacks. The navy also hunted German U-boats in the Baltic, laying its last mines of the war while doing this. After the Finnish-Soviet armistice,

4422-459: Was sent to shipyards in December. Consequently, the Finnish Defence Forces signed a letter of intent with Rauma Marine Constructions for the construction of four vessels under the "Squadron 2020" program on 14 September 2016. The design stage is planned to continue until 2018 and the vessels will be built in 2019–2024. The projected cost of four vessels with a lifespan of at least 35 years is roughly 1.2 billion euro. The new vessels will be called

4489-402: Was to be Vahterpää island near the town of Loviisa . When the Continuation War started on 25 June, all submarines were ordered to patrol the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland . On 3 July 1941 Vesikko sank a Soviet merchant ship named Vyborg east of Gogland island. The attack was made 700 metres (770 yd) from the target; first one torpedo was launched at 13:25 which hit the stern of

#30969