SMS M68

Virsaitis in Latvian service
History
German Empire
Name	SMS M68
Builder	A.G. Neptun, Rostock
Launched	25 July 1917
Commissioned	6 October 1917
Fate	Sunk 29 October 1917
History
Latvia
Name	Virsaitis
Acquired	Salvaged 1919
Commissioned	10 November 1921
Fate	Seized by USSR August 1940
History
Soviet Union
Name	T-297
Fate	Sunk 2 December 1941
General characteristics
Class and type	M1916 type minesweeper
Displacement	553 t (544 long tons) deep load
Length	59.30 m (194 ft 7 in) o/a
Beam	7.40 m (24 ft 3 in)
Draught	2.2–2.3 m (7 ft 3 in – 7 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft reciprocating steam engines, 2 coal-fired boilers, 1,850 ihp (1,380 kW)
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement	40
Armament	8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 naval guns 30 naval mines

SMS M68^[a] was a M1916 type minesweeper built for the Imperial German Navy during the First World War. She entered service on 6 October 1917, but was mined and sunk off Latvia on 29 October 1917. The ship was salvaged by Latvia and entered service with the Latvian Navy on 10 November 1921 under the name Virsaitis as its first vessel. She was taken over by the Soviet Navy in August 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied Latvia in August 1940, serving as T-297 and was sunk by a mine on 2 December 1941.
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