Naval Detachment K
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The Finnish Naval Detachment K (Finnish: Laivasto-osasto K) was a flotilla which operated on Lake Ladoga during WW2.
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[edit] Background
The Continuation War began in the summer of 1941. The Finns began to reconstruct its Ladoga flotilla as soon as their troops reached the shores of the lake, in the beginning of the war. The headquarters was established in Läskelä on August 2, 1941 and 150 motor boats, two tugs (used as minelayers) and four steam ferries had been transferred there by August 6. The tugs and ferriesvessels were equipped with 47 mm guns and machine guns. The Finns also established a number of coastal batteries on the shores and islands of Lake Ladoga. The only "true" Finnish warship on Lake Ladoga at that time was the obsolete ex-motor torpedo boat Sisu.
As the Finnish land forces advanced, new headquarters were established in the captured towns along the shores of Ladoga. The Ladoga flotilla headquarters was moved to Sortavala and the harbour at Lahdenpohja became the most important base.
[edit] Naval Detachment K
Both the Germans and the Italians decided to send units to Lake Ladoga to help coastal defence of the lake and to enforce the siege of Leningrad.
A combined Finnish-German-Italian unit, the Laivasto-osasto K (LOs.K., Naval Detachment K) was formed on May 17, 1942 and it consisted of the four Italian MAS boats, the four German KM minelayers and the Finnish motor torpedo boat Sisu. The German and Italian vessels were grouped into two units and subordinated Finnish command.
First to arrive was the Italian unit XII Squadriglia MAS, which consisted of four MAS torpedo boats (MAS 526, 527, 528 and 529) at June 22. Four German KM-minelayers arrived at June 27. German minelayers suffered from inexsperienced crews and unreliable engines, so it took until August 10 before all German boats were repaired and operational.
[edit] Einsatzstab Fähre Ost
On 22 June 1942, the flotilla was strengthened with the arrival of fifteen German Siebel ferries, and a few days later by a further fifteen Siebel ferries arrived. The new German contingent was technically subordinated Luftwaffe and designated Einsatzstab Fähre Ost (EFO). It was indepndent unit with close operational ties with Naval Detachment K.
The Siebel ferries were not of one uniform type, but consisted of many different types, all designed by Oberstleutnant Siebel himself, and originally ment for the English Channel crossing in previously planned attack on Britain. EFO consisted of seven heavy artillery ferries, five light artillery ferries, one staff command ferry, three transport ferries, one hospital ferry, and five transport boats. Oberstleutnant Siebel had a total of 30 vessels with 2400 personnel under his command.[1]
[edit] Operations
Naval Detachment K was then given several tasks, i.e. attacking enemy bases and conduct limited landing operations on the shores of Lake Ladoga. However, the most important task was to harass Soviet supply lines to Leningrad on southern Ladoga, where British and American food and munition was delivered to the besieged Leningrad.[2]
Some smaller Soviet patrol boats and several barges delivering food to besieged Leningrad were attacked and sank, during 1942 and 1943.[3] The Finnish Ladoga Flotilla had clashes with the Ladoga Flotilla of the Soviet Navy, which operated in Lake Ladoga from June 25, 1941 through November 4, 1944. [4][5]
The EFO suffered heavy losses in the failed attempt to conquer the strategically important island of Sukho (Suhosaari in Finnish) 37 km from the Southern coast of Ladoga, at the main supply route to Leningrad. [6][7]
The operation, codenamed Operation Brazil (Einsatz Brasil) began on October 22, 1942. The flotilla didn't manage to conquer the island, and were harassed by Soviet aircraft, torpedo and gunboats all the way back to their base at the northern shore of Lake Ladoga. The flotilla lost heavy artillery ferries number 13 and 21, light artillery ferries number 12 and 26 and infantry boat I 6.[8] One of the lost ferries was taken over by the Russians.
[edit] Analysis
The operations of international flotilla were a failure.
Torpedos were useless in the shallow waters of southern Lake Ladoga, where they frequently stuck to the bottom. The secondary armament of MTBs were too light to seriously threaten Soviet gunboats. Also the magnetic detonators didn't work well with wooden structures of Soviet barges and patrol boats.
German mineboats turned to have extremely unreliable engines, keeping them on docks longer times than operational.
The ferries of EFO had good armament, but they were far too slow and too small range for operations and made them almost sitting ducks to the Soviet patrol boats, gunboats and bombers. As their personnel came from Luftwaffe, they didn't have any sea-going experience which made them even more hard to operate during the hard weather.
[edit] Dissolving the Detachment
The Italian torpedo vessels were relocated from Lake Ladoga to Tallinn in the end of October 1942, and would eventually end up in the Finnish Navy. Likewise, the Germans withdrew most of their ferries, leaving four to the Finns. In January 1943, the Soviet Red Army launched Operation Spark, to open up a land connection to Leningrad and break the siege. Axis forces were pushed 80 km back and the road of life lost its significance. Neither German nor Italian units returned to Lake Ladoga, only smaller Finnish units continued to operate in the lake Ladoga against the Soviets during the 1943.
[edit] See also
Finnish Ladoga Naval Detachment
[edit] References
- ^ War on Lake Ladoga. 1941 - 1944. [1]
- ^ Finland and Siege of Leningrad 1941-1944. By Dr. Nikolai Baryshnikov. Russian: "Блокада Ленинграда и Финляндия 1941-44" Институт Йохана Бекмана. 2003. Russian fragment: [2]
- ^ Finland and Siege of Leningrad 1941 - 1944. By Dr. Nikolai Baryshnikov. Russian: "Блокада Ленинграда и Финляндия 1941-44" Институт Йохана Бекмана. 2003. Russian fragment: [3]
- ^ Дважды Краснознаменный Балтийский Флот, Гречанюк Н. М., Дмитриев В. И., Корниенко А. И. и др., М., Воениздат. 1990. с. 195.
- ^ Доценко В. Д., Флот. Война. Победа. С.-Пб, Судостроение. 1995 с 238
- ^ War on Lake Ladoga. 1941-1944. [4]
- ^ Finland and Siege of Leningrad 1941 - 1944. By Dr. Nikolai Baryshnikov. Russian: "Блокада Ленинграда и Финляндия 1941-44" Институт Йохана Бекмана. 2003.
- ^ Aromaa, Jari: Operations on Laatokka 1942. Retrieved on 1.1.2008.
[edit] Bibliography
- Балтийский Флот. Гречанюк Н. М., Дмитриев В. И., Корниенко А. И. и др., М., Воениздат. 1990.
- Der Zweite Weltkrieg. Raymond Cartier. 1977, R. Piper & CO. Verlag, Munchen / Zurich; 1141 pages.
- Siege of Leningrad and Finland 1941 - 1944. By Dr. Nikolai Baryshnikov. Russian: "Блокада Ленинграда и Финляндия 1941-44" Институт Йохана Бекмана. 2003.