1.
Finland
–
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
2.
Battle honour
–
In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date, theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on the colours. Since battle honours are emblazoned on colours, artillery units. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations. Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form a part of the variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other. For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognise military units battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as an army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, before then, a regiments colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the units past distinctions. The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760, thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements. The battle honour is held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment. During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour, thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today. A battle honour may be granted to infantry/cavalry regiments or battalions, as well as ships and squadrons, they are granted to sub-units such as companies. Battle honours are presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the units distinguished act took place. Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour, conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry earned both Kapyong and Korea 1951–1953, supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However and uniquely the Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV the right to use the Latin Ubique, meaning everywhere and this is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The practice was extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces
3.
Finnish Civil War
–
The Finnish Civil War concerned leadership and control of Finland during the transition from a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire to an independent state. The conflict formed a part of the national, political, the war was fought between the Reds, led by the Social Democratic Party and the Whites, conducted by the non-socialist, conservative-led senate. The paramilitary Red Guards, composed of industrial and agrarian workers, controlled the cities, the paramilitary White Guards, composed of peasants and middle-class and upper-class factions, controlled rural central and northern Finland. Finnish society had experienced population growth, industrialization, pre-urbanization. World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Reds carried out an unsuccessful general offensive in February 1918, supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia. A counteroffensive by the Whites began in March, reinforced by an Imperial German Army squad in April, both the Reds and Whites engaged in political terror. A high number of Red POWs died due to malnutrition and disease, altogether, around 39,000 people -36,000 Finns - perished in the conflict. In the aftermath, the Finns passed from Russian government to the German power sphere with a plan to establish German-led Finnish monarchy, the outline was aborted by the defeat of Germany in World War I. Finland emerged as an independent, democratic republic, the main factor behind the Finnish Civil War was World War I, the Russian Empire collapsed under the pressures of the war, leading to the February and October Revolutions in 1917. The breakdown caused a power vacuum and subsequent power struggle in Eastern Europe. The Grand Duchy of Finland, a part of the Russian Empire since 1809, geopolitically less important than the continental Moscow-Warsaw gateway, the northerly Finnish ground, isolated by the Baltic sea was a peaceful sidefront until early 1918. The war between the German Empire and Russia had indirect effects on the Finns, the German Empire saw Eastern Europe - primarily Russia - as a major source of vital products and raw materials, both during World War I and in the future. Between 30 and 40 million marks were spent on this endeavor, controlling the Finnish area would allow the Imperial German Army to penetrate Petrograd and the Kola Peninsula, an area rich in raw materials for the mining industry. Finland possessed large ore reserves and a well-developed forest industry, russias defeat in the Crimean War in the 1850s led to attempts to speed up the modernization of the country. This caused more than 50 years of economic, industrial, cultural and educational progress in the Grand Duchy of Finland, in 1899, the Russian Empire initiated a policy of integration through the Russification of Finland. In the power struggle, the most radical political group opposing Russia, the Activist movement, included terrorist factions from the working class and the Swedish-speaking intelligentsia. The major reasons for rising tensions among the Finns were the autocratic rule of the Russian Czar. The system originated in the Swedish Empire regime, preceding the Russian power, Finlands population grew rapidly in the 19th century, and a class of industrial and agrarian workers and property-less peasants emerged
4.
Continuation War
–
The Continuation War consisted of hostilities between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944. The Continuation War began shortly after the end of the Winter War, in the Soviet Union, the war was considered part of the Great Patriotic War. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its war efforts on the Eastern Front. Acts of war between the Soviet Union and Finland recommenced on 22 June 1941, the day Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union, open warfare began with a Soviet air offensive on 25 June. Subsequent Finnish operations undid its post-Winter War concessions to the Soviet Union on the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia, on the Karelian Isthmus, the Finns halted their offensive 30 km from Leningrad, at the pre-World War II border between the Soviet Union and Finland. Finnish forces did not participate in the siege of Leningrad directly, in 1944, Soviet air forces conducted air raids on Helsinki and other major Finnish cities. A ceasefire ended hostilities on 5 September and was followed by the Moscow Armistice on 19 September, the 1947 Paris peace treaty concluded the war formally. Finland ceded Pechengsky District to the Soviets, leased Porkkala peninsula to them, shortly afterward, Germany invaded Poland and as a result the United Kingdom and France declared war against Germany. The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on 17 September, next, Moscow demanded that the Baltic states allow the establishment of Soviet military bases and the stationing of troops on their soil. The Baltic governments accepted these ultimatums, signing corresponding agreements in September and October 1939, the Finnish government refused, and the Red Army attacked Finland on 30 November 1939. Condemnation of the Soviets by the League of Nations and by all over the world had no effect on Soviet policy. International help for Finland was planned, but very little actual help materialized, the Moscow Peace Treaty, which was signed on 12 March 1940, ended the Winter War. By the terms of the treaty, Finland lost one eleventh of its national territory, however, Finland had avoided having the Soviet Union annex the whole country. Finlands foreign policy had been based on multilateral guarantees for support from the League of Nations, Finnish public opinion favored the reconquest of Finnish Karelia. Finlands government declared the countrys defense to be its first priority, Finland purchased and received donations of war material during and immediately after the Winter War. On Finlands southern frontier the Soviet Union had acquired a base in Hanko near the capital Helsinki. Finland also had to resettle some 420,000 evacuees from the lost territories, to ensure the supply of food, it was necessary to clear new land for the evacuees to cultivate. This was facilitated by the Rapid Settlement Act, the Finnish leadership wanted to preserve the spirit of unanimity that was commonly felt throughout the country during the Winter War
5.
Vice admiral
–
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to an admiral and junior to an admiral. The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case, in the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star. Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force, in the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is an officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general, two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name, thereafter by subordinates as Sir or Maam, vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car, the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two. A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, the rank of vice-amiral descadre equals a NATO OF-8 rank. In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791, the office of Vice-Admiral of France was the highest rank, the supreme office of Admiral of France being purely ceremonial. Distinct offices were, 1669-1791 Vice-admiral of the West, 1778-1791 Vice-admiral of the Asian and American Seas. 1784-1788 Vice-admiral of the Indian Seas, vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant. In India, vice admiral is a three star admiral, in Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ammiraglio di squadra or squadron admiral. In the Philippines, the vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-charge of the Navy, the rank vice-admiral in the Philippines, has the same ranking in the U. S Navy. In Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the phó đô đốc
6.
Swedish language
–
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by more than 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by number of speakers, Standard Swedish, spoken by most Swedes, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the rural dialects still exist. The standard word order is, as in most Germanic languages, V2, Swedish morphology is similar to English, that is, words have comparatively few inflections. There are two genders, no cases, and a distinction between plural and singular. Older analyses posit the cases nominative and genitive and there are remains of distinct accusative and dative forms as well. Adjectives are compared as in English, and are inflected according to gender, number. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes, complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles, the prosody features both stress and in most dialects tonal qualities. The language has a large vowel inventory. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless velar fricative, a highly variable consonant phoneme. Swedish is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, by many general criteria of mutual intelligibility, the Continental Scandinavian languages could very well be considered dialects of a common Scandinavian language. In the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language began to undergo new changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, the dialects of Old East Norse that were spoken in Sweden are called Runic Swedish while the dialects of Denmark are referred to as Runic Danish. The dialects are described as runic because the body of text appears in the runic alphabet. Unlike Proto-Norse, which was written with the Elder Futhark alphabet, Old Norse was written with the Younger Futhark alphabet, from 1200 onwards, the dialects in Denmark began to diverge from those of Sweden. An early change that separated Runic Danish from the dialects of Old East Norse was the change of the diphthong æi to the monophthong é. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain, there was also a change of au as in dauðr into a long open ø as in døðr dead
7.
