Finnish patrol gunboat VTV-1

History
Finland
Name:	VTV-1
Owner:	Finnish Navy
Builder:	Soviet Union
Launched:	1939
Commissioned:	1941
In service:	1941-1944
Fate:	Returned to Soviet Union in 1944
General characteristics
Displacement:	29 tons
Length:	22.6 m (74 ft)
Beam:	3.4 m (11 ft)
Draft:	0.6 m (2 ft 0 in)
Speed:	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Complement:	14
Armament:	Initially: 1 × 76.2 mm tank-gun 9 × machine gun Later: 1 × 76.2 mm tank-gun 1 × 20 mm AA gun 6 × machine guns

VTV-1 was originally a Soviet type 1125 armored motor boat with the designation No 215. It was captured by Finnish troops in 1941, after it had been damaged by artillery fire and beached by its crew. The Finns swiftly repaired the ship, and in October 1941 VTV-1 took part in a reconnaissance-in-force aimed at the island of Sommers.^[1]

VTV-1 was transferred to Lake Onega in June 1942. It was the only ship of the "Onega Flotilla" that could truly be considered a match for any of the opposing Soviet naval vessels on the lake. Once Finnish forces started withdrawing from Onega VTV-1 was transported by rail to Finland. The ship was returned to the Soviet Union in 1944.^[1]

References

1. Auvinen, Visa (1983). Leijonalippu merellä [Lion flag at sea] (in Finnish). Pori, Finland: Satakunnan Kirjapaino Oy. pp. 35–36. ISBN 951-95781-1-0.