Armored ship Ilmarinen

Ilmarinen was a Finnish Navy Panssarilaiva ("Armored ship"; a coastal defence ship by British classification). The unit was constructed at the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku, Finland, and named after the mythological hero Ilmarinen from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. Ilmarinen was the flagship of the Navy from 1 May 1933 until her demise on 13 September 1941. More wikipedia

SA-photo

Minelayer Ruotsinsalmi

Minelayer Ruotsinsalmi SA-kuva

Funding for two new minelayers had been secured as early as in 1937, but instead the money was used to refurbish the garrison at Mäkiluoto.

Ruotsinsalmi and her sister vessel, Riilahti, were intended as escort minesweepers for the Finnish navy's coastal defence ships Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen, and they were therefore designed with a draft of only 1.5 m. Ruotsinsalmi was armed with one 75 mm gun, one Bofors 40 mm guns and two Madsen 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons. The vessel had three mine dropping rails, and could carry about 100 mines. The ship could also hunt submarines, and was equipped with sonar, depth charge throwers and rails. The vessel was also strong enough to be able to tow mine sweeping equipment. It was equipped with smoke generators so it could protect itself and other near-by vessels from the enemy.

More photo Ruotsinsalmi minelayer

HMS Peterel

One of the first combat actions of the Pacific War following Pearl Harbor.
Japanese cruiser IDZUMO threatened ship at Shanghai.
HMS Peterel crew not surrendered and the IDZUMO sank HMS Peterel

  

There's also the Japanese felt the first losses by Allied . The 21-year-old Jim Mariner was first to fire back with a machine gun and a number of Japanese were killed in the ensuing firefight.