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Finnish frigate Hämeenmaa

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Hämeenmaa in 1983, somewhere in the Gulf of Finland
History
Soviet Union
NameSKR-69
BuilderYantar, Kaliningrad
Yard number125
Laid down29 July 1956
Launched28 December 1956
Completed12 June 1957
FateSold to Finland, 1964
Finland
NameHämeenmaa
Commissioned1964
Decommissioned1985
FateScrapped 1986
General characteristics
Class and type
Displacement
  • 1,260 tons
  • 1,500 tons (full load)
Length91.5 m (300 ft)
Beam10.1 m (33 ft)
Draft3.2 m (10 ft)
Propulsionsteam turbines, 14,900 kW (20,000 hp)
Speed28 knots (52 km/h)
Range2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement175
Armament
  • three 100 mm guns
  • two 2 × 37 mm AA guns
  • two 2 × 25 mm AA guns
  • two Hedgehog ASW mortars
  • one 3 × 533 mm torpedo tubes

Hämeenmaa was a Finnish Riga-class frigate. The class was called the Hämeenmaa class in Finland since the ship had some unique modifications (i.e. British submarine hunting equipment). The two 37 mm twin guns were also replaced with two 40 mm single AA guns in 1975.

Hämeenmaa was rebuilt into a minelayer in the 1980s. A communications central replaced the Hedgehog mounting. The torpedo tubes were removed. A bow twin 30 mm AK-230 was added. Hämeenmaa was decommissioned in 1985.

Operational service

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The Hämeenmaas were acquired from the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s, to be used as gun training ships. They formed the "Escort Flotilla" (Finnish: Saattajalaivue) together with the Nuoli-class fast gunboats.

The commissioning of Turunmaa and Karjala in the late 1960s led however to personnel shortages in the Finnish Navy (Finland had a naval manpower restriction after World War II) and the navy was forced to limit the use of its two Hämeenmaa frigates. They were initially used one at a time and finally decided to retire them.[1]

Hämeenmaa was in Finnish Navy service between 1964–1985. The sister ship Uusimaa was decommissioned in 1979 and cannibalized for spare parts for Hämeenmaa. Both ships had already served a few years in the Soviet Navy before sale to Finland.

References

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  1. ^ "www.mil.fi: SaattajatHämeenmaa ja Uusimaa". Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2008-11-22.