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37-553: The Treaty of Tartu was signed by the Russians and the Finns in 1920. It included terms which limited the size of naval vessels on Ladoga to 100 tons, and the calibre of their armament to a maximum of 47 mm. When the Finns embarked on their naval rebuilding program in the early 1930s, some vessels were purposely designed to fit this 100 t limitation, including a small submarine . The Finns, however, found more use for their few vessels in

74-512: A landing operation on Markatsiman (ru: Ostrov Markatsiman-Sari) island which was lightly defended and fell quickly. The next notable action was the Finnish landing operation on Rahmansaari island on 7-10 September. While the initial landing operation was successful the strong Soviet naval response and Soviet reinforcements which managed to reach the island prolonged the operation. Finnish artillery managed to prevent further Soviet naval support to

111-401: A number of transport vessels to protect its sea front and islands. The largest ship among this group was the icebreaker Aallokas , whose commander Captain-Lieutenant Asikainen also commanded the gunboats. There were no major naval battles in the open waters of Lake Ladoga during 1939 - 1940, so the fleet units were tasked with fire support against the attacking Red Army, and spreading mines along

148-589: A pair of Ford V-8 truck engines in each aft pontoon end, connected to standard water screws. Further power came from three 600 hp surplus aircraft engines mounted on an elevated scaffolding spanning the rear deck. The aircraft engines, however, were later dispensed with as they consumed considerable fuel and required excessive maintenance. Siebel ferries displaced approximately 140–170 tons, depending on type, and could travel up to 570 km (350 mi) at 8 knots (9.2 mph; 15 km/h). With their low freeboard and wide flat deck, they were easily configured for

185-527: A variety of purposes. In all, Oberstleutnant Siebel had a total of 30 vessels with 2400 personnel under his command. The EFO suffered losses during a raid to destroy Soviet radio station, lighthouse and coastal artillery emplacement on the strategically important island of Sukho ( Suhosaari in Finnish) 37 km from the Southern coast of Ladoga, at the main supply route to Leningrad. The idea of

222-668: The Baltic Sea , and therefore had only a few small patrol boats on the lake. As the clouds of war began to draw closer the Finns had to improvise. The Winter War began on 30 November 1939 when the Soviet Union attacked Finland , nullifying the Treaty of Tartu. The Finns hastily gathered a small flotilla, consisting of the icebreaker Aallokas , the improvised gunboats Aunus , Vulcan and Tarmo , as well as Hercules , Kiviniemi , Yrjö , Voima , S I, N K af Klecker and

259-717: The Continuation War reached lake Ladoga in 1941, they found the Soviets had evacuated nearly every serviceable vessel to the southern shore of the lake. On 22 September 1941 the Finns captured a Soviet transport vessel (formerly Latvian coastal transport Ilga ) which was pressed into service as the transport vessel Aunus . Other vessels available were small armed fishing boats, like 15 ton Kukkapää . Initial Finnish naval assets consisted of small motor boats which had been small enough to be transported from Finland overland. These were used already on 16-17 August 1941 to mount

296-593: The Estonian Students' Society . Ratifications of the treaty were exchanged in Moscow on 31 December 1920. The treaty was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 5 March 1921. This turbulent time in Finnish and Russian politics influenced the events that led to the Treaty of Tartu. Prior to the Treaty of Tartu, Finnish political parties shifted their sovereign policies several times. In early 1917,

333-631: The Russian Civil War , even though their recent support for Red revolutionaries in Finland made the government very wary of the Bolsheviks. As other countries were now making similar treaties with Russia, such as Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian) , the voices questioning the legality and honor of dealing with the violently established Bolshevik government were also diminishing. Especially, the large, moderately socialist Social Democrat party

370-540: The Autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland . Some of those districts were annexed from Russia by Finnish military expeditions in 1918 shortly after Russian soviet government granted independence to Finland. In hindsight, the treaty was rather good to Finland, especially compared to the treaties made at the end of Second World War . The treaty confirmed that the Finnish-Soviet border would follow

407-596: The Finnish Red Army clashed against the Finnish White forces, which were loyal to the legal (non-socialist) government. The government's forces, assisted by a division of regular German forces and Swedish volunteers, pushed back the Red troops that had initially controlled the industrial southern provinces and within some months, won the war. The border question between Russia and Finland remained unsettled after

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444-626: The Finnish motor torpedo boat Sisu to the lake. They were also joined in the summer of 1942 by a German unit, the Einsatzstab Fähre Ost (EFO), of armed Siebel ferries . Operations of the Naval Detachment K or EFO had very limited success. When Germany decided to withdraw its naval assets from Ladoga in late 1942, the Finns bought two of the Siebel ferries, T-2 and T-17 . Later, when the Soviets' 1944 offensive against