Finnish Defence Forces
–
The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. A universal male conscription is in place, under which all men above 18 years of age serve for 165,255 or 347 days, alternative non-military service and volunteer service by women are possible. Finland is the only non-NATO EU country bordering Russia, finlands official policy states that a wartime military strength of 230,000 personnel constitutes a sufficient deterrent. The army consists of a mobile field army backed up by local defence units. Finlands defence budget equals approximately 2.8 billion euros or 1.3 percent of GDP, the voluntary overseas service is highly popular and troops serve around the world in UN, NATO and EU missions. Homeland defence willingness against an enemy is at 76%, one of the highest rates in Europe. Fighting between the White Guards and the Red Guards had already broken out about a week before around Viipuri, after winning the Civil War, the Finnish peacetime army was organized as three divisions and a brigade by professional German officers. It became the structure for the next 20 years. The coast was guarded by former czarist coastal fortifications and ships taken as prizes of war, the Air Force had already been formed in March 1918, but remained a part of the Army and did not become a fully independent fighting force until 1928. The new government instituted conscription after the Civil War and also introduced a mobilization system, when the Soviets invaded in November 1939, the Finns defeated the Red Army on numerous occasions, including at the crucial Battle of Suomussalmi. These successes were in part thanks to the application of motti tactics. While the Finns ultimately lost the war and were forced to agree to the Moscow Peace Treaty, during the war the Finns lost 25,904 men, while Soviet losses were 167,976 dead. Finland fought in the Continuation War alongside Germany from 1941 to 1944, thanks to German aid, the army was now much better equipped, and the period of conscription had been increased to two years, making possible the formation of sixteen infantry divisions. The demobilization and regrouping of the Finnish Defense Forces were carried out in late 1944 under the supervision of the Soviet-dominated Allied Control Commission. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1947, which imposed restrictions on the size and equipment of the forces and required disbandment of the Civic Guard. The reorganization resulted in the adoption of the brigade -in place of the division- as the standard formation, for the first two decades after the Second World War, the Finnish Defence Forces relied largely on obsolete wartime material. Defence spending remained minimal until the early 1960s, during the peak of the Cold War, the Finnish government made a conscious effort to increase defence capability. This resulted in the commissioning of new weapons systems and the strengthening of the defence of Finnish Lapland by the establishment of new garrisons in the area
8.
Navy
–
A navy or maritime force is a fleet of waterborne military vessels and its associated naval aviation, both sea-based and land-based. It is the branch of an armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare, namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations. The strategic offensive role of a navy is projection of force into areas beyond a countrys shores, the strategic defensive purpose of a navy is to frustrate seaborne projection-of-force by enemies. The strategic task of the navy also may incorporate nuclear deterrence by use of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. In most nations, the naval, as opposed to navy, is interpreted as encompassing all maritime military forces, e. g. navy, marine / marine corps. First attested in English in the early 14th century, the navy came via Old French navie, fleet of ships, from the Latin navigium, a vessel. The word naval came from Latin navalis, pertaining to ship, cf. Greek ναῦς, ship, ναύτης, seaman, the earliest attested form of the word is in the Mycenaean Greek compound word
9.
Conscription
–
Conscription, or drafting, is the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most often a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–8 years on active duty and those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country. As of the early 21st century, many no longer conscript soldiers. The ability to rely on such an arrangement, however, presupposes some degree of predictability with regard to both war-fighting requirements and the scope of hostilities, many states that have abolished conscription therefore still reserve the power to resume it during wartime or times of crisis. Around the reign of Hammurabi, the Babylonian Empire used a system of conscription called Ilkum, under that system those eligible were required to serve in the royal army in time of war. During times of peace they were required to provide labour for other activities of the state. In return for service, people subject to it gained the right to hold land. It is possible that this right was not to hold land per se, various forms of avoiding military service are recorded. While it was outlawed by the Code of Hammurabi, the hiring of substitutes appears to have practiced both before and after the creation of the code. Later records show that Ilkum commitments could become regularly traded, in other places, people simply left their towns to avoid their Ilkum service. Another option was to sell Ilkum lands and the commitments along with them, with the exception of a few exempted classes, this was forbidden by the Code of Hammurabi. The levies raised in this way fought as infantry under local superiors, although the exact laws varied greatly depending on the country and the period, generally these levies were only obliged to fight for one to three months. Most were subsistence farmers, and it was in everyones interest to send the men home for harvest-time, the bulk of the Anglo-Saxon English army, called the fyrd, was composed of part-time English soldiers drawn from the landowning minor nobility. These thegns were the aristocracy of the time and were required to serve with their own armour. Medieval levy in Poland was known as the pospolite ruszenie, the system of military slaves was widely used in the Middle East, beginning with the creation of the corps of Turkish slave-soldiers by the Abbasid caliph al-Mutasim in the 820s and 830s. In the middle of the 14th century, Ottoman Sultan Murad I developed personal troops to be loyal to him, the new force was built by taking Christian children from newly conquered lands, especially from the far areas of his empire, in a system known as the devşirme
10.
Ship prefix
–
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship. Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as PS for paddle steamer, or purpose, civilian prefixes are often used inconsistently, and frequently not at all. Sometimes a slash is used to separate the letters, as in M/S, Naval prefixes came into use as abbreviations for longer titles, such as His/Her Majestys Ship in the British Royal Navy, abbreviated H. M. S. and then HMS. Earlier uses often included the type of vessel, as for instance U. S. F, today the common practice is to use a single prefix for all warships of a nations navy, and other prefixes for auxiliaries and ships of allied services, such as coast guards. The use of ship prefixes is not universal, in neither the German Kriegsmarine nor the Imperial Japanese Navy used ship prefixes. Some English-language writers use prefixes like DKM and HIJMS or IJN for consistency with HMS, other writers follow the practice of the navy and omit any prefix. From the 20th century onwards, most navies identify ships by hull numbers —identification codes typically painted on the side of the ship. Each navy has its own system, the United States Navy uses hull classification symbols, and the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and these tables list both current and historical prefixes known to have been used. These prefixes are used for merchant vessels of any nationality. The designations for United Kingdom ships applied at the time of the British Empire, before the establishment of separate navies for the Dominions. In the Royal Netherlands Navy, HNLMS is the prefix in English, Hr. Ms. should preferably not be used in English-language documents, nevertheless it is often seen on the World Wide Web. Until the moment a Dutch naval ship officially enters active service in the fleet, since King Willem-Alexander succeeded Queen Beatrix on 30 April 2013, Hr. Ms. is replaced by Zr. Ms. In Australia, the prefix NUSHIP is used to ships that have yet to be commissioned into the fleet. In the United States, all other than USS, USNS, USNV. USRC was replaced by USCGC when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Lifesaving Service to become the United States Coast Guard in 1915. USLHT also was replaced by USCGC when the United States Lighthouse Service became a part of the U. S. Coast Guard in 1939. USC&GS was replaced by NOAAS when the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other U. S. Government scientific agencies to form the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1970. A United States Navy ship that is not in active commission does not hold the title of United States Ship with simply the name without prefix used before and after commissioned service
11.
Coastal artillery
–
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. The advent of 20th-century technologies, especially aviation, naval aviation, jet aircraft, and guided missiles, reduced the primacy of cannon, battleships. In countries where coastal artillery has not been disbanded, these forces have acquired amphibious capabilities, in littoral warfare, mobile coastal artillery armed with surface-to-surface missiles still can be used to deny the use of sea lanes. Land-based guns also benefited in most cases from the protection of walls or earth mounds. The Martello tower is an excellent example of a widely used coastal fort which mounted defensive artillery, during the 19th century China also built hundreds of coastal fortresses in an attempt to counter Western naval threats. Coastal artillery could be part of the Navy, or part of the Army, in English-speaking countries, certain coastal artillery positions were sometimes referred to as Land Batteries, distinguishing this form of artillery battery from for example floating batteries. In the United Kingdom, in the later 19th and earlier 20th Centuries, then, following the Spanish–American War and the report of the Endicott Board, U. S. harbor defenses were greatly strengthened and provided with new, rifled artillery and minefield defenses. Shortly thereafter, in 1907, Congress split the field artillery, the first decade of the 20th Century, the United States Marine Corps established the Advanced Base Force. The force was used for setting up and defending advanced bases, during the Siege of Port Arthur, Japanese forces had captured the vantage point on 203 Meter Hill overlooking Port Arthur harbor. The battleship Sevastopol, although hit 5 times by 11-inch shells, after 3 weeks, the Sevastopol was still afloat, having survived 124 torpedoes fired at her while sinking two Japanese destroyers and damaging six other vessels. The Japanese had meanwhile lost the cruiser Takasago to a mine outside the harbor, the Blücher had entered the narrow waters of the Oslofjord, carrying 1,000 soldiers and leading a German invasion fleet. The first salvo from the Norwegian defenders, fired from Oscarsborg Fortress about 1 mile distant, disabled Blüchers main battery, fire from the smaller guns swept her decks and disabled her steering, and she received several torpedo hits before the fires reached her magazines and doomed her. Singapore was defended by its famous large-caliber coastal guns, which included one battery of three 15-inch guns and one with two 15-inch guns, AP shells were designed to penetrate the hulls of heavily armoured warships and were ineffective against personnel. The Japanese defended the island of Betio in the Tarawa atoll with numerous 203 mm coastal guns, in 1943, these were knocked out early in the battle with a combined USN naval and aerial bombardment. Nazi Germany fortified its conquered territories with the Atlantic Wall, the intent was to destroy the Allied landing craft before they could unload. During the Normandy Landings in 1944, shore bombardment was given a high importance, using ships from battleships to destroyers, for example, the Canadians at Juno beach had fire support many times greater than they had had for the Dieppe Raid in 1942. In addition, there were modified landing-craft, eight Landing Craft Gun, twenty-four Landing Craft Tank carried Priest self-propelled howitzers which also fired while they were on the run-in to the beach. Similar arrangements existed at other beaches, on June 25,1944 the American battleship Texas engaged German shore batteries on the Cotentin Peninsula
12.
