Operational History
The flotilla was founded during spring 1916, as the Russian military commissioned the Finnish passenger ships SS Tarjanne, SS Kuru and SS Pohjola and the tugs Murole and Näsijärvi. In addition, civilian motorboats were requisitioned for military use. The ships were manned by their original Finnish crew, commanded by their Finnish masters subordinated to a Russian officer. The passenger ships were armed with 75 mm naval guns, manned by Russian matrose. The flotilla was commanded by Captain of 2nd rank Shablin, 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 invasion 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. On the other hand, the flotilla was confined to Lake Näsijärvi, as Tammerkoski prevents all navigation downstream.
Read more about this topic: Satakundskaya Flotilla
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