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Finland Navy
The main peacetime mission of the navy (Merivoimat),
together
with the coast guard, was to conduct surveillance of
territorial
waters and fishing zones and to identify violators. During
a
crisis situation or hostilities, the navy would be called
upon to
prevent unauthorized use of Finland's territorial waters,
to
protect vital sea routes and maritime traffic, and to
close off
its most important ports. Treaty obligations and strategic
concerns made securing the demilitarized Aland Islands a
key
wartime mission of the navy. This it would do with the
help of
the army, coast artillery, and the coast guard. If faced
by an
amphibious attack, the navy's objective would be to wear
down the
aggressor and to restrict his operations.
Naval tasks would be carried out in an integrated
manner with
the army coast artillery and the air force. The shallow
waters of
the coastline, broken by an extensive archipelago, would
facilitate the laying of defensive mines, which would
figure
importantly in defense against seaborne invasion. Although
the
fleet units were limited in size and in weaponry, their
maneuverability and missile-based firepower could inflict
damage
on a hostile force operating in Finnish waters and in
adjacent
sea areas. The precise form in which a naval threat might
develop
was unclear, because a Soviet invasion by sea was unlikely
and
Western ships would be directly exposed to Soviet naval
strength
in the Baltic, in the event of general conflict. By
providing for
control over its own coastal waters, however, Finland
hoped to
convince the Soviets that the Gulf of Finland would be
secure and
that the approaches to Leningrad would not be left
unguarded.
Under the 1947 Treaty of Paris, naval manpower strength
was
limited to 4,500. In addition to the overall limit of
10,000
tons, the navy was not permitted to operate submarines or
torpedo
boats. As of 1988, active naval personnel numbered only
2,700, of
whom 1,300 were conscripts. The largest vessels were two
small
corvettes of 660 tons, each armed with 120mm guns and
antisubmarine rocket launchers. Eight missile boats were
armed
with Swedish and Soviet ship-to-ship missile systems. Four
more
missile boats were due to be delivered in the early 1990s.
These
boats were supported by inshore patrol craft, together
with
minelaying and minesweeping vessels (see
table 23,
Appendix A).
In peacetime the main naval units were organized into
gunboat, missile boat, and mine warfare flotillas. Under
wartime
conditions, they would be organized into task forces with
a mix
of vessels as required for specific operations. The
wartime task
forces would be directed by the navy commander in chief
and would
be part of the general forces. Naval assets operating with
the
coast artillery would be directed by the commander of the
military area in which they were located and would form
part of
the local forces. All three flotillas were based at the
navy's
operational headquarters at Pansio, near Turku in the
southwest,
where an archipelago with few navigable channels, guarded
by
coastal fortifications, would present great obstacles to
an
intruding naval force. The gunboat flotilla consisted of
one
corvette as a command ship and the ten Tuima class missile
boats
and Nuoli class fast attack craft. The missile squadron
consisted
of the other corvette and the four Helsinki class missile
boats.
The mine warfare squadron was made up of the minelayers
and
minesweepers. A patrol flotilla, based at Helsinki,
operated the
Ruissalo and Rihtniemi class attack craft.
Owing to a serious manpower shortage, only about half
of the
fleet was manned and operational under peacetime
conditions. The
readiness of the remaining ships was reportedly maintained
at an
adequate level by keeping them heated, by frequently
testing
their systems, and by rotating them into active service.
During a period of crisis or conflict, the Coast Guard,
which
was part of the RVL, would be integrated into the navy.
Several
of its larger patrol craft of the Tursas and Kiisla class
were
fitted with antisubmarine warfare weapons. A large number
of
patrol boats were equipped with submarine tracking gear.
Data as of December 1988
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