Syöksy class motor torpedo boat
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Syöksy |
| Completed: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | motor torpedo boat |
| Displacement: | 12 tons |
| Length: | 16.7 m |
| Beam: | 3.4 m |
| Draught: | 1.3 m |
| Propulsion: | 2× |
| Speed: | 40 knots |
| Complement: | 7 |
| Armament: | 2× 450 mm torpedoes 1× machine gun 2× depth charges or 2× impulse mines Later: 1× 20 mm Madsen 3× mines |
| Notes: | Ships in class include: Syöksy, Nuoli, Vinha, Raju |
The Syöksy class motor torpedo boats (English: Attack) was a series of four British Thornycroft type motor torpedo boats of the Finnish Navy. The vessels were constructed in 1928 by the John Thornycroft & Co shipyard in Woolton, UK. The vessels saw service in World War II.
The Thornycroft type released its torpedoes by dropping them from rails in the aft. The ship then had to steer away from the torpedoes path, a manoeuvre that could be quite tricky in the close waters of the Gulf of Finland.
In 1942, the vessels received individual identification symbols on their superstructures. Nuoli had the ace of hearts, Vinha the ace of clubs, Syöksy the ace of diamonds, and Raju the ace of spades.
Syöksy, Vinha and Vihuri, as well as a minelaying KM boat participated in the attack on the harbour of Lavansaari on November 18, 1942. Syöksy managed to torpedo the Soviet gunboat Krasnoye Znamya (1,760 tons), which sunk.
[edit] Vessels of the class
- Syöksy
- Ex-MTV 4 in Finnish service. She was used as a torpedo boat until 1943, and then equipped with one 20 mm cannon and 3 mines.
- Hurja
- Ex-MTV 5 in Finnish service. She was used as a torpedo boat until 1943, and then equipped with one 20 mm cannon and 3 mines.
- Vinha
- Ex-MTV 6 in Finnish service. She was used as a torpedo boat until 1943, and then equipped with one 20 mm cannon and 3 mines.
- Raju
- Ex-MTV 7 in Finnish service. She was destroyed on May 16, 1943, after having collided with a boom obstacle outside Koivisto.
