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'''Vesikko''' was a submarine of the Finnish Navy in World War II. It was designed by Dutch Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag (I.v.S) and built in 1933 by the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku, Finland. It served as a direct prototype (named as ''CV-707'') for German Class IIA submarines. During the sailing-seasons 1933 and 1934 the German Navy carried out trials in the Turku Archipelago. In 1936, the Finnish Navy bought it and named it as ''Vesikko''.
''Vesikko'' was one of five submarines to serve the Finnish navy. The other four were the three larger "Vetehinen class" boats ''Vetehinen'', ''Vesihiisi'' and ''Iku-Turso'' (named after Finnish mythology characters, see Kalevala) and the small ''Saukko'' (Finnish for otter). The word "vesikko" is the Finnish name for the European mink, a small predator now near extinction (already extinct within Finland).
During World War II ''Vesikko'' patrolled the Gulf of Finland and in 1941 managed to torpedo one Soviet merchant vessel called ''Vyborg''.
After the war it was decommissioned because of the obligations of the Paris Peace Treaties that forbade submarines. The treaty obligations ended when the Soviet Union collapsed. ''Vesikko'' was lying as a wreck for years. It was eventually put up for sale for anyone willing to buy it. Fortunately submarine veterans managed to rescue and restore it. The submarine currently lies on the island of Suomenlinna and has served as a museum during the summers since 1973.

Contents

Technical specifications

External links

Technical specifications

★ 'Dimensions'

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★ 'Length': 40.9 m

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★ 'Width': 4.1 m

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★ 'Height': 4.2 m

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★ 'Displacement': 250 tn

★ 'Operational details'

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★ 'Speed': 13/8 knots (24/15 km/h) surfaced/submerged.

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★ 'Range': 1500 miles (2,400 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) or 150 hours on the surface; submerged 50 miles (80 km) at 4 knots (7 km/h) or 13 hours.

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★ 'Crew': 18 to 20

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★ 'Maximum depth': 100 m.

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★ 'Crash dive': 45 seconds to 9.3 m.

★ 'Armaments'

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★ 5 torpedoes of 535 mm diameter. 3 bow torpedo tubes, 2 reloads.

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★ One 20 mm Anti-Aircraft gun

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★ One 12.7 mm Anti-Aircraft machine gun

★ 'Other equipment'

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★ 2 MWM diesel engines of 700 horsepower (520 kW)

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★ 2 Siemens electric motors of 360 horsepower (270 kW)

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★ Atlas Werke 2x6 microphones as Asdic. listening devices.

★ 'Supplies'

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★ 9.6 tons diesel oil.

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★ 1.2 tons fresh water.

External links

★ uboat.net article about Vesikko

★ Dutch Export Submarines - Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw

★ pictures of Vesikko (1)

★ pictures of Vesikko (2)