Commander-in-chief
–
A commander-in-chief is the person or body that exercises supreme operational command and control of a nations military forces or significant elements of those forces. In the latter case, the element is those forces within a particular region. Often, a given countrys commander-in-chief need not be or have been an officer or even a veteran. This follows the principle of civilian control of the military, the role of commander-in-chief derives from the Latin, imperator. Imperatores of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire possessed imperium powers, in its modern use, the term first applied to King Charles I of England in 1639. It continued to be used during the English Civil War, a nations head of state usually holds the nominal position of commander-in-chief, even if effective executive power is held by a separate head of government. Governors-general and colonial governors are also often appointed commander-in-chief of the forces within their territory. A commander-in-chief is sometimes referred to as commander, which is sometimes used as a specific term. The term is used for military officers who hold such power and authority, not always through dictatorship. The term is used for officers who hold authority over an individual military branch. According to the Constitution of Albania, The President of the Republic of Albania is the Commander-in-chief of Albanian Armed Forces, the incumbent Commander-in-chief is President Bujar Nishani. The Ministry of Defense is the government department that assists and serves the President in the management of the armed forces, the Minister for Defence and several subordinate ministers exercise this control through the Australian Defence Organisation. The Constitution states, in Article 80, that the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces. e, the cabinet under the chairmanship of the Federal Chancellor, as defined in Article 69. The commander-in-chief is the president, although executive power and responsibility for national defense resides with the prime minister and he retired on 7 April 1972 and relinquished all authority and duties to the President of Bangladesh. Article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 states that the Brazilian Armed Forces is under the command of the President of the Republic. The Sultan of Brunei is the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, the powers of command-in-chief over the Canadian Armed Forces are vested in the Canadian monarch, and are delegated to the Governor General of Canada, who also uses the title Commander-in-Chief. In this capacity, the general is entitled to the uniform of a general/flag officer, with the crest of the office. According to the National Defence Act, the Minister of National Defence is responsible and accountable to parliament for all related to national defence
13.
Rear admiral
–
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the admiral ranks, in many navies it is referred to as a two-star rank. It originated from the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy, each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral and this has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most-junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies. In some European navies, and in the Canadian Forces French rank translations, in the German Navy the rank is known as Konteradmiral, superior to the flotilla admiral. In the Royal Netherlands Navy, this rank is known as schout-bij-nacht, denoting the role junior to the squadron admiral, the Royal Australian Navy maintains a rank of rear admiral, refer to Australian Defence Force ranks and insignia. Since the mid-1990s, the insignia of a Royal Australian Navy rear admiral is the Crown of St. Edward above a crossed sword and baton, like the Royal Navy version, the sword is a traditional naval cutlass. The stars have eight points, unlike the four pointed Order of the Bath stars used by the army, prior to 1995, the RAN shoulder board was identical to the Royal Navy shoulder board. The Royal Navy shoulder board changed again in 2001 and the Australian, rear Admiral Robyn Walker AM, RAN became the first female admiral in the Royal Australian Navy when she was appointed Surgeon-General of the Australian Defence Force on 16 December 2011. In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of rear-admiral is the Navy rank equivalent to major-general of the Army, a rear-admiral is a flag officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A rear-admiral is senior to a commodore and brigadier-general, and junior to a vice-admiral and lieutenant-general, the service dress features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff and, since June 2010, above it a narrower strip of gold braid embellished with the executive curl. On the visor of the cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Konteradmiral is an OF-7 two-star rank equivalent to the Generalmajor in the German Army, see also The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard is the naval component of the Military of Guyana. As such, the ranks of the Coast Guard are naval ranks similar to the practice in the respective Coast Guards of Jamaica and Trinidad, the rank of rear admiral was first awarded to chief of staff commodore Gary Best on August 19,2013. The rank insignia consists of two silver pips with green highlights, beneath a crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by the gold-colored Caciques crown with red, the Indian Navy also maintains a rear admiral rank senior to commodore and captain ranks and junior to vice admiral ranks. The rank insignia for a rear-admiral is two stars beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by Emblem of India, worn on shoulder boards, before Islamic Revolution The Iranian Imperial Navy. After Islamic Revolution The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, also known as the Iranian Navy, a rear admiral in the Pakistani Navy is a senior and two-star rank naval officer, appointed in higher naval commands. Like most Commonwealth navies, the rear admiral rank is superior to commodore, however, the rank is junior to the three-star rank vice-admiral and four-star rank admiral, who is generally a Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy
14.
Finnish Coastal Jaegers
–
The Finnish Coastal Jaegers are the amphibious arm of the Finnish Navy. The unit consists of both regulars and conscripts, predominantly Swedish-speaking, and is located at Nyland Brigade in Dragsvik, the Finnish Coastal Jaegers primary role is to conduct counter attacks against enemy landings in the Finnish archipelago, an environment known for small islands and skerries. Jaegers can function independently or with the support of artillery units, a number of Coastal Jaeger troops receive training for unconventional warfare and reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Conscripts are selected for training at 1, kustJK in Dragsvik on the basis of the physical review taken by all conscripts before they enter military service. After 8 weeks of training, privates are assigned to further training. The number of jaegers trained varies per intake, but usually about 30-50% of the conscripts in the two KJKs go on to receive training, with approx. 40% of them selected for training as NCOs or officer candidates, the other half of KJK recruits receive training for support roles such as cooks, medics, drivers and boatsmen, for easier combat roles and may even be transferred to other units. Conscripts are selected for NCO education during basic training, candidates for officer training are selected during the 7-week-long Stage 1 of NCO training. About 10-20% of Stage 1 NCO candidates are sent to the Reserve Officers School for the 14-week-long course, the main elements of Jaeger training are combat training, weapon handling, endurance and mobility. For privates the training is 5.5 months and encompasses the fundamental elements of warfare, urban operations. NCO and officer training lasts for 11.5 months, incorporating urban combat training, a Jaeger candidate is more likely to spend time marching with a heavy rucksack than doing push-ups. Marches are usually carried out with full equipment and can be as long as 80-90km. NCO and officer trainees can go with as little as 2–4 hours of sleep during a 4-day exercise, the difference in length, quality, and intensity of training is reflected in the composition of units used for international duties. These usually consist almost exclusively of NCOs and officers, the beret march is approximately 80 km in length, over which the Jaeger candidates must navigate by foot, carrying 40–45 kg of equipment. Every 5–10 km the candidates stop to complete tasks, such as evacuation of wounded soldiers, shooting, weapons handling. At one point, candidates are put on a boat and driven to an unknown location and they must locate themselves on a map and find their way back to the route. Sweden - Kustjägarna Norway – Kystjegerkommandoen Denmark - Frømandskorpset
15.
