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near St. Petersburg. In the 1930s, they were housed in a heavy double turret, which is one of the few remaining such guns in the world. The turret has 5 floors, and it weighs a million kilograms. It is 19 metres tall, and its diameter is 16 metres. The shooting sector is 360 degrees, and the shells
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plug is put in the barrel as well as a plastic bag with 500 kilograms of water. The charge is an ordinary one. In this way, the same pressure is achieved as with a shell, and the springs, the restrainer and the return mechanisms function normally. In principle, it would be possible to fire shells,
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Kuivasaari is located some 5 kilometres (3 miles) out into the Gulf of
Finland, due south of Helsinki city centre, and was for many years the outermost inhabited island in the Helsinki archipelago (now there is no permanent settlement based on the island). It lies parallel to the
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In principle, access is severely restricted, and the public is not permitted to go ashore or to approach the island to less than 100 meters, but several companies organize chartered tours to the island. Permits have to be secured beforehand, and visitors must carry IDs.
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The use of the guns was given up early in the 1970s, when the electric equipment went into poor shape, and the gun was retired of possible war time use. The last theoretical use for the guns would have been to fire on the
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had wanted to turn the island into a museum, but due to lack of funds, this project was not realized. However, the
Suomenlinna Coastal Regiment Guild has seen to it that the houses and the equipment has been maintained.
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guns are installed there, including some exceptionally heavy 12-inch (305 mm) pieces. The island served as an important coastal artillery fort protecting the entrance to
Helsinki harbour during the World Wars.
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but there are some practical concerns: this would mean live firing, and it would need to be published ahead of time and it would need to be monitored by army personnel. At the same time, the
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The barracks could house a hundred men, and in the battery there was room for another hundred men. The officers had their own quarters. At most, 250 military personnel lived on the island.
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weigh 471 kilograms. The range is 40 kilometres. 15–20 persons were required to calculate the firing values, and a further 80–137 men were needed to operate the guns.
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The island gets its name, meaning 'dry island', from the fact that there is no fresh water on the island, and water is instead pumped from the nearby
Isosaari island.
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decided to save it. The
Suomenlinna Coastal Regiment Guild restored the turret in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it is being maintained so that it can be used.
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was also maintained on the island, but it has now been decommissioned. The island fortress is not in use, but it still belongs to the
Finnish Defence Forces.
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would need be cleared of maritime traffic within 50 kilometres, and of air traffic to the height of 10 kilometres, which is not possible.
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The
Suomenlinna Coastal Regiment Guild maintains a notable collection of historical guns on the island. Earlier, a
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The guns were part of the coastal defense of
Finland, but they were only fired twice during the
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Coastal fishermen used the island as their base from the 18th century on. In 1896, the state of
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demanded that the guns be dismantled. The barrels were taken a hundred kilometres away to the
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The turret is still operational, but it is fired only ceremonially, such as during the
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Enqvist, Ove: Isosaari ja
Kuivasaari. Suomenlinnan rannikkotykistökilta. Helsinki 1991
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on the southern shore of the Gulf of
Finland is visible from the observation tower.
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bought the island for military use. Less than a decade later, after the disastrous
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Enqvist, Ove: Kuivasaari (3. p.). Suomenlinnan Rannikkotykistökilta. Helsinki 2009
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Old coastal artillery in Kuivasaari. Photo taken from roof of a
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106:The whole island is a military installation of the
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311:(in Finnish). Helsinki: Sanoma. pp. A 16–17
307:[‘The most secret island of the city’].
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343:Photos of Kuivasaari at Northern Fortress
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338:Description of visit to Kuivasaari
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173:The Russians left on the island
140:Peter the Great's Naval Fortress
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358:Finnish islands in the Baltic
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234:Suomenlinna Coastal Regiment
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305:"Kaupungin salaisin saari"
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253:Military Museum of Finland
198:Allied Control Commission
213:Finnish Independence Day
175:12"/52 Pattern 1907 guns
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62:305 mm twin turret
108:Finnish Defence Forces
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363:Geography of Helsinki
122:History of the island
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196:After the war, the
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132:Russo-Japanese War
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309:Helsingin Sanomat
144:Finnish Civil War
112:coastal artillery
34:60.100°N 25.017°E
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202:Armoured Brigade
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277:References
69:Kuivasaari
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246:100 56 TK
156:Petrograd
89:Helsinki
264:Sources
87:, near
81:Finnish
79:) is a
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128:Russia
191:Hanko
251:The
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