Syöksy-class motor torpedo boat
The "Syöksy"-class motor torpedo boats () was a series of four British Thornycroft type motor torpedo boats of the Finnish Navy. The vessels were constructed in 1928 by the John Thornycroft & Co. shipyard in Woolton, UK. The vessels saw service in World War II. The Thornycroft type released its torpedoes by dropping them from rails in the aft. The ship then had to steer away from the torpedoes path, a manoeuvre that could be quite tricky in the close waters of the Gulf of Finland. In 1942, the vessels received individual identification symbols on their superstructures . "Nuoli" had the ace of hearts, "Vinha" the ace of clubs, "Syöksy" the ace of diamonds, and "Raju" the ace of spades. Combat history. On 6 July 1941 "Syöksy" and "Vinha" sortied to intercept a convoy of three sailing ships headed for Hanko. In heavy seas the torpedoes did not function reliably and the boats could not hit their targets. Instead "Syöksy" dashed past the lead ship and dropped its depth charges in front of it which exploded and sank the sailing ship. Both Finnish motor torpedo boats escaped unharmed before escorting Soviet ships could respond. On the night of  19 and 20 July 1941 Finnish motor torpedo boats were patrolling of the coast of Estonia when a Soviet destroyer opened fire on them. "Vinha" was damaged and unable to move but Finns were able to tow it to safety while "Syöksy" made repeated torpedo runs towards the destroyer drawing its fire and distracting it. On 1 September 1941 "Syöksy" and "Vinha" were patrolling south of the Beryozovye Islands when they came across a pair of Soviet freighters. "Syöksy" torpedoed and sank the lead merchant (SS "Meero", 1,866 tons). On 22 September 1941 "Syöksy" sank the Soviet minehunter "T-41" ("Kirov ) east of Gogland while it was patrolling near the island with Vinha". On 1 October 1941 "Nuoli" participated in the sinking of a Soviet minehunter, though it was a torpedo from "Sisu" that sank the target. "Syöksy", "Vinha" and , as well as a minelaying KM boat participated in the attack on the harbour of Lavansaari on 18 November 1942. "Syöksy" managed to torpedo the (1,760 tons), which sank.