Finland Swedish
–
Most Swedish-speaking Finns emphasize that Finland Swedish is not a language separate from the Swedish of Sweden. The Swedish dialects in Finland are considered varieties of Swedish, Swedish as spoken in Finland is regulated by the Swedish Department of the Institute for the Languages of Finland. An often repeated fact is that the municipality with the highest proportion of Swedish speakers in the world, korsnäs has also held this title and is often cited as such. However, as there are no statistics on the mother tongue of inhabitants of Sweden. In addition bilingualism is common for immigrants in Sweden, so the term Swedish-speaking may be diffuse in that sense. In the spoken vernacular, especially young people in Finnish-dominated areas. There are also words in Finland Swedish that would be considered slightly archaic in Sweden. Some government and public service terms that have created in recent centuries also differ. The same is true of other new words, notably loanwords from English. e. in normal, in 1809, when Finland was conquered by the Russian Empire and became an autonomous Grand Duchy, Swedish remained the only official language. Finland has since then been a country with a Swedish-speaking minority living mostly in the coastal areas of southern, south-western. During the 20th century, the following the Industrial Revolution has led to large majorities of Finnish speakers in all major cities. The capital Helsinki became predominantly Finnish-speaking as recently as around 1900, a large and important part of the Swedish-speaking population nevertheless lives in the capital. The autonomous island province of Åland is an exception, being monolingually Swedish-speaking according to international treaties and it is a matter of definition whether the Swedish dialects spoken on Åland are to be considered a kind of Finland Swedish or not. Most Swedish-speaking Finns and linguists consider them to be closer to some of the dialects spoken in parts of Sweden. Swedish is one of the two languages of the republic of Finland, the other being Finnish. These two languages have equal status in nearly all legislation. The other minority languages are regulated separately, Finland Swedish is regulated by the Institute for the Languages of Finland. Official Swedish is not supposed to be different from Swedish as found in Sweden
16.
Pihlajaniemi
–
Pihlajaniemi is a district of the city of Turku, in Finland. It is located to the south of the city centre, on the coastline of the Archipelago Sea, Pihlajaniemi shares the new luxurious residential development of Majakkaranta with the neighbouring district of Korppolaismäki. Finnish Naval Headquarters is located in Pihlajaniemi, at the garrison of Heikkilä. The current population of Pihlajaniemi is 1,139, and it is increasing at a rate of 3. 69%. 9. 13% of the population are under 15 years old. The districts linguistic makeup is 90. 52% Finnish,5. 36% Swedish, Districts of Turku Districts of Turku by population
17.
Turku
–
Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Southwest Finland. Turku, as a town, was settled during the 13th century and founded most likely at the end of the 13th century and it quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. Because of its history, it has been the site of many important events. Along with Tallinn, the city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland, due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn. As of 31 December 2016, the population of Turku was 187,564, there were 318,168 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue. The Finnish name Turku originates from an Old East Slavic word, tǔrgǔ, the word turku still means market place in some idioms in Finnish. The Swedish word for market place is torg, and was borrowed from Old East Slavic. The Swedish name Åbo may be a combination of å. As this pattern does not appear in any other Swedish place names in Finland, one theory is that it comes from Aabo, the Finnish rendition of the Russian Avram, which could also be the origin of the name of the river Aura. There is however an old legal term called åborätt, which gave citizens the right to live at land owned by the crown. In Finnish, the genitive of Turku is Turun, meaning of Turku, the Finnish names of organizations and institutes of Turku often begin with this word, as in Turun yliopisto for the University of Turku. Turku has a history as Finlands largest city and occasionally as the administrative center of the country. The citys identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland, originally, the word Finland referred only to the area around Turku. Although archaeological findings in the date back to the Stone Age. The Cathedral of Turku was consecrated in 1300, during the Middle Ages, Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku, covering the then eastern half of the Kingdom of Sweden until the 17th century. Even if Turku had no official status, both the short-lived institutions of Dukes and Governors-General of Finland usually had their Finnish residences there
18.
Pansio
–
Pansio is a district and a suburb of the city of Turku, Finland. It is located in the part of the city. It has a population of 2,809, and a population growth of -3. 83%. 19. 25% of the population are under 15 years old. The districts linguistic makeup is 87. 82% Finnish,1. 55% Swedish, pansio has a problem with unemployment, with an unemployment rate of 14. 2% - the sixth highest of all districts in Turku. A good part of the district is industrial area, and parts of the Port of Turku are located there, pansio also hosts a naval base of the Finnish Navy, Archipelago Sea Naval Command. Districts of Turku Districts of Turku by population
19.
Kimito
–
Kimito is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1,2009, it was consolidated with Dragsfjärd and Västanfjärd to form the new municipality of Kimitoön, prior to the consolidation, it was one of the four municipalities located on Kimito island, the other three being Västanfjärd, Dragsfjärd and Halikko. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region, the municipality had a population of 3,301 and covered an area of 320.17 km² of which 2.29 km² is inland water. The population density was 10.38 inhabitants per km², the municipality was bilingual, with majority being Swedish and minority Finnish speakers. Kimito Island Music Festival Baltic Jazz Festival Media related to Kimito at Wikimedia Commons Official website – in Swedish and Finnish
20.
Espoo
–
Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo was 269,802 as of 1 January 2016. It is part of the Finnish Capital Region, and most of its population lives in the urban core of the Helsinki metropolitan area, along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa. Espoo shares its border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen. The city is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, other bordering municipalities of Espoo are Nurmijärvi and Vihti in the north, and Kirkkonummi in the west. The national park of Nuuksio is situated in northwestern Espoo, Espoo encompasses 312 square kilometres, of which 312 km2 is land. Espoo has several regional centers. Espoo is thus divided into seven areas, Vanha-Espoo, Suur-Espoonlahti, Pohjois-Espoo, Suur-Kauklahti, Suur-Leppävaara, Suur-Matinkylä. Aalto University is based in Otaniemi, Espoo, along with a thriving community that includes numerous startups. The city of Espoo is officially bilingual, the majority of the population,83. 6%, speaks Finnish as their mother tongue, while a minority of 8. 3% speaks Swedish. 8% of Espoos population has a first language other than Finnish or Swedish, the name was first mentioned in 1431. The banks of the River Espoo are even today heavily populated with aspen, the first inhabitants in the area arrived about 9,000 years ago. Physical evidence indicates agriculture from ca.1000 AD, but there are no historical records, up to the 13th century, the area was a borderland between the hunting grounds of Finnish Proper and Tavastian Finns, with a sparse population. Immigrants from Sweden established permanent agricultural settlements during the 12th and 13th centuries, Espoo was a subdivision of the Kirkkonummi congregation until 1486-7. The oldest known document referring to Kirkkonummi is from 1330, Espoo as a subchapter has been dated to the 1380s, the construction of the Espoo Cathedral, the oldest preserved building in Espoo, marks the independence of Espoo. Administratively, Espoo was a part of Uusimaa, when the province was split to Eastern and Western provinces governed from the Porvoo and Raasepori castles, respectively, the eastern border of the Raasepori province was in Espoo. The 13th century road connecting the most important cities in Finland at that time, in 1557, King Gustaf Wasa decided to stabilize and develop the region by founding a royal mansion in Espoo. The government bought the villages of Espåby and Mankby and transferred the population elsewhere, the royal mansion housed the kings local plenipotentiary, and collected royal tax in kind paid by labor on the mansions farm
21.
Gulf of Finland Naval Command
–
Gulf of Finland Naval Command was a Finnish Navy unit headquartered in Upinniemi, Kirkkonummi. The main duty of the Gulf of Finland Naval Command during normal condition was the surveillance of Finnish territorial waters, in addition, the Command trained conscripts to fulfill duties in the war-time organisation of the Finnish Defence Forces. The readiness fortresses and particular other units of the Command were permanently in a state of high readiness, the Command was succeeded in 2015 by the Coastal Brigade. 7th Missile Squadron, operating Hamina class fast attack craft and Kiisla class patrol vessels, 5th Mine Warfare Squadron, operating Pohjanmaa and Pansio class minelayers. The squadron also includes the Finnish Navy Diving School, training conscripts and career personnel as combat, suomenlinna Coastal Regiment, responsible for continuously keeping Isosaari fortress in state of readiness. Kotka Coast Battalion, responsible for the surveillance and defence of Kymenlaakso coast, including the ports of Hamina. The Battalion mans the Haapasaari Marine Surveillance Station and the maintains the fortress of Kirkonmaa at high readiness, porkkala Coast Battalion, responsible for providing logistics, force protection and coastal artillery support for the command headquarters in Upinniemi. The Center also operates a large NCO school and provides training for logistics specialists. From time to time, the Center produced coastal infantry units
22.
