Continuation War Finnish Navy

before continuation war 5 more torpedo boats ordered italy. base soviets had acquired after winter war @ hanko peninsula divided areas finnish navy operate in two. included coastal artillery positions @ russarö , osmussaar, guarded minefields blocking entrance eastern gulf of finland. large mine fields laid down in cooperation german kriegsmarine when war began. coastal defence ships bombarded soviet base @ hanko until soviets evacuated hanko in december 1941.

between 1941 , 1945 69,779 mines , mine sweeping obstacles laid in gulf of finland finnish, soviet , german naval forces. soviet navy laid 16,179 mines , 2,441 mine sweeping obstacles, finnish navy 6,382 mines, , german navy s vessels, submarines , aircraft laid 45,000 mines, of 3,000 magnetic mines. last mine sweeping season held in 1957, mine danger continued 10 more years, , there still hundreds of world war ii-era mines in baltic sea. greatest loss of finnish navy occurred on september 13, 1941 when ilmarinen ran mine , sank. 271 sailors lost lives , 132 rescued. of survivors later served in lake onega flotilla, using old captured ships, including steam engined paddlewheeler.

in 1942 main focus of war @ sea on anti-submarine warfare. finnish , german naval forces tried prevent soviet submarines gaining access baltic sea. however, mine barrier had proven insufficient stop soviet submarines activities. soviet subs sank 18 ships, 7 of finnish. 12 soviet submarines sunk - 3 finnish submarines. next step in submarine warfare block gulf of finland anti-submarine nets between naissaar , porkkala. done after ice cover melted on sea. barrier accompanying minefields contained soviet naval vessels eastern part of gulf of finland until autumn of 1944, when soviets able use finnish coastal seaways circumvent barrier.

in spring 1942 finnish forces captured island of gogland. in july 1942 soviets made attempt occupy small island of sommers in gulf of finland. soviets lost several smaller vessels (patrol , torpedo boats) 128 men. one-hundred , 2 soviet soldiers taken prisoner. during 1943 navy received 14 new torpedo boats used replace old pre-war ones.

in 1944 soviets launched major offensive against finland, during navy fought in support of finnish land forces gulf of vyborg. in end ships forced pull out.

finnish vetehinen-class submarines