Finnish submarine Vetehinen
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| History | |
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 Finland
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| Name: | Vetehinen |
| Ordered: | 16 September 1926 |
| Builder: | Crichton-Vulcan |
| Laid down: | 1926–27 |
| Launched: | 1 June 1930 |
| Commissioned: | 13 October 1930 |
| Decommissioned: | 1946 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1950s |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Vetehinen-class submarine |
| Displacement: | 493 tonnes surfaced, 716 tonnes submerged |
| Length: | 63.5 m (208.3 ft) |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20.3 ft) |
| Draft: | 3.6 m (11.8 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric, 1,016 hp (758 kW) |
| Speed: | 12.6 knots (23.3 km/h; 14.5 mph) surfaced, 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 1,575 nmi (2,917 km; 1,812 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced, 75 nmi (139 km; 86 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Complement: | 30 men |
| Armament: | |
Vetehinen was a 500-tonne Vetehinen-class submarine that was constructed in the early 1930s, which served in the Finnish Navy during the Second World War. The submarine was the first ship of its class of three submarines. The name vetehinen means "merman".
The Finnish Navy was informed that the 8,800 ton Soviet icebreaker Yermak would be arriving in the Baltic Sea from the Atlantic. Vetehinen was sortied to intercept the icebreaker off the port of Liepāja on 4 December. However, the submarine ran aground before reaching open sea and had to be pulled loose by tugs before it was able to start its voyage. Vetehinen arrived at the site on 6 December and started patrolling off the buoy on the port entrance. On 7 December the submarine sighted Yermak but was unable to reach it. While on station, Vetehinen encountered a couple of unknown submarines which were suspected to be of German origin. On 8 December Vetehinen began the voyage home and was attacked by the Soviet Shchuka-class submarine ShCh-324, but the attack failed and the Finnish submarine crew did not even notice the attempt.
On 12 December Vetehinen sortied again to intercept Yermak, this time on its voyage from Liepāja to Tallinn. However once again before reaching the open sea Vetehinen ran aground and had to be inspected before continuing on its mission the same day. Upon reaching the area the submarine was unable to sight the icebreaker and was recalled on 14 December.
On 22 June 1941 Vetehinen laid 20 mines north of Kunda, and a further 17 mines on 28 June between Gogland and Bolshoy Tyuters.
On 3 July 1941 Vetehinen encountered a freighter west of Gogland but due to distance was only able to damage it with its 76 mm gun.
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Wikipedia