''Tuuli'' was a

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

built for the

Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( , ) 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 "Finnish Navy ship", but ...

. Originally intended to be the lead vessel of a class of four combat hovercraft, she was never officially commissioned and after having been laid up for the most of her career, she was broken up in 2013.

Development

''Tuuli'' was built at the

Aker Finnyards STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three shipyards in Finland, in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of STX Europe, a group of international shipbuilding compani ...

Rauma shipyard Rauma shipyard () is a shipyard in Rauma, Finland. It was previously operated by STX Finland which is owned by the South Korean STX Corporation. Rauma shipyard is specialized in large Ferry, ferries, small cruise ships, multipurpose icebreakers and ...

Rauma, Finland Rauma (; ) is a town in Finland, on the western coast of the country. Rauma is in the Satakunta region, by the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Rauma is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most p ...

. Named after a decommissioned ''Tuima''-class (modified Soviet OSA-II)

missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They ...

, she was intended to be the lead vessel of a class of four combat hovercraft that would form part of ''Squadron 2000'' (), a vessel procurement program of the Finnish Navy. Before naming, the hovercraft were referred to as the T-2000 class. The hovercraft were intended to be used as mobile missile platforms that would be able to navigate and perform surprise attacks in the fractured Finnish archipelago. It was an attack vessel, not a landing craft or transport. Since the seas around Finland usually freeze over in the winter, parts of the archipelago cannot be navigated by conventional surface combatants and are accessible only by air or with a hovercraft. The

Finnish Border Guard The Finnish Border Guard (FBG, ; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. Duties Main duties of the Finnish Border Guard: * Protecting the land borders and territorial waters of Finland from unauthorised e ...

operates patrol and search-and-rescue hovercraft in these water. However, the focus of the Finnish Navy was redefined as long-term protection of merchant marine traffic, and ''Hamina''-class missile boats with better operational-endurance were selected in ''Tuuli''s stead. As a result, only the prototype vessel was built and never officially commissioned. Tuuli was completed in 2002. Her trial runs proved a success and her specified capacity and maximum speed were exceeded. On 19 December 2003, it was announced that the ''Tuuli'' class would not enter active service and the prototype vessel would be presented for sale. There was foreign interest towards purchasing ''Tuuli'', but no further details have been given. Apparently, Tuuli ACV could have been used in the Arctic to support larger hulls. The vessel was stored at the Upinniemi base. ITA Tuulin toinen moottori

On 10 July 2013, it was announced that ''Tuuli'' would be scrapped as no suitable buyer has been found.Merivoimat luopuu kahdesta aluksestaan
Turun Sanomat, 10 July 2013. She was broken up in October 2013.

Design

The design of the vessel involved technology transferred from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was constructed from welded panels of thin marine aluminium sheets and extrusions connected with light-weight composite constructions. The special features of the vessel were good mobility, independence of waterways and fixed port equipment, year-around operation and a small crew of only ten owing to the advanced technology.

Development

Design

References

See also