The Finnish Navy
In the Winter War
Picture source: "Talvisodan
Historia 1", p.72
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Background
The Finnish navy was purely a coastal navy without "big ships".
The pride of the Finnish fleet were the 2 coastal armored vessels,
constructed in the early 30's.
When the war started, the navy had in its use (including all auxiliary
crafts) 190 ships and 363 motorboats (about 65 % of the required strength)
. The navy had 3 544 men, not including a new batch of recruits, 295
strong, in training.
The total manpower committed to sea and coastal
defense was 33 200, including 20 700 men in coastal batteries
and coast defense-units, and 8 650 regular infantry.
The C-in-C was Major General V.Valve.
Although the navy had been under a determined upgrading and modernizing
program (for a small country's navy) , where the navy was strengthened
by submarines and armored coastal vessels. The biggest problem was
the old age of the equipment.
For instance:
-The 254 mm and 105 mm guns on the armored ships (Väinämöinen
& Ilmarinen) were the only modern guns in the navy
(not including Antiaircraft guns) .The rest of the guns date back
to WW1 and the days when Finland was ruled by the Tzar.
- From the mines, that the navy had (3 500 anchorable sea mines)
, over 50 % were from WW1 with a warhead of only 75 - 100 kg.
- The majority of the torpedoes were 450 mm"Whitehead"-model
and they were war booty from 1918. There were enough torpedoes
to three reloads for all launchers.
- The navy had only 520 depth charges, from which some 50 % were
found to be unreliable.
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The tasks
of the Finnish Navy
The main task of the Finnish Navy was to prevent an amphibious invasion
and to secure Finland's vital sea routes to the west.
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Actions at sea
Only small scale actions took place before the Gulf of Finland froze
completely up. From these the most notable were:
- 1 December 1939 the soviet capture of Suursaari, defended
only by a small 30 men guard detachment.
- 1 December 1939 a short firefight between the Russarö fort
(6 * 254 mm/50-BS , 6 * 75 mm/50-CM) and a soviet Task Force of cruiser
Kirov accompanied by two class G destroyers. One of the destroyers
was damaged and the soviet forces withdrew.
- 14 December 1939 a short firefight between the Uto fort
(4 * 152 mm/45-C) and two soviet class G destroyers, which ended when
a hit was spotted and the destroyers withdrew behind a smokescreen.
Through the smoke explosions were seen and heard , and after the smoke
dissipated only one destroyer was seen afloat.
- on 18 and 19 December 1939, a strong Soviet Task Forces led by battleships
Marat and Oktjabrskaja Revolutsija bombarded the
Saarenpää fort (6 * 254 mm/45-D , 2 * 152 mm/45-C)
with the help of dozens of fighters and bombers. The Oktjabrskaja
Revolutsija attacked on 18 December and Marat on the next day. The
bombardment on the second day ended at 12.55 A.M., when a hit was
seen on Marat's stern and it stopped firing and withdrew.
The Finnish fort suffered heavy material damage and some personnel
casualties, but it was not knocked out.
After the threat of ambhibious invasion diminished, the armored coastal
vessels were sent to Turku in late January, where their relatively
strong antiaircraft weaponry were warmly welcomed.
- 7 December 1939 the Soviet Union declared a blockade, and threatened
to sink every ship within 20 nautical miles off the coast of Finland.
The effects of the blockade, enforced mainly by soviet subs, where
relatively small. After the initial surprise, the merchant ships were
assembled into convoys and only one attack on a convoy (on 13 January
1940 by sts-324, north of Market) has been reported.
It didn't manage to hit any of the merchants, but a faulty depth charge
exploded prematurely and sunk the escort-vessel Aura II and
26 men were lost.
The exceptionally cold winter froze the Gulf of Finland, and this
brought a new threat: an attack over the ice.
- 4 - 9 March 1940 a Soviet brigade or division tried repeatedly
on three points (south and southeast of coastal town of Kotka)
to gain a foothold either on the southern coast of Finland or on the
islands. They were repulsed each time with heavy casualties by the
fire of the Finnish coastal forts.
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Most important vessels
of the Finnish navy
(Note:
DP -means Dual Purpose -gun, can be used against both sea
and air targets.
