From Combrig
1/700 Ilmarinen Coastal Guard battleship (Combrig)
| Displacement | 4028 t |
| Waterline length | 93 m |
| Width | 16.86 m |
| Draft | 4.54 m |
| Shaft rating | 5600 hp |
| Speed, max | 15 knots |
| Armament: | 4 254 mm Bofors |
| 8 105 mm Bofors | |
| 2 40 mm Vickers | |
| 1x2 40 mm Vickers | |
| 8 20 mm Madsen | |
| Armor: | -sides 20-55 mm |
| -turrets 50-120 mm | |
| - turret burbettes 100 mm | |
| - conning tower 120 mm | |
| - decking 15-30 mm | |
| Crew | 330 |
The ship was the second in a series of two coastal guard battleships
of the Finnish Fleet. She was laid down at the «Kreyton-Volcano»
shipyard, Turku as C-V 706 in the end of 1929, launched on 9 July 1931,
entered service on 3 September 1933. The ship represented the strong desire
of a small country with modest means to build its own battleship fleet.
The combination of little displacement and maximum firepower resulted in
extremely weak armor defenses against artillery shells and torpedoes. She
was intended to operate in skerries, therefore showed high maneuverability.
The ship was fitted with icebreaker and reinforced hull for the cold season
navigation. During the «winter» war the battleship didn’t take
part in combat operations and stayed in Turku port. She went to Abo-Aland
skerry area sometimes. Numerous Soviet air strikes left the ship undamaged.
In July-September 1941 the battleship repeatedly shelled Soviet naval base
on Hanko peninsula. On 13 September 1941 the Finnish squadron together
with the German Fleet went for a joint operation. The Ilmarinen Flagship
was in the lead and ran across a mine at 20.30. In 5-6 minutes after the
explosion the ship inclined toward the starboard and rolled upside-down,
then sank along with 271 crewmen.
Before the war the Ilmarinen featured the following paint job: above-water
parts - light gray; submerged parts – red; decking – natural wood. During
the «winter» war and the WWII she was painted in camouflage
with black, dark and light gray clear-cut figures.
More info can be found on the Combrig website at:
www.Modelships.info/Combrig
