SOTAKOKEMUSTEN HYÖDYNTÄMINEN MERIVOIMIEN OPERAATIOTAIDON JA TAKTIIKAN KEHITTÄMISESSÄ

Kirjoittajat

• Juuso Säämänen Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu; Helsingin yliopisto

Avainsanat:

jatkosota, meripuolustus, sotakokemukset, taktiikka

Abstrakti

Because of the general situation during the Continuation War, open sea warfare was emphasized in the development of naval tactics whereas the coastal artillery concentrated on the development of firing methods. These developments were based on the observations of the tactics used by the Soviet Navy and Marines as well as the lessons learned in the tests and exercises carried out by friendly forces. The observations and lessons learned were related to the troops in reports named � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � “Naval and Coastal War Experiences” and “Fleet War Experiences”. During the war also Germans helped in the developing of Finnish naval tactics. The German Naval Attache to Finland, Rear Admiral Reimar von Bonin, suggested that Finnish naval officers be ordered to visit Germany in November 1941. The purpose of these visits was to teach the Finnish officers about the tactics of the German Navy as well as increase their combat experience. Von Bonin’s suggestion was motivated by the idea that the Finnish Navy’s area of operations might expand to the White and Arctic Seas. The visits of Finnish navy and coastal artillery officers started in the winter of 1942. Altogether dozens of Finnish officers as well as a few petty officers visited Germany in 1942–1944. As a result of these visits the Finns were able to develop, amongst other things, their motor torpedo boat and anti-submarine warfare tactics. They also gained valuable information about the operational principles of coastal troops and the countermeasures against influence mines. The tactical and technical lessons learned in Germany were still in use in the 1950’s. The collection of war experiences began in the Finnish Navy in October 1944, only a month after the war between Finland and the Soviet Union had ended. The collection was completed during the winter months of 1944–1945. The objective was to gather material for regulations and manuals. The collected material emphasized the experiences gained from the defensive battles in the summer of 1944. They also gave well reasoned arguments on how to renew organisation and tactics. The Navy, unlike the Army, never organized face-to-face discussion events for her officers. Instead, the units’ COs drafted their own statements based on the views of their subordinates and these were sent directly to the Navy and Fleet HQ. Since the naval and coastal artillery forces continued - as was agreed in the terms of the Temporary Peace Treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union - protecting the Soviet Navy in the vicinity of the coast, and since the Navy was making preparations to start the clearance of wartime mines, there was no time to carefully analyse the experiences of war. Soon after the war ended the Navy began to draft new manuals and regulations. At the beginning of this work attention was paid to wartime experiences; they were also utilized in training. The development of coastal infantry tactics waned away in 1952 when the Coastal Artillery became a part of the Ground Forces and the Army took the main responsibility for repelling landing operations. What was learned about coastal warfare in the Continuation War was forgotten in the late of 1950’s. For a long time the Navy had no tactics for the archipelago environment because the Continuation War produced few experiences of archipelago warfare. Thus the development of archipelago warfare was continued well into the 1950’s.