Kirkkonummi
–
Kirkkonummi is a municipality of 38,842 inhabitants in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words Kirkkonummi and Kyrkslätt in English is church heath, the municipality is located just outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, bordering the city of Espoo in the east. Other neighbouring municipalities are Vihti and Siuntio, the distance from the municipal centre to central Helsinki is some 30 kilometres. Kirkkonummi also has excellent train and bus connections to parts of the Greater Helsinki area. The municipality covers an area of 366.15 square kilometres of which 649.91 km2 is water, the population density is 106.1 inhabitants per square kilometre. Over the recent years, Kirkkonummi has faced the highest population growth rate in the country, major population centres in Kirkkonummi include the municipal centre, Masala, Veikkola, Kantvik and the Upinniemi naval garrison area. In addition to these, there are dozens of smaller villages, geographically, Kirkkonummi has two famous peninsulas, namely Porkkala and Upinniemi, the latter one of which houses a major Finnish naval base. Porkkala is also on one of the bird migration routes in the Baltic Sea region. Additionally, Kirkkonummi has a large central area, through which a railway goes from Helsinki to Turku as well as extensive lake areas. Incidentally, these paintings were found by the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius himself, signs of this time include concrete bunkers, other fortifications and the remains of an airbase
23.
Archipelago Sea Naval Command
–
Archipelago Sea Naval Command was a Finnish Navy unit headquartered in Pansio, Turku. Its main operating area was the Archipelago Sea, Archipelago Sea Naval Command was formed in 1998 by combining the Archipelago Sea Fleet and Turku Coastal Regiment. The command was wound down at the end of 2014 and its constituent units were moved to a new command, the Coastal Fleet, the main duty of the Archipelago Sea Naval Command during normal condition was the surveillance of Finnish territorial waters and maintaining territorial integrity. In addition, the Command trained conscripts to fulfil duties in the organization of the Command. The Command was always at the state of enhanced readiness, prepared to repel unauthorized incursions to Finnish waters using force, in a crisis, securing the sea lanes for the use of Finnish commercial shipping would have been the main duty of the Command. Turku Coast Battalion consists of Military Police Company and Logistics Company, the Coast Battalion trains navy and military police NCOs. 6th Missile Squadron, operating Rauma class Fast Attack Crafts and Hämeenmaa minelayer Uusimaa, Pansio class minelayer Pansio 4th Mine Warfare Squadron, Turku Coast Battalion, responsible for providing logistics, force protection and coastal artillery support for the command. The unit is responsible for the surveillance of territorial waters
24.
Uusimaa Brigade
–
The Nyland Brigade, officially Nylands Brigad in Swedish, is a Brigade-level Marine unit of the Finnish Navy stationed in Dragsvik in Raseborg in the province of Uusimaa. The Brigade trains Coastal Jaegers and other troops for combat in coastal environments and it is the only unit of the Finnish Defence Forces where the instruction language is Swedish, the countrys other official language. The command language is, however, Finnish, the brigade also trains personnel for the International ATU unit, which is a special crisis management force that can be employed in coastal environments. The Ekenäs Coastal Battalion trains mortar and signal troops, military policemen, chauffeurs, supply specialists, the brigade follows the traditions of the Nyland and Tavastehus Cavalry Regiment, which Gustavus Adolphus established in 1626. The regiment distinguished itself in the Battle of Siikajoki during the Finnish War, the brigade also traces back its history to the 3rd Jaeger Regiment during the Finnish Civil War and the 4th Infantry Regiment during World War II. The unit became a part of the Finnish Navy in 1998, the brigade utilizes XA-185 Pasi APCs and trucks for land transport, and Jehu, Jurmo, Uisko and G class landing craft for amphibious transport. It has also a number of boats for amphibious transport. The motorized artillery previously used 130 K54 guns, but now relies on Spike-ER missiles for anti-ship warfare, official Nyland Brigade Webpage in English Recruitment video
25.
Dragsvik, Finland
–
Note, This article is about Dragsvik in Finland, not Dragsvik in Norway. Dragsvik is a village in Uusimaa, Finland and it is located to the northeast of Raseborg. The Finnish Navy marine infantry unit Uusimaa Brigade has a Swedish-speaking garrison there and it contains the Dragsvik railway station and a manor house called Dragsvik gård
26.
Suomenlinna
–
Suomenlinna or Sveaborg, until 1918 Viapori, is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands and which now forms part of the city of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular with tourists and locals, the Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. The general responsibility for the work was given to Augustin Ehrensvärd. In addition to the fortress itself, seafacing fortifications on the mainland would ensure that an enemy would not acquire a beach-head from which to stage attacks. The plan was also to stock munitions for the whole Finnish contingent of the Swedish Army, in the Finnish War the fortress surrendered to Russia on May 3,1808, paving the way for the occupation of Finland by Russian forces in 1809. Early on in the Great Northern War, Russia used the Swedish weakness in the Ingermanland and captured the area near river Neva as well as the Swedish forts, Nyen and Nöteborg, built to protect it. In 1703 Peter the Great had founded his new capital, Saint Petersburg, in the approach to it he built the fortified naval base of Kronstadt. Russia soon became a power and a force to be reckoned with in the Baltic Sea. The situation posed a threat to Sweden, which until that time had been the dominant power in the Baltic and this was visibly demonstrated by the use of naval forces in the Russian capture of Viborg in 1710. Lack of coastal defenses was keenly felt with Russian landings on spring of 1713 to Helsingfors, a Russian naval campaign against Swedish coast towards the end of the Great Northern War further outlined the need of developing Finnish coastal defenses. Immediately after the war had ended first plans were set into motion in Sweden to construct an archipelago fleet, however, nothing with regard to Sveaborg took until place until the end of Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743. Fortifications were left unfinished at Hamina and at Lappeenranta while Hämeenlinna was being built into a supply base. Lack of funds, unwillingness to devote funds for defending Finland, in the following Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 which quickly turned from Swedish attack into Russian occupation of Finland again underlined the importance of developing fortifications to Finland. Lack of base of operations for naval forces made it difficult for the Swedish navy to operate in the area, other European states were also concerned about developments, especially France, with which Sweden had concluded a military alliance. After lengthy debate the Swedish parliament decided in 1747 to fortify the Russian frontier, the frontier fortifications were established in Svartholm near the small town of Lovisa. Sweden started building the fortress in 1748, when Finland was still a part of the Swedish kingdom, Augustin Ehrensvärd and his gigantic fortification work on the islands off the town of Helsinki brought the district a new and unexpected importance. The fortification of Helsinki and its islands began in January 1748, fortifications were also built on the Russian side of the new border during the 18th century and some of the Swedish ones were added to. There were two aspects to Ehrensvärds design for the fortress, a series of independent fortifications on each of the linked islands and, at the very heart of the complex
27.
Helsinki
–
Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of 629,512, a population of 1,231,595. Helsinki is located some 80 kilometres north of Tallinn, Estonia,400 km east of Stockholm, Sweden, Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities. The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen. It is the worlds northernmost metro area of one million people. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries, Helsinki is Finlands major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europes major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies operating in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region, the nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia. In 2009, Helsinki was chosen to be the World Design Capital for 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the city was the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest 2007. In 2011, the Monocle magazine ranked Helsinki the most liveable city in the world in its Liveable Cities Index 2011, in the Economist Intelligence Units August 2015 Liveability survey, assessing the best and worst cities to live in globally, Helsinki placed among the worlds top ten cities. Helsinki is used to refer to the city in most languages, the Swedish name Helsingfors is the original official name of the city. The Finnish name probably comes from Helsinga and similar names used for the river that is known as the Vantaa River. Helsingfors comes from the name of the parish, Helsinge and the rapids, which flowed through the original village. As part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, one suggestion for the origin of the name Helsinge is that it originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came from Hälsingland in Sweden. Others have proposed that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing, other Scandinavian cities located at similar geographic locations were given similar names at the time, for example Helsingør and Helsingborg. The name Helsinki has been used in Finnish official documents and in Finnish language newspapers since 1819, the decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish, in Helsinki slang the city is called Stadi. Hesa, is not used by natives to the city, helsset is the Northern Sami name of Helsinki
28.
Archipelago fleet
–
The archipelago fleet, officially the fleet of the army, was a branch of the armed forces of Sweden which existed between 1756 and 1823. Its purpose was to protect the coasts of Sweden, which was surrounded by a barrier of archipelagoes. Throughout its existence, it was an independent arm of the army, separate from the navy. In a number of respects, it was a precursor of the Kustartilleriet and its vessels consisted of traditional Mediterranean-style galleys, prams, gunboats and specially-designed broadside-armed archipelago frigates. All types had the ability to operate under oars and a draft, enabling them to navigate the shallow. The Russian capture of Nöteborg and Nyen early in the Great Northern War allowed the Russians to access to the Baltic Sea, since Russian naval units were, at the time, based on coastal squadrons, the Swedes were prompted to start construction of their own small coastal squadrons. After the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, the Swedish high command realized the need of a fast, a squadron based in Stockholm was the first to be created. However, the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 demonstrated that the unit was too small to defeat the Russian forces, an official fleet of the army was planned, and the ships would be modeled after Mediterranean galleys and xebecs. These were fast and dangerous ships that were used by the Barbary pirates off the coast of North Africa, the Swedish galleys were redesigned, and made smaller. The archipelago fleet was not under the command of the high seas navy, in 1756, the archipelago fleet consisted of two units, a Stockholm squadron and a Finnish squadron. General Augustin Ehrensvärd was appointed commander of the fleet, the fleet had some initial successes. During the Seven Years War, the new galleys, supported by heavy gun prams, were victorious against Prussia at the battle of Frisches Haff and it was only with a deliberate boarding action that the battle was won. The ship designer Fredrik Henrik Chapman had joined the navy in 1757, in 1760, the archipelago fleet was granted independent status, and renamed the fleet of the army or the united archipelago fleets, by suggestion of Ehrensvärd. A Royal warrant in August 1761 stipulated that an all blue triple-tailed flag was to be used by the archipelago fleet, the Commander of the fleet also had the right to order the use of the ordinary war ensign instead of the blue ensign when it was deemed appropriate. The blue flag was used until 1813, in 1766, the ruling Caps faction of the Swedish parliament ordered that the archipelago fleet be merged with the navy. However, the ruling was reversed when the rival Hats faction regained control in 1770. The Finnish squadron was returned to the army, while the Stockholm squadron remained under the command of the navy, however, on November 14 of the same year, both units were once again merged into one unit, and were renamed the arméns flotta in 1777. The main headquarters of the fleet were located at Stockholm and Sveaborg
29.
Baltic Fleet
–
The Baltic Fleet is the Russian Federation Navys presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia, the Fleet gained the Twice Red Banner appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of the Order of the Red Banner. It is headquartered in Kaliningrad, with its base in Baltiysk and another base at Kronshtadt. Established 18 May 1703, under Czar Peter the Great, the Fleet is the oldest Russian Navy formation, the first commander was a recruited Dutch admiral, Cornelius Cruys, who in 1723 was succeeded by Count Fyodor Apraksin. In 1703, the base of the fleet was established in Kronshtadt. One of the fleets first actions was the taking of Shlisselburg, in 1701 Peter the Great established a special school, the School of Mathematics and Navigation, situated in the Sukharev Tower in Moscow. The Fleets base was moved to St. Petersburg and in 1752 it was renamed the Naval Cadet Corps, today it is the St. Petersburg Naval Institute – Peter the Great Naval Corps. The Baltic Fleet began to receive new vessels in 1703, the first vessel, the 24-gun three-masted frigate Shtandart, is considered to flagship of the fleet and an example of a newly popular design of warship, the frigate. By 1724, the fleet boasted 141 sail warships and hundreds of oar-propelled ships, during the Great Northern War, the Baltic Fleet assisted in taking Viborg, Tallinn, Riga, the West Estonian archipelago, Helsinki, and Turku. The first claimed victories of the new Imperial Russian Navy were the Gangut in 1714 and, arguably, from 1715, the English Royal Navy intervened in the Baltic Sea on behalf of the German principality of Hanover, and more or less in a tacit alliance with Russia. During the concluding stages of the war, the Russian fleet would land troops along the Swedish coast to devastate coastal settlements. However, after the death of King Charles XII, the Royal Navy would rather protect Swedish interests after a rapprochement between the Kingdom of Sweden and King George I, a Russian attempt to reach the Swedish capital of Stockholm was checked at the Battle of Stäket in 1719. During the Seven Years War, the Russian Baltic Sea fleet was active on the Pomeranian coast of northern Germany and Prussia, helping the infantry to take Memel in 1757, the Oresund was blockaded in order to prevent the British Navy from entering the Baltic sea. During the Russo-Swedish War the fleet, commanded by Samuel Greig, checked the Swedes at Hogland, the Russian defeat in this battle effectively ended the war. In the Crimean War, the fleet – although stymied in its operations by the absence of steamships – prevented the British and French Allies from occupying Hangö, Sveaborg, and Saint Petersburg. Despite being greatly outnumbered by the technologically superior Allies, it was the Russian Fleet that introduced into naval warfare such novelties as torpedo mines, other outstanding inventors who served in the Baltic Fleet were Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Stepan Makarov, Alexei Krylov, and Alexander Mozhaiski. As early as 1861, the first armor-clad ships were built for the Baltic Fleet, in 1863, during the American Civil War, most of the Fleets ocean-going ships, including the flagship Alexander Nevsky were sent to New York City. At the same time ten Uragan-class monitors based on an American-designed Passaic monitor were launched, here it was the policy of the Czar and his government to show support for the Northern Union Army in the United States during their Civil War, observing and exchanging naval tactics and cooperation
30.
Imperial Russian Navy
–
It was expanded in the second half of the 18th century and by the early part of the 19th century had reached its peak strength, only behind the British and French fleets in terms of size. The First World War was mixed for the navy, with the Germans generally gaining the upper hand in the Baltic but the Black Sea falling under Russian control. The Russian Revolution marked the end of the Imperial Navy with its sailors fighting on both sides and its surviving ships forming the core of the Soviet Navy upon its creation in 1918. Under Tsar Mikhail I, construction of the first three-masted ship actually built within Russia was completed in 1636 and it was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein according to European design and was christened Frederick. During its maiden voyage on the Caspian Sea, Frederick sailed into a storm and was lost at sea. A boyar named Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin founded a shipyard at Tsarevich-Dmitriev fortress, in 1661, however, Russia was once again forced to abide by the harsh terms of a treaty, this time the Peace of Cardis. Russia agreed to surrender to Sweden all captured territories, and all constructed at Tsarevich-Dmitriev were ordered destroyed. Boyar Ordin-Nashchyokin, not grieving long over defeat, turned his attention to the Volga River, with the Tsars approval, the boyar brought Dutch shipbuilding experts to the town of Dedinovo near the confluence of the Oka and Volga Rivers. Shipbuilding commenced in the winter of 1667, within two years, four vessels had been completed, one 22-gun galley, christened Орёл, and three smaller ships. The ill-fated Frederick had been a Holstein vessel, Орёл became Russias first own three-masted, European-designed sailing ship, the ship was captured in Astrakhan by rebellious Cossacks led by Stepan Razin. The Cossacks ransacked Орёл and abandoned it, half-submerged, in an estuary of the Volga, unquestionably, the most celebrated Russian explorer was Semyon Dezhnev, who, in 1648, sailed the entire length of present-day Russia by way of the Arctic Ocean. Rounding the Chukotsk Peninsula, Dezhnev passed through the Bering Sea, the creation of the regular Russian Navy took place during the reign of Peter the Great. During the Second Azov campaign of 1696 against Turkey, the Russians employed for the first time 2 warships,4 fireships,23 galleys and 1300 strugs, built on the Voronezh River. After the occupation of the Azov fortress, the Boyar Duma looked into Peters report of military campaign. This date is considered the birthday of the regular Russian Navy. During the Great Northern War of 1700-1721, the Russians built the Baltic Fleet, the construction of the oared fleet took place in 1702-1704 at several shipyards. From 1703-1723, the base of the Baltic Fleet was located in Saint Petersburg. The bases were created in Reval and in Vyborg after it was ceded from Sweden after the war of 1741-43
31.
Crimean War
–
The Crimean War was a military conflict fought from October 1853 to March 1856 in which the Russian Empire lost to an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. The immediate cause involved the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land, the French promoted the rights of Roman Catholics, while Russia promoted those of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The longer-term causes involved the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the unwillingness of Britain and France to allow Russia to gain territory and power at Ottoman expense. While the churches eventually worked out their differences and came to an agreement, Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas issued an ultimatum that the Orthodox subjects of the Empire be placed under his protection. Britain attempted to mediate and arranged a compromise that Nicholas agreed to, when the Ottomans demanded changes, Nicholas refused and prepared for war. Having obtained promises of support from France and Britain, the Ottomans declared war on Russia in October 1853. The war started in the Balkans, when Russian troops occupied the Danubian Principalities, until then under Ottoman suzerainty and now part of modern Romania, led by Omar Pasha, the Ottomans fought a strong defensive campaign and stopped the advance at Silistra. A separate action on the town of Kars in eastern Anatolia led to a siege. Fearing an Ottoman collapse, France and Britain rushed forces to Gallipoli and they then moved north to Varna in June, arriving just in time for the Russians to abandon Silistra. Aside from a skirmish at Köstence, there was little for the allies to do. Karl Marx quipped that there they are, the French doing nothing, after extended preparations, the forces landed on the peninsula in September 1854 and fought their way to a point south of Sevastopol after a series of successful battles. The Russians counterattacked on 25 October in what became the Battle of Balaclava and were repulsed, a second counterattack, ordered personally by Nicholas, was defeated by Omar Pasha. The front settled into a siege and led to conditions for troops on both sides. Smaller actions were carried out in the Baltic, the Caucasus, Sevastopol fell after eleven months, and neutral countries began to join the Allied cause. Isolated and facing a bleak prospect of invasion from the west if the war continued and this was welcomed by France and Britain, as their subjects were beginning to turn against their governments as the war dragged on. The war was ended by the Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 March 1856, Russia was forbidden from hosting warships in the Black Sea. The Ottoman vassal states of Wallachia and Moldavia became largely independent, Christians there were granted a degree of official equality, and the Orthodox Church regained control of the Christian churches in dispute. The Crimean War was one of the first conflicts to use technologies such as explosive naval shells, railways
32.
Russian frigate Rurik (1851)
–
Rurik was a steam-powered frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was ordered by the Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland for the Finnish naval equipage and she was named in honour of Rurik, the semi-legendary founder of ancient Russia. Rurik was designed by Johan Eberhard von Schantz and she was built in Turku at Gamla Warfsbolaget i Åbo and launched in October 1851. At the time of her construction she was the largest ship built in Finland. The Scottish engineer William Crichton was recruited to supervise construction of the steam engine, later he took over the engine builder Cowie & Ericsson and renamed it W, m Crichton & C, o. Although financed by Finns, the ship ended up serving as an vessel to the Russian Imperial Yacht. She survived the Crimean War, and later served in the Russian Baltic Fleet, Rurik - armoured cruiser sunk at the Battle of Ulsan Rurik - Russian armoured cruiser built by Vickers
33.
Pacific Fleet (Russia)
–
The Pacific Fleet is the part of the Russian Navy that is stationed in the Pacific Ocean, which formerly secured the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union. The fleet headquarters is located in Vladivostok and a number of bases are located in the Vladivostok area. Another important fleet base in the Russian Far East area is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Avacha Bay on the Kamchatka Peninsula, in 1731, the Imperial Russian Navy created the Okhotsk Military Flotilla under its first commander, Grigoriy Skornyakov-Pisarev, to patrol and transport government goods to and from Kamchatka. In 1799,3 frigates and 3 smaller ships were sent to Okhotsk under the command of Rear-Admiral I, fomin to form a functioning military flotilla. In 1849, Petropavlovsk-na-Kamchatke became the Flotillas principal base, which a year later would be transferred to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, in 1854, the men of the Flotilla distinguished themselves in the defense of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy during the Crimean War. In 1856, the Okhotsk Military Flotilla changed its name to the Siberian Military Flotilla, in 1860, the provisions of the Convention of Peking ceded parts of Outer Manchuria in northeastern China, including the modern day Primorsky Krai to the Russian Empire. A large squadron under Rear Admiral A. A. Popov was sent from the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific Ocean, during the American Civil War ships of the squadron visited San Francisco while the Baltic Fleet visited New York City. Parts of the squadron, including the Finnish corvette Kalevala, returned to the Baltic in 1865, at the turn of the 19th century, the Flotilla was still small in numbers. Other ships of the Siberian Military Flotilla were stationed in Vladivostok, during the Russo-Japanese War, most of the Russian Navy in the Pacific was destroyed. The Russian Baltic Fleet under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, renamed the Second Pacific Squadron, was defeated at the Battle of Tsushima, during the Russian Civil War, almost all of the ships of the Pacific Fleet were seized by the White army and the Japanese. In 1926, these were disbanded, the Vladivostok unit was transferred to the command of the troops in the Far East. Owing to Japanese aggression in Manchuria in 1931, the Central Committee, in January 1935, they were renamed the Pacific Fleet, under commander M. Viktorov. The creation of the fleet entailed great difficulties, the first units were formed with small ships delivered by railroad. In 1932, the torpedo boat squadron and eight submarines were put into service, in 1934, the Pacific Fleet received 26 small submarines. The creation of the aviation and coastal artillery was underway. In 1937, they opened the Pacific Military School, at the same time, the Soviets transferred 1 destroyer leader,2 destroyers, and 5 submarines from the Pacific Fleet to the Northern Fleet. More than 140,000 sailors from the Pacific Fleet were incorporated in the rifle brigades, thousands of sailors and officers were awarded orders and medals for outstanding military service, more than fifty men received the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Eighteen ships and fleet units received the title of the Soviet Guards, on 5 May 1965, the Pacific Fleet itself was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner
34.
Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet
–
On 17 February 1918 Vladimir Lenin ordered the ships of the Baltic Fleet to leave their bases at Tallinn and sail to Helsinki. On 19 February, due to a new German offensive, the Baltic Fleet ordered the transfer of ships located in Helsinki to Kronstadt. On the same day ships started leaving Tallinn, a general evacuation began on 22 February, with a group of four ships, led by the icebreaker Yermak, departing for Helsinki. They were followed on 24 February by a convoy of transport ships, by the time German troops entered Reval on 25 February, most of the Russian ships had already left, escorted by the icebreakers Yermak, Tarmo and Volynets. On 12-13 April, German forces captured Helsinki, Russian sailors scuttled four submarines in Hanko harbour on 3 April, just before the 10, 000-strong German Baltic Sea Division landed in support of the White Guard. The 335 t submarines—AG11, AG12, AG15, the German Army later returned all of the ships captured in Helsinki under the terms of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. All of the ships had reached Kronstadt or Petrograd by 22 March. The transferred ships went on to play an important role in the defence of Petrograd, internationale Entwicklung und Kriegseinsätze von Zerstörern und Torpedobooten 1914 bis 1939. Ледовый поход Балтийского флота в1918
35.
Finnish gunboat Klas Horn
–
Klas Horn was the flagship and an escort ship for the Russian Czars yacht. Posadnik was built in Prussia in 1892 for the Montenegrin king Nicholas I, the ship was purchased by the Russian Czar after Nicholas money ran out. After the Russian revolution, the ship was taken over by the Finnish Navy and renamed Klas Horn and she initially served as a minelayer, but was rebuilt into a gunboat in the 1920s. Klas Horn ended her Finnish navy service in the 1930s and served as a mothership for sea surveying, the Klas Horn was a strange mix of a civilian and warship. The front end looked like a warship, but since she also had been the ship for the czar, her superstructures were low. The Finns mounted a large 102 mm gun on her, during sea travel, the gun had to be tied so it would not make the ship unstable. The old ships seagoing qualities were also bad, Klas Horn returned to the Finnish Navy in 1941 and served until 1957. Thereafter she was rebuilt into a hotel and restaurant. She suffered a fire in 1963 and was scrapped the following year
36.
Finnish gunboat Matti Kurki
–
Matti Kurki was an escort ship for the Russian Imperial Yacht. Voivoda was built in Prussia in 1892 for the Montenegrin king Nicholas I, the ship was purchased by the Russian Czar after Nicholas money ran out. After the Russian revolution, the ship was taken over by the Finnish Navy and renamed Matti Kurki and she initially served as a minelayer, but was rebuilt into a gunboat in the 1920s. Matti Kurki was sunk as a practice target in the 1930s. She seems to have been lifted as some claim that she served as a floating anti-aircraft battery at Katajanokka, Helsinki, during the Winter War
37.
Finnish gunboat Karjala
–
Karjala was a Finnish gunboat, built in 1918 by Crichton AB in Turku. She served in the Finnish Navy during World War II, Karjala was named after the Finnic cultural region of Karelia. Like her sistership Turunmaa she served as training vessel during peacetime and was nicknamed as Kurjala by cadets. From summer of 1919 Karjala amongst other Finnish naval vessels was tasked with security, during prohibition in Finland in 1925 some illegal alcohol had been smuggled onboard Karjala by cadets. Some of the alcohol was spilled to a lantern which ignited the liquid resulting in an explosion which injured several cadets. Event became known as the second blast of Karelia after the Viborg blast of 1495, on 4 September 1939 Karjala as part of the Coastal Fleet was moved to the Sea of Åland. However, as Karjala was replaced by Hämeenmaa the ship sailed to Kotka already on 18 September, for the rest of the autumn Karjala patrolled the waters from Kotka to Koivisto together with Turunmaa. On 4 December 1939 had Finnish coastal facilities at Koivisto saw lights moving in the sea and this appeared to be minesweeping effort for two days later group of Soviet destroyers sailed in to shell Finnish coastal facilities. On 7 December 1939 Karjala was sent to tow Finnish submarine Saukko along with three torpedo boats to Koivisto both to lay mines and to intercept the Soviet ships. Detachment however did not succeed in either of its goals, on 4 January 1940 Karjala arrived to Åland to join with the Coastal Fleet. She participated in anti-submarine patrols which continued until the sea froze on 30 January, while returning with Uusimaa from escorting a troop ship on 3 September Karjala was bombed by German Heinkel He 111 bomber near Koivisto. Though the aircraft scored no hits the shocks from several near-misses forced Karjala to undergo repairs at a shipyard. On 29 October Karjala which had just returned from repairs joined with Turunmaa in shelling the island of Sommers where Finnish landing attempt had previously turned back. Most of the war Karjala like other Finnish gunboats was tasked with guarding of the minebarriers north-east of Hogland, gardiner, Robert, ed. Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1906-1921. London, England, Conway Maritime Press Ltd
38.
S-class torpedo boat
–
The Finnish S class torpedo boats was a series of six ex-Russian torpedo boats, that had been taken over by the Finns after the Russian revolution and the Finnish Civil War. S1-S5 belonged to the Russian Sokol class torpedo boat destroyers, while S6 was of the smaller Modified Ussuri class torpedo boats. S1 ex-Ryaniy and ex-Sova, shipyard number, 112) was a Russian torpedo boat destroyer and she was sunk as a training target in 1930. S2 ex-Prozorlivij and ex-Gagara in Russian service, taken over by the Finns after the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Lost in a storm on 4 October 1925, with the loss of all hands, s3 ex-Poslushniy and ex-Korshun in Russian service, shipyard number, 101) was taken over by the Finns after the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The ship was returned to Soviet Russia in 1922 in accordance to the Tartu peace treaty of 1920, s4 ex-Rezviy and ex-Voron in Russian service, shipyard number, 109) was taken over by the Finns after the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The ship was returned to Soviet Russia in 1922 in accordance to the Tartu peace treaty of 1920, s5 ex-Podvishniy and ex-Albatros was taken over by the Finns after the Finnish Civil War in 1918. She was used as a target during the Continuation War and was anchored at Pellinge. She was scuttled in shallow water and a number of anti-aircraft guns were scattered on the nearby islands. In this manner the Finns hoped to lure the Soviet Air Forces to attack the Väinämöinen, no aircraft were however sent there. S6 ex-Torpedo boat №212 was a Russian seagoing torpedo boat and she was taken over by the Finns after the Finnish Civil War in 1918 and returned to Soviet Russia in 1922 in accordance to the Tartu peace treaty of 1920. The S6 was not of the class as the other S-boats. Afonin, N. N. Balakin, S. A. Миноносцы типа Сокол
39.
Finnish minelayer Louhi
–
Louhi was a Finnish Navy minelayer. The ship was constructed for the Imperial Russian Navy but was taken over by the Finns during the Russian Civil War. She had originally been named Voin, but was renamed as M1 in Finnish service, in 1936 she was given the more personal name Louhi, following the procedure of all other major ships in the Finnish navy. The ship was designed as a minelayer but was not particularly good at it due to its speed, bad seakeeping qualities. During peacetime, Louhi or M1 was used as depot ship with its storage rooms refitted as crew quarters, Louhi sunk on 12 January 1945, while returning from a mine laying operation. An explosion at the stern of the ship at 12,50 sank the ship in two minutes, with 11 casualties, the minelayer Voin was built during World War I in Kolomna near Moscow, and it was deployed at the Baltic Sea. It was involved in a few mine laying operations, but when the Russians left Finland and it was at the time the biggest ship in the Finnish Navy fleet. From summer of 1919, M1 amongst other Finnish naval vessels was tasked with security, the aim was to provide protection to the British vessels. The British were in the all the way until the Treaty of Tartu in 1920. During the 1920s and 1930s, M-1, from 1936 on Louhi, functioned as a training vessel. On 12 September 1939, Louhi was moved to the Sea of Åland, in 1939, at the start of the Winter War, the ability of the Finnish Navy to lay mines was poor. Louhi was at the time the most efficient Finnish mine layer, the rest of the fleet that could be used in this function consisted of five mine boats of the T class, other surface vessels and submarines, and the civilian vessels commissioned by the Finnish Navy. Only Louhi was able to deploy large mine fields, the Finnish Navy laid a total of ca.1900 sea mines during the Winter War, of which Louhi laid about a third. It was involved most notably in laying mines in the Gulf of Bothnia, Louhi laid mines in seaways at Kökar and Utö on the first night of the war. Louhi laid further mines on 3 December in the seaway near Nyhamn, uusimaa laid the missing part of the mines on 4 December, and the minefield was complemented by mines from Louhi on 5 December. Louhi participated in the laying of the minebarrier to the narrows near Märket by laying mines there on 9 and 14 December 1939, on 3 January 1940, the Soviet submarine S-2 was sunk by the mines laid in the strait of Märket. On the whole, the mine laying capacity of the Finnish Navy was poor and it is known for certainty that at least two Soviet patrol boats, one submarine and one German cargo ship were sunk by Finnish sea mines. At least one Soviet vessel is known to have sunk by mines laid by Louhi
40.
Finnish gunboat Uusimaa
–
Uusimaa was a gunboat that served in the Finnish Navy during World War II. Finally the Germans handed her over to the Finns in 1920, after World War II, she served as a trawler in the Baltic Sea. Uusimaa escorted minelayer Louhi on 1 December 1939 when she laid mines to the seaways near Kökar, when following minelaying attempt on 3 December by Louhi failed and the minelayer was damaged Uusimaa laid part of the mines on 4 December. Hämeenmaa and Uusimaa were detached from the Coastal Fleet on 6 January 1940 to provide escorts for shipping in the Gulf of Bothnia after several submarine sightings had been made north of Åland. Chilean minelayer Colo Colo, sister ship Elicura, Data of sister ship in Navypedia Auvinen, Visa
Finland
_NOCO2014_01.JPG)
