The Kuha class minesweepers (Zander) was a series of eighteen small minesweepers

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

 of 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"...

. The ships were constructed in three batches between 1941 and 1946. Some of the vessels participated in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, but their main mission were to be the demining of the Gulf of Finland

Gulf of Finland

The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...

 after the war.

The vessels were built by August Eklöf Ab in Porvoo

Porvoo

Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...

, starting in 1941. The Kuha class was developed from the Ahven class

Ahven class minesweeper

The Ahven class minesweepers was a series of six minesweepers of the Finnish Navy. The ships were constructed in 1937 at the Turun veneveistämö shipyard and saw service during World War II....

and were similar in appearance.

Kuha 1-6

• Kuha 1, Kuha
• Kuha 2, Salakka: Scrapped in 1959.
• Kuha 3, Siika
• Kuha 4, Harjus: Scrapped in 1959.
• Kuha 5, Säynäs
• Kuha 6, Karppi

Kuha 7-14

Delivered in 1945

• Kuha 7
• Kuha 8
• Kuha 9: Scrapped in 1960.
• Kuha 10
• Kuha 11
• Kuha 12
• Kuha 13
• Kuha 14