Naval warfare in the Winter War
Encyclopedia
The Naval warfare in the Winter War was the naval part of the Winter War
between Finland
and the Soviet Union
from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940. Overall, the level of naval activity was low. However, Finland had coastal artillery
batteries which took part of battles along its coast.
Naval activity during the Winter War was low. The Baltic Sea
began to freeze over by the end of December, which made the movement of warship
s very difficult; by mid-winter, only ice-breakers and submarine
s could still move. The other reason for low naval activity was the nature of Soviet Navy
forces in the area. The Baltic Fleet
was a provincial coastal defence force which did not have the training, logistical structure, or landing craft
to undertake large-scale operations. Furthermore, the Soviet Navy was technologically inferior to the British Royal Navy
and the German Kriegsmarine
. Still, the Baltic Fleet was strong; it had two battleship
s, one heavy cruiser
, almost 20 destroyer
s, 50 motor torpedo boat
s, 52 submarines and other vessels. The Soviets used naval bases in Paldiski
, Tallinn
and Liepāja
in Estonia
and Latvia
for their attacks.
The Finnish Navy
was a coast defense force with two coastal defence ship
s, five submarines, four gunboat
s, seven motor torpedo boats, one minelayer
and six minesweeper
s. The two coastal defence ships, and , were moved to the harbour in Turku
where they were used to stiffen the air-defences. Their anti-aircraft guns knocked down one or two planes over the city, and ships remained there for the rest of the war. Beside the costal defense, the Finnish Navy also protected Åland islands and merchant vessel
s in the Baltic sea — only a minor part of the fleet could engage in offensive military action.
Furthemore, the Soviet aircraft bombed Finnish vessels, harbours and dropped mine
s to seaway
s. Still, the Finnish casualties were relatively low as they lost 26 merchant vessels, where only four were lost inside the Finnish territorial waters
.
The first naval battle took place near the island of Russarö
, five kilometers south of Hanko. On 1 December 1939, there were fair weather conditions and visibility was excellent. The Finns spotted the Soviet cruiser Kirov
and two destroyers. After the convoy was at a range of 24 km (13 nmi; 14.9 mi), the Finns opened fire with 234 mm coastal guns. After five short minutes firing by four coastal guns, the cruiser was damaged by near misses and retreated. The destroyers remained undamaged and Kirov was repaired in the naval base, but it lost 17 men and about 30 wounded. The Soviets knew the locations of the Finnish coastal batteries, but it became surprise that a fire range was much longer than expected. The coastal artillery was old-fashioned, but the Finns managed to modernize and improve it.
Soviet destroyers (Gnevny
and Grozyashtchi
) attacked Finnish lighthouse and fort at Utö
on 14 December. Finnish coastal artillery battery opened fire and after short fight Soviet destroyers withdrew with the help of smoke screen. Poor visibility and seen thick smoke initially convinced the Finns that one of the destroyers would have been sunk by the coastal artillery fire.
Finnish coastal forts in near the Karelian Isthmus saw most action. In addition to the support of the land troops, Soviet naval forces made repeated attacks against the forts during the December 1939. Forts were repeatedly shelled by Soviet battleships (Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revoluciya) as well as by Soviet destroyers.
The coastal artillery had its greatest effect upon the land war. Batteries near the front were in well-protected fixed positions, with a higher rate of fire and greater accuracy than mobile artillery. Land batteries near the coast helped steady the defence of the Karelian Isthmus in conjunction with army artillery. In March, as the Soviets had broken through the front, all reserves were thrown into the fighting near Viborg. The Soviets tried to cross the ice of the Gulf of Viipuri and come up behind the city, but the Finnish coastal artillery fired their heaviest guns, breaking the ice under the Soviets and preventing a clean breakthrough.
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
between Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940. Overall, the level of naval activity was low. However, Finland had coastal artillery
Coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
batteries which took part of battles along its coast.
Navies in frost
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
began to freeze over by the end of December, which made the movement of warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s very difficult; by mid-winter, only ice-breakers and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s could still move. The other reason for low naval activity was the nature of Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
forces in the area. The Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
was a provincial coastal defence force which did not have the training, logistical structure, or landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
to undertake large-scale operations. Furthermore, the Soviet Navy was technologically inferior to the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and the German Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
. Still, the Baltic Fleet was strong; it had two battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s, one heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
, almost 20 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, 50 motor torpedo boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s, 52 submarines and other vessels. The Soviets used naval bases in Paldiski
Paldiski
Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri peninsula of north-western Estonia. Originally a Swedish settlement known as Rågervik, it became a Russian naval base in the 18th century. The Russians renamed it Балтийский Порт Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the...
, Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
and Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
in Estonia
Estonia in World War II
The ground for the fate of Estonia in World War II was laid by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, particularly its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939....
and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
for their attacks.
The Finnish Navy
Finnish Navy
The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...
was a coast defense force with two coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...
s, five submarines, four gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s, seven motor torpedo boats, one minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
and six minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s. The two coastal defence ships, and , were moved to the harbour in Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
where they were used to stiffen the air-defences. Their anti-aircraft guns knocked down one or two planes over the city, and ships remained there for the rest of the war. Beside the costal defense, the Finnish Navy also protected Åland islands and merchant vessel
Merchant vessel
A merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...
s in the Baltic sea — only a minor part of the fleet could engage in offensive military action.
Furthemore, the Soviet aircraft bombed Finnish vessels, harbours and dropped mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s to seaway
Seaway
Seaway is a Canadian drama series that aired on CBC from 1965 to 1966. The series was a Seaway Films production in collaboration with the UK's ATV, with production money provided by the CBC...
s. Still, the Finnish casualties were relatively low as they lost 26 merchant vessels, where only four were lost inside the Finnish territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
.
Coastal artillery
In addition to its navy, Finland had its coastal artillery batteries defending important harbours and naval bases along its coast. Most batteries were leftovers from the Russian period, the 152 mm (6 in) gun being the most numerous, but Finland had modernized its old guns and installed a number of new batteries, the largest a 305 mm (12 in) gun battery originally intended to block the Gulf of Finland to Soviet ships with the help of batteries on the Estonian side.The first naval battle took place near the island of Russarö
Russarö
Russarö is an island south of Hanko. The island is closed to the public as it is military area of the Finnish Defence Forces. The island has a five-story stone lighthouse built in 1863 and a Finnish Meteorological Institute weather station.- External links :...
, five kilometers south of Hanko. On 1 December 1939, there were fair weather conditions and visibility was excellent. The Finns spotted the Soviet cruiser Kirov
Kirov class cruiser
The Kirov-class cruisers were six vessels built between 1935 and 1944 for the Soviet Navy: Kirov, Voroshilov, Maxim Gorky, Molotov, Kalinin, and Kaganovich. After the first two ships, armor protection was increased and subsequent ships are sometimes called the Maxim Gorky class...
and two destroyers. After the convoy was at a range of 24 km (13 nmi; 14.9 mi), the Finns opened fire with 234 mm coastal guns. After five short minutes firing by four coastal guns, the cruiser was damaged by near misses and retreated. The destroyers remained undamaged and Kirov was repaired in the naval base, but it lost 17 men and about 30 wounded. The Soviets knew the locations of the Finnish coastal batteries, but it became surprise that a fire range was much longer than expected. The coastal artillery was old-fashioned, but the Finns managed to modernize and improve it.
Soviet destroyers (Gnevny
Gnevny class destroyer
The Gnevny class were a group of destroyers built for the Soviet Navy in the late 1930s - early 1940s. They are sometimes known as the Gremyashchiy class destroyer and the Official Soviet Designation was Project 7...
and Grozyashtchi
Gnevny class destroyer
The Gnevny class were a group of destroyers built for the Soviet Navy in the late 1930s - early 1940s. They are sometimes known as the Gremyashchiy class destroyer and the Official Soviet Designation was Project 7...
) attacked Finnish lighthouse and fort at Utö
Utö, Finland
Utö is a small island in the Archipelago Sea in the Baltic sea and belongs to Väståboland municipality. It is the southernmost year-round inhabited island in Finland. On the island there's a lighthouse, pilot station, a small guest harbour, a shop and a post office. Due to the remoteness of the...
on 14 December. Finnish coastal artillery battery opened fire and after short fight Soviet destroyers withdrew with the help of smoke screen. Poor visibility and seen thick smoke initially convinced the Finns that one of the destroyers would have been sunk by the coastal artillery fire.
Finnish coastal forts in near the Karelian Isthmus saw most action. In addition to the support of the land troops, Soviet naval forces made repeated attacks against the forts during the December 1939. Forts were repeatedly shelled by Soviet battleships (Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revoluciya) as well as by Soviet destroyers.
The coastal artillery had its greatest effect upon the land war. Batteries near the front were in well-protected fixed positions, with a higher rate of fire and greater accuracy than mobile artillery. Land batteries near the coast helped steady the defence of the Karelian Isthmus in conjunction with army artillery. In March, as the Soviets had broken through the front, all reserves were thrown into the fighting near Viborg. The Soviets tried to cross the ice of the Gulf of Viipuri and come up behind the city, but the Finnish coastal artillery fired their heaviest guns, breaking the ice under the Soviets and preventing a clean breakthrough.