The VMV boats were designed by dipl.eng. Jaakko Rahola of the Finnish Navy. The design was good, giving the boats excellent seagoing qualities, fast speed and a light construction, and thanks to their wooden hull, resistance to magnetic mines. The boats only weighed about 30 tons, their length were between. The standard armament consisted of one 20 mm automatic cannon, although they could be armed with wide variety of weapons depending of the requirements. The first boat was ordered in December 1929 from U. Suortin Veneveistämö in Helsinki. However, construction of this boat was delayed, and two boats that had been ordered from Germany were ready before the first Finnish one. The following two boats were ordered in January 1931 from Uudenkaupungin Veneveistämö and they were ready by December, the same year. Another order was then placed for one boat from Turun Veneveistämö and it was ready by 1932. A further ten boats were ordered in 1934 from Turun Veneveistämö. These were ready by 1935. VMV-1–VMV-7 were equipped with gasoline engines, and VMV-8–VMV-17 had diesel engines. VMV-3 and VMV-7 were destroyed before the war, the former due to an engine fire in 1931, and the latter due to an explosion in 1933. The only remaining VMV boat, VMV-11, is today preserved at the Kotka Maritime Museum in its original outfit of the 1930s.
Operational service
At the outbreak of the Winter War, the VMV boat armament was improved by fitting machine guns, depth charges and smoke dischargers. During the Continuation War, the extra armament varied depending on the mission; for example, they could be fitted with four or five naval mines or two torpedoes. Some VMV boats were also used as gunboats, and were fitted with a 40 mm Bofors gun and multiple 20 mm guns. Some were used as submarine hunters, and were equipped with a 20 mm gun and depth charges. Limited to patrol coastal waters, the VMV boats did not participate in any major action during the Winter War. During the Continuation War, their primary tasks were anti-submarine warfare and escort duty, although several boats participated in battles for control of islands on the Gulf of Finland. Five VMV boats were lost during the war, all in 1944. Two were sunk during air raids in Helsinki, one was lost to Soviet aircraft near Koivisto and two were lost when the Germans attacked Hogland during the Lapland War.
Vessels of the class
;VMV-1, VMV-2: The Finnish Navy ordered two boats from Abeking & Rasmussen in Bremen, Germany in January 1930, since the construction of the first boat, the future VMV-3, was delayed. These boats were ready by June 1930 and were taken into service in 1931. They had a length of, beam and a draft of. They were equipped with two Maybach V-12 gasoline-powered engines, producing. The ships could reach speeds of up to. ;VMV 3: The first VMV order was partially placed at Ares motorverkstad and partly from E. Suortin Veneveistämö in Helsinki in December 1929. The boat was ready by November 1930. The vessel was destroyed on the very first day of service, due to a fire in the engine compartments on 10 June 1931. The fire caused great damage to the ship and the boat had to be scrapped soon thereafter. ;VMV 4: VMV 4 was originally a Norwegian-built smugglers boat, named Sterling. She was later confiscated by the Finnish authorities in 1931 and handed over to the Coast Guard. She was sold to a civilian buyer in 1939. ;VMV 5, VMV 6: Two more boats were ordered from Uudenkaupungin Veneveistämö in Uusikaupunki in January 1931. These were practically identical toVMV 3, with only some minor differences. VMV 5 and VMV 6 were ready by December 1931. These boats had a higher superstructure Compared to the other VMV boats, and could be easily distinguished from the other VMV boats. VMV 5 belonged to the anti-submarine warfare flotilla during the Winter War, and both ships belonged to the 1st and 2nd escort flotillas during the Continuation War. VMV 5 and VMV 6 were scrapped in 1959-60. ;VMV 7: The following boat was ordered from Turun Veneveistämö in April 1932. Externally it was identical to VMV 3 and the interior was similar to VMV 5. This boat was ready by 1932, however, an internal explosion destroyed the boat in 1933. This led to a redesign of the future VMV boats, and the subsequent vessels were given diesel engines. ;VMV 8 - VMV 17: In 1934, the Finnish Navy announced a competition for ten VMV boats. Turun Veneveistämö won and was given the order in March 1934. These boats were 1 m longer and had a greater displacement than the previous boats. The boats were ready by 1935. ;VMV 18 - VMV 20: VMV 18, VMV 19 and VMV 20 were originally used for maritime training by the Finnish Civil Guards. The boats were handed over to the Coast Guard in 1944 when the Civil Guards had to be disbanded. The boats had a displacement of 21-22 tons and could reach speeds up to. VMV 18 had been constructed in Porvoo in 1935. VMV 19 and VMV 20 had been built in Tolkkinen in 1943. VMV 18 was scrapped in 1958.
