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"Väinämöinen was a Finnish coastal defence ship, the sister ship of the Finnish Navy's flagship and also the first ship of her class. She was built at the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku and was launched in 1932. Following the end of the Continuation War, Väinämöinen was handed over to the Soviet Union as war reparations and renamed Vyborg. The ship remained in Soviet hands until her scrapping in 1966. Design Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen were planned to be mobile coastal fortresses for the defence of the Finnish demilitarized islands at Åland in particular. The two ships were not well suited for the open seas due to a design with emphasis on operations in the shallow waters of the archipelago: it has been said that they were volatile and rolled too much. The minimal depth keel, together with the high conning tower, made the ships' movements slow and wide. It was said that the ships were uncomfortable, but harmless to their crews. The ship's heavy armament of Bofors guns could fire shells of up to . Fire control In fire control, the two coastal ships were identical. The fire control centre and the gun turrets were connected electrically so that ranging and orders could be given without spoken contact. With the aid of mechanical calculators, the values were transferred directly to the gun turrets. Operational history Väinämöinen in 1938 Winter War During the Winter War, the two coastal defence ships were transferred to the Åland islands to protect against invasion. When the ice cover started to become too thick in December, the ships were transferred to Turku, where their anti-aircraft artillery aided in the defence of the city. Continuation War The only time Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen fired their heavy artillery against an enemy was at the beginning of the Continuation War, during the Soviet Red Army evacuation of their base at the Hanko Peninsula. Väinämöinen also participated in the distraction manoeuvre Operation Nordwind on 13 September 1941, during the course of which her sister ship Ilmarinen was lost to mines. In 1943 "Detachment Väinämöinen", which consisted of Väinämöinen, six VMV patrol boats and six motor minesweepers, was moved east to take positions along the coast between Helsinki and Kotka. She did not actively participate in many operations, since the heavier Soviet naval units never left Leningrad, where they were used as floating batteries during the siege. As a result, Väinämöinens primary operational duties were to patrol the Gulf of Finland between the minefields "Seeigel" and "Nashorn", as well as protection of the German-Finnish anti-submarine net across the gulf. During the Soviet assault in the summer of 1944, the Soviets put much effort into trying to find and sink Väinämöinen. Reconnaissance efforts revealed a large warship anchored in Kotka harbour and the Soviets launched an air attack of 132 bombers and fighters. However the target was not Väinämöinen — instead it was the German anti-aircraft cruiser Niobe, which was sunk during this attack. Postwar After the end of the Continuation War Väinämöinen was handed over as war reparations to the Soviet Union. The ship was handed over on 29 May 1947 to the Soviet Baltic Fleet, where she was renamed Vyborg. The ship served over 6 years in the Red Fleet at the Soviet base in Porkkala, Finland. The ship was called Vanya (a Russian short form of the name Ivan) by the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. Vyborg was modernized during the 1950s and served for a while as an accommodation ship in Tallinn. Preparations to scrap the ship were begun in 1958. During this time, there were talks to return the ship to Finland. The ship was, however, scrapped in 1966 at a Leningrad scrapyard. According to Soviet calculations, 2,700 tons of metal were recovered. Notes Bibliography * External links * Finnish “Lighthouse Battleships” at Dieselpunk.org * Finnish Navy in World War II: Coast Defense ships * Coastal Defence Ship Väinämöinen at World War II Database Category:Ships of the Finnish Navy Category:Ships built in Turku Category:World War II naval ships of Finland Category:1932 ships Category:Ships of the Soviet Navy Category:Finland–Soviet Union relations Category:World War II coastal defence ships "
"État 231-500 to 231-783 was a series of 4-6-2 steam locomotives of the Chemin de fer de l'État ("the État"). 289 engines of this series were built starting in 1914, with deliveries from 1916 through 1923. They replaced and supplemented the 231 B that had a tendency to derail. The class was numbered 231-501 to 231-783 by the État and 231.C.501 to 231.C.783 by the SNCF; with class letters "C" through "H" used depending on the level of rebuilding and modernisation. The first locomotives were built by Fives-Lille; however only the first locomotive has entered service before the city of Lille was overrun by the advancing German Army during World War I. Five others were seized by the Germans. Subsequently orders were placed with North British Locomotive Company for 40 locomotives. Five of these were lost when the cargo ship carrying them was sunk during an attack by a German submarine; they were later replaced by construction of new locomotives. Post-war production was with Fives-Lille, Schneider et Cie., and the newly founded Compagnie générale de Construction de locomotives (Batignolles-Châtillon). Four of the five taken away by the Germans returned to the État after the end of the war, and were given numbers at the end of the class-list. The fifth locomotive went to the Chemins de Fer du Nord, where it was numbered 3.1150; the SNCF renumbered it 2-231.B.1 until 1947 when it was transferred to the Région Ouest and renumbered 3-231.F.784. The engines were famous for their service on passenger trains, notably on the Paris-Le Havre and Paris-Le Mans-Rennes expresses. After World War I other companies received 231-500s thanks to government aid. They were designated 231 TP for Travaux Publics (Public Works), the former name of the Ministry of Transport. The 231 G was rated at . Engine 231-523 was modified in 1929 from four cylinders to three, and had Lentz valves fitted. 231 G in preservation 231 G 558 was a Pacific engine of the État, built in 1922. It had a career pulling express passenger trains on the Paris-Chartres- Bordeaux, Paris-Niort, Paris-Saintes, Paris-Cherbourg, and Paris-Le Havre runs. It ended its career on the run between Nantes and Le Croisic, and pulled its last train on 29 September 1968 when it was moved to Angers. In 1969 it was used in Dieppe as a heater for ferries. The SNCF wished to sell the engine for scrap in 1971, but the depot manager in Sotteville got the engine transferred to his depot in 1972. After five years of campaigning, the engine was sold to the depot staff for the token price of one franc. The engine was listed for preservation on 4 June 1984. After 8,000 man-hours of work, the engine was made fit for mainline use. The engine was reviewed and received its timbre, a stamp showing the pressure of the boiler, on 28 November 1985 and was certified for mainline use on 30 May 1986. The Princess, as it is nicknamed, made its first run to Paris on 29 June 1986. In the summer of 2007, 231 G 558 could be found running daily on the branch line between Paimpol and Pontrieux in northern Brittany. References *{ http://trainjoel.canalblog.com/archives/2010/10/23/19409191.html } 231-501 Category:4-6-2 locomotives Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1914 Category:Schneider locomotives Category:NBL locomotives Category:Fives-Lille locomotives Category:Compound locomotives Category:Passenger locomotives Category:Standard gauge locomotives of France "
"Waidhaus is a municipality in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria, Germany. It lies near the border with the Czech Republic, and near the major border crossing between Bavaria and the Czech Republic, where the Bavarian A6 meets the Czech D5 motorway. The closest towns are on the German side Pleystein and on the Czech side Rozvadov. A gas pipeline and a powerline also cross the border between Bavaria and the Czech Republic there. Neighbouring communities The neighbouring communities clockwise: Rozvadov, Eslarn, Pleystein, Georgenberg. 380 kV-powerline crossing the national border between Bavaria and Czech near Waidhaus. The pylon in the foreground stands in Bavaria the others are in the Czech Republic References Category:Neustadt an der Waldnaab (district) Category:Czech Republic–Germany border crossings "