Finnish submarine Vetehinen
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| Career (Finland) |  |
|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Displacement: | 493 tonnes surfaced, 716 tonnes submerged |
| Length: | 63.5 metres (208.3 ft) |
| Beam: | 6.2 metres (20.3 ft) |
| Draft: | 3.6 metres (11.8 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric, 1,016 hp |
| Speed: | 12.6 knots (23 km/h) surfaced, 8.5 knots (16 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 1,575 nmi (2,917 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced, 75 nmi (139 km) at 4 knots (7 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 30 men |
| Armament: | 4 x 533 mm torpedo tubes, 2 bow, 2 stern (6 torpedoes) 1 x 76 mm/48 Bofors 1 x 20 mm/60 Madsen 1 x 12.7 mm |
Vetehinen was a Finnish 500 tonne Vetehinen class submarine that was constructed in the early 1930s and who served in the Finnish Navy during the second World War. The submarine was the first ship of its class of three submarines.
On November 5, 1942, Vetehinen rammed the Soviet submarine Щ 305 (ShCh 305) in the southern Gulf of Bothnia and sank it. According to crewmembers still alive today, Vetehinen was on a night patrol searching for Soviet submarines, which stayed underwater during daytime but usually came up during the night to recharge their batteries. A contact was found, and after confirmation of an enemy contact Vetehinen launched a torpedo, which missed. Vetehinen soon launched a second torpedo, and by the order of its Captain opened fire with its deck guns. The second torpedo also missed, but the deck guns managed to damage the Soviet submarine which by now had started an emergency dive. The Captain of Vetehinen, determined not to let the submarine escape ordered his submarine to ram the other vessel which at last was a success - the "teeth" on the bow of the ship ripped open the soviet submarine's hull and caused it to sink. Vetehinen suffered a minor leak because of this but managed to return to its home port.
Name vetehinen means a merman.
