The Helsinki class missile boat

Missile boat

A Missile Boat is a small craft armed with anti-ship missiles. Being a small craft, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming an inexpensive navy...

s are a type of vessel which were in use by the Finnish Navy

Finnish Navy

The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...

. They were the predecessors of the Rauma class

Rauma class missile boat

The Rauma class missile boats are a type of vessels in use by the Finnish Navy.It is the predecessor of the Hamina class missile boats. The ships were constructed at the Hollming yards and Finnyards in Rauma, Finland...

 missile boats. All the ships were constructed at the Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...

 Helsinki Shipyard

Hietalahti shipyard

Hietalahti shipyard is a shipyard in Hietalahti, in downtown Helsinki, Finland. It is operated by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, a joint venture between STX Finland Cruise Oy and United Shipbuilding Corporation....

, Finland.

The vessels were designed as fast attack craft

Fast Attack Craft

Fast Attack Craft are small, fast, agile and offensive warships, that are armed with anti-ship missiles, guns or torpedoes. These are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the sea-keeping and all-round defensive capabilities to survive in blue water. The size of the vessel...

s, but designated "missile boats" in the Finnish Navy, as to tone down their offensive capabilities. They were armed with up to eight RBS-15 SSMs, one dual-purpose Bofors 57 mm gun

Bofors 57 mm gun

The Bofors 57 mm guns are a series of dual-purpose naval guns designed and produced by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...

, 2 × 23 mm double-barreled anti-aircraft guns and two depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

 racks.

As planned during the late 1990s, the class was due to undergo a mid-life upgrade through 2006–2008 but this was rejected because of budget restrains. The ships have now been decommissioned from Finnish service. All the ships of the Helsinki class had Pansio

Pansio

Pansio is a district and a suburb of the city of Turku, Finland. It is located in the western part of the city. It has a population of 2,809 , and an annual population growth of -3.83%....

 as their home port.

In Croatian service

Two of the vessels were sold to the Croatian Navy for a symbolic price of €9 million (65 million kuna

Croatian kuna

The kuna is the currency of Croatia since 1994 . It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute....

) as a part of an off-set deal for to the previous Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n purchase of 126 Patria AMV vehicles.

The ships arrived in Croatia on 2 November 2008. They underwent a basic refit and repainting, and entered service in January 2009. Although well maintained, under consideration by navy officials is an air-defence upgrade. The existing Sako 23 mm/87 may be augmented or replaced by a short-range system such as French-built Mistral

Mistral missile

Mistral is an infrared homing surface-to-air missile manufactured by the European multinational company MBDA missile systems . Based on the French SATCP , the portable missile later to become the Mistral began development in 1974...

 SAMs or Croatian

Croats

Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

-built S-10CRO-M (itself a modernized version of SA-13). According to current plans the ships are scheduled to stay active until 2020–2022.

Vessels

FNS Helsinki

Pennant number: 60.

Builder: Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...

.

Ordered: 5 November 1980.

Commissioned: 1 September 1981.

Current state: Decommissioned in 2002.

FNS Turku

Pennant number: 61.

Builder: Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...

.

Ordered: 13 January 1983.

Commissioned: 3 June 1985.

Current state: Decommissioned in 2002.

FNS Oulu / HRM Vukovar Builder: Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines... . In Finnish Navy Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...  service: Pennant number: 62. Ordered: 13 January 1983. Commissioned: 1 October 1985. Home base: Pansio. Decommissioned: 2007. In Croatian Navy service: Pennant number: 41. Commissioned: December, 2008. Home base: Lora, Split Split (city) Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and... .

FNS Kotka / HRM Dubrovnik Builder: Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines... . In Finnish Navy Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...  service: Pennant number: 63. Ordered: 13 January 1983. Commissioned: 16 June 1986. Home base: Pansio. Decommissioned: 2005. In Croatian Navy service: Pennant number: 42. Commissioned: December, 2008. Home base: Lora, Split Split (city) Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and... .