The Satakundskaya Flotilla () was a

brown-water navy A brown-water navy or riverine navy, in the broadest sense, is a naval force capable of military operations in inland waters (rivers, lakes and inland seas) and nearshores. The term originated in the United States Navy during the American Ci ...

unit of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

, operating on

Lake Näsijärvi A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from spring 1916 until winter 1917. In Finnish sources, the unit is often called Satakunta Fleet (). The name of the unit derives from

Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish language, Finnish and Swedish language, Swedish, ; historically ''Satacundia'') is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland ...

, the historical province where Lake Näsijärvi was located at the time, but the Finnish version is likely a mistranslation of ''

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

''.

Operational history

The flotilla was founded during spring 1916, as the Russian military commissioned the Finnish

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

s , and and the

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

''Murole'' and ''Näsijärvi''. In addition, civilian motorboats were requisitioned for military use. The ships were crewed by their original Finnish crew, commanded by their Finnish masters subordinated to a Russian officer. The passenger ships were armed with

naval guns Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. T ...

, crewed by Russian matrose. The flotilla was commanded by Captain of 2nd rank Sablin, who used the ''Tarjanne'' as his flagship. The Russian contingent of the flotilla numbered circa 100 men, housed in a storage building at Mustalahti harbor. During its existence, the flotilla carried out no combat actions and never fired its main armament. The passenger ships were not designed to act as gun platforms and their structures would likely have suffered had the guns been used. Instead, during the navigation season of 1916, the flotilla practiced troop transports on Näsijärvi. In the event of a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

of Finland, the Satakunta flotilla would probably have been able to prevent the Germans from using Näsijärvi and been able to supply and transport army units in the area of this 100 km-long waterway.Hoppu, T. Laivaston toiminta jäi lyhyeksi
University of Tampere. Retrieved 2008-02-25. On the other hand, the flotilla was confined to Lake Näsijärvi, as

Tammerkoski Tammerkoski is a channel of rapids in Tampere, Finland. The city of Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi (Tampere region), Pyhäjärvi. The difference in altitude between these two is and the water flows from Näsij ...

prevents all navigation downstream.

Disbandment and aftermath

During the spring 1917, the flotilla was paralyzed, as the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

negated the discipline of the Imperial Russian Army and Fleet. At the same time, the wages of the Finnish crewmembers were suspended, resulting in their leaving the flotilla. During the navigation season of 1917, the flotilla carried out no activities worth mentioning, and its Russian members moved out of Tampere in October 1917. The naval guns rigged on the passenger ships were left behind, and they saw action in the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

three months later. During the winter and spring of 1918, they were first used by the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

, then after the

Battle of Tampere The Battle of Tampere was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in Tampere, Finland from 15 March to 6 April between the Whites and the Reds. It is the most famous and the deadly of all the Finnish Civil War battles. Its bloody aftermath saw ...

, by

the White Guard ''The White Guard'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, first published in 1925 in the literary journal ''Rossiya''. It was not reprinted in the Soviet Union until 1966. Background ''The White Guard'' first appeared in serial form in the Sovi ...

. After the Civil War, the ships returned to civilian passenger service on Lake Näsijärvi. In 1929, the ''Kuru'' sank in a storm, resulting in the loss of 138 lives. Of the three ships, the ''Tarjanne'' is still in passenger service.Ltd. Poet’s Way
Timetable for SS ''Tarjanne'' 4.6.-16.8.2008
Retrieved 2008-02-26.

References

{{reflist Grand Duchy of Finland Riverine warfare Imperial Russian Navy Tampere

Operational history

Disbandment and aftermath

See also

References