481-843: The Finnish ports in Lake Ladoga (Laatokka in Finnish) to the Gulf of Finland via the River Neva . Finland guaranteed land transit from the Soviet Union to Norway via the Petsamo area. Also, Finland agreed to disarm the coastal fortress in Ino , opposite the Soviet city Kronstadt located on the island of Kotlin . The Finnish outer islands in the Gulf of Finland were demilitarized. The treaty

518-403: The Finns began, Germany transferred four MAL-type ferries - M-31 , M-32 , M-33 and M-34 - originally intended for use on Lake Peipus , to the Finns on Ladoga. The Finnish Navy also transferred several small run-down naval vessels to the lake, the motor torpedo boats Syöksy , and Vinha , which were no longer in adequate condition to carry torpedoes. The lake remained mostly quiet until

555-752: The Old Finns, in disagreement with the Bolshevik policies became pro-independence. During the November 1917 election the coalition representing the pro-independence parties won the cabinet election and immediately moved to make Finland an independent nation with the Finnish Declaration of Independence . As the Bolshevik ideology formally subscribed to each people's right for self-determination and condemned any form of imperialism , Lenin saw

592-465: The Soviet offensive of 1944 started. While Finnish naval forces on the lake remained passive during the Soviet landings at Tuloksa on 23 June they did play a key role in facilitating the Finnish evacuations from the eastern shore of lake Ladoga. After the evacuations the light naval assets successfully protected the flank of the land front and repulsed Soviet attempts to penetrate to the northern part of lake Ladoga until mid July when Soviet naval activity on

629-455: The civil war, the Finnish government sought to seek additional security by forming ties with the Germans. This alliance was short lived with the defeat of the central powers during World War I . With Imperial Germany ’s demise, the Finnish government realized that it would have to accept the necessity of forming relations with the nascent Bolshevik Russian government, due to the developments of

666-510: The coastal areas. By January 1940 the ice became so thick that only Aallokas could be used, and she was damaged in an attack by Soviet aircraft on February 2. After the peace on March 13 the Finnish vessels had to be left at Ladoga, which had become a Soviet lake. Some of the vessels were later integrated into the Soviet Ladoga flotilla . Listing (not necessarily exhaustive) of wartime vessels and their armament When Finnish forces in

703-516: The conservative party was split into two factions: The Old Finns and the Young Finns . The Old Finns wanted to keep ties to St. Petersburg close and argued against an independent Finland, hoping not to agitate the Russian monarchy and further limit Finnish autonomy. The Young Finns differed in this regard as they promoted the idea of an independent Finland. The third major Finnish party were

740-662: The joined and then occupied areas of Repola (annexed by Finland during the Viena expedition ) and Porajärvi (annexed by Finland during the Aunus expedition ) in Russian East Karelia . The treaty also included Finland handing over the contested region of North Ingria to Russia, thereby disbanding the short-lived Republic of North Ingria . The treaty also had some articles besides area and border issues, including Soviet guarantee of free navigation of merchant ships from

777-475: The lake started to decrease. The majority of the ships and boats used by the Finns were evacuated overland to Finland after the Moscow Armistice. Listing (not necessarily exhaustive) of wartime vessels and their armament Treaty of Tartu (Russian%E2%80%93Finnish) The Treaty of Tartu ( Russian : Тартуский мирный договор ; Finnish : Tarton rauha ; Swedish : Fredsfördraget i Dorpat )

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814-1236: The lake, and against the city's only supply line, the Road of Life , the Finns formed their Ladoga Flotilla , joined in the summer of 1942 by the international Naval Detachment K . Between 13 June and 15 August 1942, the Ladoga flotilla was strengthened by the arrival of two German naval contingents: Luftwaffen-Fährenflotillen II and III. These units had been formed in May 1942 at the Belgian port of Antwerp and redesignated Einsatzstab Fähre Ost (EFO) for duty on Lake Ladoga . The battlegroups acted independently but maintained close operational ties with Naval Detachment K . They were made up of twenty-three Siebel ferries (seven heavy artillery types mounting two to four 88 mm guns each; six light artillery types mounting smaller-caliber flak pieces; six transport, six repair, one hospital and one HQ) as well as nine I-Transporters or infantry boats (each capable of carrying 50 fully equipped soldiers). Four of these boats were outfitted as minesweepers; three were kept as transports; one

851-463: The land forces which led to surrender of the remaining 130 Soviet soldiers on 10 September. The Finns had intended to mount further landing operations to secure the island of Valamo but the Soviets withdrew from there as well as from most of the other islands on the lake voluntarily. Finnish forces took control of the island of Valamo on 20 September and the island of Konevitsa on 25 September. Since Soviet forces remained inactive on lake Ladoga for

888-568: The leftist social-democrats. These social democrats also wanted to see an independent Finland. All of this changed in the matter of a short few months when the Bolsheviks took control of the country during the Bolshevik Revolution . The Bolsheviks became an ally to the Finnish social democrats as they shared common ideological ground. This changed the stance of the social democrats, leading them to become pro-Russian. Meanwhile,

