The ''Turunmaa''-class fast gunboats ( Finnish: ''Turunmaa''-luokan tykkivene) was a type of vessel, previously operated by the Finnish Navy in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and trade protection roles. Internationally they were labeled as

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

History

Development of the class started in 1963. Five hull designs and over thirty propulsion variants were looked at during development. At the time, the electronics of the vessels, and the propulsion system were state of the art and attracted international attention. Both vessels were built by Wärtsilä's Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki. In 1985–86 both ships were refitted, and the entire fire-control and communications systems were updated. ''Karjala'' has been berthed since 2002 at the maritime museum ''Forum Marinum'' in Turku as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

next to Suomen Joutsen. ''Turunmaa'' was stripped of armaments and served as a floating machine shop and training ship for Satakunta Polytechnics. Currently ''Turunmaa'' is being refitted for civilian use. Neither vessel is currently owned by the Finnish Navy. The ships were ordered in 1963, launched in 1968, commissioned in 1969 and decommissioned in 2002. The lead vessel was named after the

turuma A turuma (from the Finnish word "Turunmaa") was a type of warship built for the Swedish archipelago fleet in the late 18th century. It was specifically developed for warfare in the Archipelago Sea and along the coasts of Svealand and Finland. Th ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s serving in the Archipelago Fleet in the 18th and 19th centuries. Turunmaa Class Finnish Navy Corvette

Vessels of the class

* ''Turunmaa'' (03) * ''Karjala'' (04)

External links

Finnish gunship FNS Turunmaa (1968)
Photos (Flickr)
Turun Sanomat newspaper archive

The Finnish Navy's announcement of FNS Karjala's pending museum ship status

MTV3.fi's news article from 2001

Corvette Karjala
@ Forum Marinum

Current owner of Turunmaa. Includes pictures. {{Commons category, Turunmaa class corvette, position=left Ships built in Finland Museum ships in Finland Corvette classes Cold War corvettes of Finland Corvettes of the Finnish Navy 1968 ships