The ''Syöksy''-class motor torpedo boats ( en, Attack) was a series of four

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Thornycroft type motor torpedo boats of the

Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short for ...

. The vessels were constructed in 1928 by the John Thornycroft & Co. shipyard in

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, UK. The vessels saw service in

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. 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 The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

. In 1942, the vessels received individual identification symbols on their superstructures. ''Nuoli'' had the

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, ''Vinha'' the ace of clubs, ''Syöksy'' the

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, and ''Raju'' the

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Combat history

On 6 July 1941 ''Syöksy'' and ''Vinha'' sortied to intercept a convoy of three sailing ships headed for Hanko. In heavy seas the torpedoes did not function reliably and the boats could not hit their targets. Instead ''Syöksy'' dashed past the lead ship and dropped its depth charges in front of it which exploded and sank the sailing ship. Both Finnish motor torpedo boats escaped unharmed before escorting Soviet ships could respond. On the night of 19 and 20 July 1941 Finnish motor torpedo boats were patrolling of the coast of

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when a Soviet

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

opened fire on them. ''Vinha'' was damaged and unable to move but Finns were able to tow it to safety while ''Syöksy'' made repeated torpedo runs towards the destroyer drawing its fire and distracting it. On 1 September 1941 ''Syöksy'' and ''Vinha'' were patrolling south of the

Beryozovye Islands Beryozovye Islands (russian: Берёзовые острова, Finnish: Koivisto, Swedish: Björkö; literally: "Birch Islands"), alternatively spelled Berezovye Islands, is an island group in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The islands are situated at ...

when they came across a pair of Soviet freighters. ''Syöksy'' torpedoed and sank the lead merchant (SS ''Meero'', 1,866 tons). On 22 September 1941 ''Syöksy'' sank the Soviet

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''T-41'' (''Kirov'') east of

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while it was patrolling near the island with ''Vinha''. On 1 October 1941 ''Nuoli'' participated in the sinking of a Soviet minehunter, though it was a torpedo from ''Sisu'' that sank the target. ''Syöksy'', ''Vinha'' and , as well as a

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KM boat participated in the attack on the harbour of

Lavansaari Moshchny (russian: Мощный; fi, Lavansaari; sv, Lövskär, et, Lavassaar) is an island in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, located some 120 km west of Saint Petersburg. The island is a part of the Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The ar ...

on 18 November 1942. ''Syöksy'' managed to torpedo the (1,760 tons), which sank.

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. * ''Nuoli'': 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syoksy Class Motor Torpedo Boat Torpedo boats of the Finnish Navy Torpedo boat classes