The ''Turunmaa''-class fast gunboats ( Finnish: ''Turunmaa''-luokan tykkivene) was a type of vessel, previously operated by the

Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) 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", short f ...

in the

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typi ...

(ASW) and trade protection roles. Internationally they were labeled as corvettes.

History

Development of the class started in 1963. Five hull designs and over thirty propulsion variants were looked at during development. At the time, the electronics of the vessels, and the propulsion system were state of the art and attracted international attention. Both vessels were built by

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

's Hietalahti shipyard in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. In 1985–86 both ships were refitted, and the entire fire-control and communications systems were updated. ''Karjala'' has been berthed since 2002 at the maritime museum ''Forum Marinum'' in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small num ...

next to

Suomen Joutsen ''SuomenJoutsen'' is a steel-hulled full-rigged ship with three square rigged masts. Built in 1902 by Chantiers de Penhoët in St. Nazaire, France, as ''Laënnec'', the ship served two French owners before she was sold to German interest in 1922 ...

. ''Turunmaa'' was stripped of armaments and served as a floating machine shop and training ship for Satakunta Polytechnics. Currently ''Turunmaa'' is being refitted for civilian use. Neither vessel is currently owned by the Finnish Navy. The ships were ordered in 1963, launched in 1968, commissioned in 1969 and decommissioned in 2002. The lead vessel was named after the

turuma A turuma (from the Finnish word "Turunmaa") was a type of warship built for the Swedish archipelago fleet in the late 18th century. It was specifically developed for warfare in the Archipelago Sea and along the coasts of Svealand and Finland. The ...

frigates serving in the

Archipelago Fleet The archipelago fleet ( sv, skärgårdsflottan), officially the "fleet of the army" ( sv, arméns flotta), was a branch of the armed forces of Sweden which existed between 1756 and 1823. Its purpose was to protect the coasts of Sweden, which was s ...

in the 18th and 19th centuries. Turunmaa Class Finnish Navy Corvette

Vessels of the class

* ''Turunmaa'' (03) * ''Karjala'' (04)

External links

Finnish gunship FNS Turunmaa (1968)
Photos (Flickr)
Turun Sanomat newspaper archive

The Finnish Navy's announcement of FNS Karjala's pending museum ship status

MTV3.fi's news article from 2001

Corvette Karjala
@ Forum Marinum

Current owner of Turunmaa. Includes pictures. {{Commons category, Turunmaa class corvette, position=left Ships built in Finland Museum ships in Finland Corvette classes Cold War corvettes of Finland Corvettes of the Finnish Navy 1968 ships