Sukellusvene Vesikko

The Vesikko is a historic submarine of the Finnish Navy that now serves as a museum ship on the fortress island of Suomenlinna off Helsinki. As the prototype of the German Type II submarine class, the boat was built to a German design at the shipyard in Turku, with construction overseen by the Dutch engineering firm IvS. This firm originally served as a way to circumvent the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, which prohibited Germany from building submarines. After sea trials conducted by the German Reichsmarine in the Archipelago Sea, the Vesikko was taken over by Finland in 1934 and commissioned.

During World War II, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Finland and the northern Baltic Sea. In July 1941, the Vesikko sank the Soviet freighter Vyborg. In the following years, it was used to protect Finnish merchant ships before being demilitarized after the war in accordance with the Paris Peace Treaty. Because Finland was not allowed to keep submarines, the hulk was first stored in the harbor and later offered for sale.

War veterans and the Naval Museum saved the boat from decay. It was dismantled, transported to the island of Suomenlinna, and reassembled in 1962. Since 1973, the Vesikko has been open to visitors as a museum ship of the Finnish War Museum. The word Vesikko means European mink in Finnish, which explains the boat's name.