Finnish-russaro-234mm-coastalartillery-1930s

Russarö is an island south of

Hanko Hanko may refer to People * August Hanko, German First World War flying ace Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland * Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid 2299 Hanko *Hanko, a misspellin ...

. The island is closed to the public as it is

military area A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which i ...

. The island hosts the five-storey Russarö Lighthouse built in 1863 and a

Finnish Meteorological Institute The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; fi, Ilmatieteen laitos; sv, Meteorologiska institutet) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport ...

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

.Finnish Meteorological Institute: Paikallissään asemakuvaukset (in Finnish)
/ref>

December 1939

On 1 December 1939, the Soviet

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

, accompanied by the destroyers and , approached the fortified

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...

battery located on the island. After a short exchange of fire, ''Stremitelny'' and ''Kirov'' were hit and the ships withdrew. Aboard the ''Kirov'', 17 men were killed and 30 wounded.

References

External links

Helsingin Sanomat: Risteilyllä Russarön linnakkeeseen
Hanko Finnish islands in the Baltic Islands of Uusimaa {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub