VESIKKO submarine

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aukepalmhof
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VESIKKO submarine

Post by aukepalmhof » Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:13 pm

For the 100th year anniversary of the Finnish Defence Force in 2018, the Finnish Post issued a booklet on which two stamps have a maritime theme.
One stamp shows a submarine with in the background another Finnish warship, I found the photo after which the stamp was designed on the net, and which give that the submarine VESIKKO is depict and the vessel in the background is an armed coastal vessel of which the Finnish Navy had two vessels before World War II, the VÄINÄMÖINEN and IIMARINEN, which is shown is unknown. The photo shows more vessels but they are not depict on the stamp.

The coastal submarine was built under yard no 707 by the Crichton-Vulcan Dock in Turku, Finland.
09 October 1930 ordered.
07 March 1931 laid down.
10 May 1933 launched as CV 707.
Displacement 254 ton surfaced, 303 ton submerged, dim 40.90 x 4.07 x 8.18m (height), draught 3.79 surfaced.
Powered diesel electric by two MWM RS 127S 6-cyl. diesels each 350 hp and two Siemens Pgvv 322/36 electro motors each 132 kW. Speed surfaced 13 knots, submerged 8 knots.
Test depth 150 metre.
Armament 3 – 53.3 cm bow torpedo tubes, carried 5 torpedoes. 1 – 20mm Madsen MG AA. 1 12.7mm MG.
Crew 16.
30 April 1934 commissioned in the Finnish Navy.
19 January 1936 in service as the VESIKKO.

VESIKKO is a submarine (the single ship of her class), which was launched on 10 May 1933 at the Crichton-Vulcan dock in Turku. Until 1936 it was named by its manufacturing codename CV 707. VESIKKO was ordered by a Dutch engineering company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (a German front company) in 1930 as a commercial submarine prototype. Purchased by the Finnish before the war, she saw service in the Winter War and World War II, sinking the Soviet merchant ship VYBORG as her only victory. After the cease-fire with the Allies in 1944, VESIKKO was retired. Finland was banned from operating submarines after the war and she was kept in storage until she was turned into a museum ship.
VESIKKO was one of five submarines to serve in the Finnish Navy. The other four were the three larger Vetehinen-class boats VETEHINEN, VESIHIIS, IKU_TURSO and the small SAUKKO . The word "VESIKKO" is the Finnish name for the European mink.

Development and design
Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IvS), was a German front company in the Netherlands, established to secretly design a new German submarine fleet. According to 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

Service history
According to the agreement between the Finnish Ministry of Defence and 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.

Winter War
VESIKKO was deployed with VESIHIISI to the Hanko region on 30 November 1939 as several Soviet surface combatants were headed towards 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 ROYOLYUTSIYA to bombard Finnish positions at Koivisto, the Finnish Navy decided to send out VESIKKO to hunt for it. However, by 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.

Continuation War
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 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 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 salvage 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 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 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).

Museum ship
In January 1945, 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 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 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 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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_submarine_VESIKKO
Finland 2018 SG?, scott?
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aukepalmhof
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Re: VESIHIISI submarine not VESIKKO

Post by aukepalmhof » Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:31 pm

I got from Mr. Vadim Lapin that not the Finish submarine VESIKKO is depict on the stamp but the VESIHUUSI. He wrote the submarine has two black stripes on her command tower while the VESIKKO has not. He is correct. The photo which shows the VESIHUUSI is the same photo after which the stamp is designed, only the other Finish warships are blacked out.
The VESIHUUSI was built under yard No 703 by the Crichton-Vulcan yard in Turku, Finland for the Finnish Navy.
04 March 1927 ordered.
1927 Laid down.
01 August 1930 launched as the VESIHUUSI.
Displacement 493 ton surfaced, 716 ton submerged. Dim. 63.5 x 6.2 x 3.6m. (draught surface).
Powered, diesel electric by 2 Atlas diesel each 580 hp, and 2 Brown Boveri electro motors each 300 hp. Speed surface 12.6 knots, submerged 8.5 knots.
Range 1,812 mile by a speed of 10 knots surface, 75 mile by a speed of 4 knots submerged’
Armament 4 – 533mm torpedo tubes, 1 – 76mm Bofors, 1 – 20mm Madsen, 1 – 12.7mm, could carry 20 sea-mines. In 1942 fitted also with a depth charge rack with 4 depth charges.
Crew 30.
06 September 1930 completed.
02 December 1931 commissioned.

