The Battle of Bengtskär was an amphibious landing action fought between

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

forces on 26 July 1941 during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

Battle

Soviet landing troops made a surprise attack on the island of

Bengtskär Bengtskär is an island southwest of Hanko, and part of the municipality of Dragsfjärd. This rocky island can be reached by ferry from the village of Kasnäs. The island has an area of about two hectares, ''Elina Auri.'' Ilman kiinteää tiey ...

with the goal to blow up the

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

situated on the island so that it would not disturb Soviet military operations. Finnish troops situated on the island managed to defend the lighthouse and eventually drove the Soviets back with the help of support troops. The landing was made with four MO-class patrol boats, while another 6 boats were later dispatched to retrieve the Soviet forces once it was clear the demolition attempt had failed. Finnish gunboats

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...

and Hämeenmaa engaged the Soviets, with Uusimaa sinking the patrol boat PK-238 with gunfire.

Results

The battle resulted in a Finnish victory, due to the intervention of the gunboats. 16 Soviet sailors were saved and captured from the sinking PK-238, while another 13 were captured on the Island. Some Soviet soldiers committed suicide with hand-grenades. Finnish estimates puts Soviet losses at 60 killed (40 of them on land), while Finnish suffered a loss of 16 men in the garrison and 4 men on the ships, while the next day a Soviet aerial bombing killed another 11 men waiting to be evacuated. Soviet sources report that the landing party consisted of only 31 men: casualties were 31 killed (including 8 sailors) and 24 prisoners (including 16 sailors).

References

Battles and operations of the Continuation War Naval battles of World War II involving Finland Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union 1941 in Finland July 1941 events {{USSR-stub