I didnt found any topic about this so... First we got Ships Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen. Ilmarinen launched 9.7.1931 Commissioned 17.4.1934 Deplacement Tons 3900 Length metres 93.0 Beam metres 16.9 Draft metres 5.0 Speed knots 15 Original armament: 4-254 Bofors, 8-105 Bofors, 4-40 Vickers, 2-20 Madsen Väinämöinen is same type ship, here is only some diferent days. launched 28.12.1930 Commissioned 29.4.1932 The Finnish Navy lost its flagship, coast defence ship Ilmarinen, few months later on 13.9.1941 in Soviet mines Weapons The purpose of coast defence ships was to act as movable batteries to support defence in areas, where shore-based artillery was not available. Therefore the main artillery was to be as heavy as possible. The designers managed to install 254/45 mm guns in two twin turrets. The guns were a new design by Bofors in Sweden and these guns were never used in other constructions. The 254 mm internal diameter of the gun was the same that was used in some forts of the Coastal Artillery (Durlacher guns). The rate of fire was three shots in minute and range 36 km. The shell weight was 225 kg for both armor piercing and high explosive ammunition. Powder loading was 115 kg. The ships had 134 shells for each turret. The main artillery was heavier than that of the new Soviet "Kirov"-class cruisers but inferior to the old battleships Marat and Oktjabrskaja Revolutsija with twelve 308 mm guns. The heavy guns ready for inspection at Bofors factories. The length of the barrel, including breech system, was 11.75 m, diameter at the breech over one meter and weight 37.9 tons. The total weight of the turret was 256 tons. On the left are rings for training. Their diameter is little over six meters. The training sector of the heavy guns was 155 degrees to both sides from the centerline of the ship. The 50 degrees shadow was due to superstructure. The elevation of the guns was -10o to +45o. Then some pics. Pics about construction http://users.tkk.fi/~jaromaa/Navygallery/Coastal/CoastGal/coastgal1.htm Photo gallery of weapons http://users.tkk.fi/~jaromaa/Navygallery/Coastal/CoastGal/coastgal2.htm Link to site where is more info http://users.tkk.fi/~jaromaa/Navygaller ... cont41.htm Thx for this all info for Jari Aromaa.
hmm, some nice pics of the "VÄINÄMÖINEN" edit (*ups, just seen that these pics were available at the links as well sry !!) http://www.warship.get.net.pl/Finlandia ... hotos.html Regards, Che.
I think I read somewhere that the type wasn't suitable for blue water operations but for Baltic opperations they were well regarded.