VESIHUUSI was a Finnish 500-tonne Vetehinen-class submarine that was constructed in the early 1930s. The vessel served in the Finnish Navy during the Second World War.

German design IIKU-TURSO, VESIHUUSI, VETEHINEN
While preparing the design of the Finnish submarine SAUKKO , the Germans also prepared a design for a seagoing submarine for the Finnish Navy. Three submarines were built to this design, and like SAUKKO, they were fitted for mine-laying, the mines being supplied by the Germans. Being designed for use against Soviet bases (never very far from the Finnish bases), radius of action was not of prime importance to this design, and only 20 tons of fuel oil were carried (as opposed to the 67 tons carried by the German Type VIIa based on this design.
Combat operations
Winter War
VESIHUUSI was ordered with VESIKKO to Hanko region on 30 November 1939 as several Soviet surface combatants were headed towards the area. The submarines however failed to arrive to the area in time to intercept the Soviet cruiser KIROV and its escorts.
VESIHUUSI ran aground in early December 1941 and had to be docked for a few days for repairs. On 27 December VESIHUUSI laid 16 mines off the Soviet naval station of Paldiski but soon after the ice forced the submarine to stay in port.
Continuation War
VESIHUUSI started the Continuation War on 22 June by laying 20 mines in Estonian waters (controlled at the time by the Soviet Union). She laid 18 more mines on 24 June at Ruuskeri south southwest from Gogland and further 18 mines on 26 June southeast from Bolshoy Tyuters. After this the mining operation was postponed and VESIHUUSI laid the 18 already loaded mines finally on 2 August east of Osmussaar.
On 2 July 1941 VESIHUUSI while patrolling east of Gogland encountered an escorted freighter heading east. A torpedo attack failed and the submarine suffered light damage from the escort's depth charges. On 5 August 1941 VESIHUUSI attacked a convoy transporting supplies to besieged Soviet garrison at Hanko. The convoy consisted of a transport vessel of Molotov class (Iosif Stalin-class passenger ship) escorted by pair of large minesweepers and group of patrol boats. The submarine penetrated the escort screen and launched two torpedoes at a range of 700 metres (770 yd) while being between the target and the escorts. Neither of the torpedoes exploded and the escorts forced VESIHUUSI to dive to the depth of 75 metres (246 ft). Though the submarine did not suffer severe damage from the depth charges the repairs in the dock lasted for a week.
In December 1941 after the Soviets had evacuated Hanko the Finnish submarines were docked for the winter. During the sailing season of 1941 the Italian torpedoes VESIHUUSI used (Finnish designation T/40) proved to be unreliable. During 1942 VESIHUUSI was upgraded with new 12-hydrophone listening arrays and equipped with depth charge rack capable of carrying 4 depth charges. The submarine was further modified by streamlining the tower and moving the 20 mm gun up to the tower.
On 9 August 1942, VESIHUUSI was deployed along with her two sister ships to Mariehamn. Their mission was to conduct anti-submarine and escort operations in the Sea of Åland. In the evening of 21 October 1942 she torpedoed and sank the Soviet S-class submarine S-7, near Lågskär in the Sea of Åland. The captain (Sergei Lisin) and four of the crew of S-7 were then captured.
On 4 July 1944 VESIHUUSI laid 20 mines between Moshchny Island (Lavansaari) and Seskar (Seiskari). The boat was attacked with depth charges by two Soviet minesweepers but was able to escape without any damage. The submarine laid further 18 mines north of Moshchny Island on 6 July 1944.
1966 Decommissioned.
12 February 1952 sold and broken up in Belgium.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_s ... _VESIHUUSI https://www.miramarshipindex.nz
Finland 2018 sg?, scott?
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Vesihiisi.jpg

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