Finnish submarine Vesihiisi

Vesihiisi was a Finnish 500-tonne Vetehinen class submarine that was constructed in the early 1930s. The vessel served in the Finnish Navy during the second World War.

German Design Saukko

Under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, Germany was forbidden to possess submarines, and allfacilities for their design and production had to be destroyed. As a step toward recreating a new submarine arm, a number of German submarine designers and constructors who kept in touch after the First World War, designed and provided a technical knowhow of a number of submarines for the Finnish Navy. The first of these was the small coastal submarine Saukko. She was built for operations in the Baltic against the Russian Navy, and as such was designed with a minelaying capability.

German Design Iku Turso, Vesihiisi, Vetehinnen

While preparing the design of the Saukko, the Germans also prepared a design for a sea-going submarine for the Finnish Navy. Three submarines were built to this design, and like the Saukko, they were fitted for mine-laying, the mines being supplied by the Germans. Being designed for use against Russian bases (never very far from the Finnish bases), radius of action was not of prime importance to this design, and only 20 tons of oil fuel were carried (as opposed to the 67 tons carried by the German Typ VIIa based on this design.

Combat operations

On 9 August 1942, the Vesihiisi was deployed along with her two sister ships to Mariehamm. Their mission was to...
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