925-430: The naval and landing forces were 18 men dead, 57 wounded, and 4 missing. One of the lost ferries was taken over by the Russians. The operations of the international flotilla were a failure. The Siebel ferries of EFO had good armament but they were far too slow and had too short a range for effective operations. They were almost "sitting ducks" to the Soviet patrol boats, gunboats and bombers. As their personnel came from

962-551: The old border between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia . Finland additionally received Petsamo , with its ice-free harbour on the Arctic Ocean - the district that Finland had already annexed from Russia several years before. As far back as 1864, Tsar Alexander II had promised to join Petsamo to Finland in exchange for a piece of the Karelian Isthmus . Finland also agreed to leave

999-530: The operation was presented to the Germans by the Finnish Lieutenant General Paavo Talvela . The German-run operation, codenamed Operation Brazil began on 22 October 1942. Though the radio station and the lighthouse were torched and the coastal artillery on the island was destroyed, the landing was eventually repulsed and, in a running battle, the flotilla was harassed by Soviet aircraft, torpedo-boats , and gunboats all

1036-498: The opportunity to promote his public support for the Finnish declaration as a showpiece of benevolence of the new Soviet system. However, the move for independence, Soviet support and general uncertainty and unrest in the society encouraged the militant left to attempt to duplicate the success of Russia's recent revolution, and soon after, the Finnish Civil War began. In the war the revolutionary socialist militia known as

1073-425: The rest of 1941 Finnish naval forces concentrated on security and transport duties. After the Finns had captured maps of the Soviet naval minefields on the lake several boats were detailed for minesweeping duties which yielded no results nor losses. In the spring of 1942 the Finnish commander made recommendations to German leadership past Finnish HQs leading to the formation of Naval Detachment K , which included adding

1110-485: The return voyage one heavy ferry (SF 21) had to be scuttled when it started to take in water so badly that they would not have made it back to the base. Infantry boat (I 6) assigned to the ferry was also lost. Losses suffered by the EFO during the raid were heavy. Artillery ferries SF 13 (grounded) and SF 21 (damaged, later scuttled), light artillery ferries SF 12 (grounded) and SF 26 (grounded) and infantry boat I 6—casualties for

1147-812: The war. Around 1,400-1,650 people died in the ranks of the Red troops, while between 7,000 and 10,000 people died within the White ones. In total, 37,000-38,500 people died as a result of the Civil War, and 76,000 prisoners - of which 100 were executed - were captured by the Whites in cooperation with the German forces. Casualties of Finnish Civil War were according to a Finnish Government project: Died in battle: "whites" 3,414, "reds" 5,199; Missing: whites 46, reds 1,767; Executed: whites 1,424, reds 7,370; Died in prison camps: whites 4, reds 11,652 - total deaths 36,640. Following

Finnish Ladoga Naval Detachment - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-471: The way back to its base along the northern shore of Lake Ladoga. When approaching Sukho island , one light ferry (SF 12) run aground and several other ferries went to assist it. However one of the light ferries (SF 22) was hit by Soviet coastal artillery fire and one heavy (SF 13) and one light ferry (SF 26) that had gone to assist the grounded ferry (SF12) also became grounded despite the efforts to get them loose. Ultimately, all three had to be abandoned. During

1221-790: Was a German naval detachment operated by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War . It saw action on Lake Ladoga supporting other Axis units in the Siege of Leningrad . Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the commencement of hostilities between Finland and the USSR (the Continuation War ), Lake Ladoga became a battleground when the city of Leningrad came under siege . To operate against Soviet forces around

1258-483: Was rigged as a hospital ship and one as an HQ. In addition, one heavy Sturmboot acted as headquarters ship. The Siebel ferries were originated by aircraft designer Fritz Siebel and intended for use in Germany's planned 1940 invasion of England, Operation Sea Lion . They consisted of two heavy Army bridging pontoons braced together with iron cross-beams and covered by a sturdy wooden deck. The ferries initially had

1295-451: Was signed on 14 October 1920 between Finland and Soviet Russia after negotiations that lasted nearly five months. The treaty confirmed the border between Finland and Soviet Russia after the Finnish Civil War and Finnish volunteer expeditions in Russian East Karelia that resulted in annexation of several Russian districts. The treaty was signed in Tartu , Estonia , at the building of

1332-547: Was subject to controversy first during the East Karelian Uprising 1921–1922 when the Finnish government allowed volunteers to take part in the conflict. The treaty was finally broken by the Soviet Union in 1939, when it started the Winter War against Finland. Einsatzstab F%C3%A4hre Ost The Einsatzstab Fähre Ost ( lit.   ' Ferry Operations Staff East ' ), referred to as EFO,

1369-521: Was willing to finally normalize the relations with the greater neighboring state. Nevertheless, some nationalistic and rightist elements in Finnish Parliament still considered the planned treaty as going too far, even shameful, by giving up some of the initial negotiation goals and shattering their ideals of a greater national state including also eastern territories settled from ancient times by Finnic Karelian people , which never belonged to

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