AA -means Antiaircraft)
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The names |
Class |
Year of completion |
Displacement |
Speed (knots) |
Weaponry |
Crew |
Väinämöinen
Ilmarinen |
Armored coastal vessel |
1932
1933 |
3900 |
15 |
4 * 254 mm cannon
8 * 105 mm DP
4 * 40 mm AA |
295 |
Uusimaa
Hämeenmaa |
Gunboat |
1917 |
400 |
15 |
2 * 102 mm gun
40 * mines |
52 |
Karjala
Turunmaa |
Gunboat |
1918 |
340 |
14 |
2 * 75 mm gun
30 * mines |
48 |
Louhi |
Minelayer |
1916 |
640 |
11 |
2 * 75 mm gun
2 * 20 mm AA
140 * mines |
52 |
Nuoli, Syöksy
Raju, Vinha |
MTB (Motor Torpedo Boat) |
1928 - 1929 |
12 |
40 |
2 * 45 cm torpedo |
7 |
Sisu, Hurja |
MTB |
1917 |
13 |
26,5 |
2 * 45 cm torpedo |
7 |
Isku |
MTB |
1926 |
11 |
40 |
2 * 45 cm torpedo |
7 |
Ahven - class
( 6 ships ) |
Mine sweeper |
1936 - 1937 |
17 |
10 |
6 * mines
light minesweeping equipment |
6 |
Vetehinen
Vesihiisi
Iku-Turso |
Submarine |
1930 - 1931 |
490 / 715
surface / submerged |
13 / 9 |
1 * 76 mm gun
1 * 20 mm AA
6 * 53 cm torpedo |
27 |
Vesikko |
Submarine |
1934 |
250 / 300 |
13 / 9 |
1 * 20 mm AA
5 * 53 cm torpedo |
16 |
Saukko |
Submarine |
1933 |
99 / 135 |
7 / 6 |
1 * 13 mm AA
2 * 45 cm torpedo |
13 |
(Table source: "Talvisodan
Historia 1", WSOY 1991, p.191)
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Finnish submarine "Vesikko"
Picture and background information courtesy of Jouni Rönkkö
"Finnish Air Force
-almost in service- 1935-1945"
Displacement |
diving |
303 tons |
Notes
|
surface |
254 tons |
- The boat was fully seaworthy
* = dived to a max of 150 m in the tests
Engines:
- 2* MWM RS 127S 6 cylinder diesel (350 hp)
- 2* Siemens PGVV 322/36 electrical motors 132 KW
Weapons:
- The gun was a 20 mm Madsen cannon (20 itk 40 M)
- The boat could carry 5 torpedoes (53,5 cm), and it had 3 torpedo
tubes operating with compressed air
Other equipment:
-German radios
- Sonar and listening devices
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Dimension |
length |
40,90 m |
width |
4,08 m |
height |
8,60 m |
draught |
3,83 m |
Performance |
diving depth |
100 m * |
time needed
in diving to 10 m |
45 s |
max speed (surface) |
13 knots |
max speed (diving) |
8 knots |
Range (/w diesels) |
1 600 nautical miles |
Range (w/ batteries) |
15,5 nautical miles |
Crew |
2 officers |
2 specialists |
8 NCO |
6 seamen |
Background
Germany wanted to build itself a new coastal submarine.
As the building of subs was prohibited by the Versailles Treaty,
the boat was designed by Germans in Holland and the boat was
built in Turku, at the Chrichton-Vulcan drydock.
The boat was babtized on 10 May 1933 as the CV-707. The
Germans tested the boat thoroughly, and it proved to be a
good design. The CV-707 was the prototype for the German coastal
submarines. The German II-A sub, was an almost identical copy
of the CV-707. The Germans used the boat for training purposes
until the boat was handed over to the Finnish Navy in October
1934. The Finnish Navy used the boat in maneuvres already
during the summer of 1935, but officially the boat was bought
in January 1935 for FIM 19,4 million, and the boat was babtized
"Vesikko".
Vesikko
in the Winter War
At the start of the Winter War, Vesikko and Vesihiisi
were ordered to patrol the seas near Hanko on December 1st.
As Vesikko was nearing Russarö, the coastal fort was engaging
the Soviet cruiser "Kirov", but Vesikko couldn't
reach a firing position as the Soviet vessel disengaged. The
other engine malfunctioned, and the boat returned to Turku
on 4 December.
On 18 December, Vesikko was sent to Koivisto, as the
Soviet Battleships Oktjabrskaja Revolutsija and Marat were
bombarding the "Saarenpää"-fort in Koivisto. Vesikko
didin't reach the area in time, and it didn't meet any enemy.
On 29 December 1939, the boat was docked for the winter.
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For further and more detailed information
about the Finnish Navy, I suggest you to visit the
"The
Finnish Navy in World War 2"-website, by Jari Aromaa
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