
Russarö is an island south of
Hanko. The island is closed to the public as it is
military area of the
Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) (; ) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy, and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime, the Finnish Border Guard becomes part of the Finnish Defence For ...
. The island hosts the five-story
Russarö Lighthouse
Russarö Lighthouse (Finnish language, Finnish: ''Russarön majakka'', Swedish language, Swedish: ''Russarö fyr'') is a lighthouse situated on the island of Russarö, outside Hanko, Finland, at the western extremity of the Gulf of Finland i ...
built in 1863 and a
Finnish Meteorological Institute
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; ; ) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications but it operates semi-autonomousl ...
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...
.
December 1939
On 1 December 1939, the Soviet
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
, accompanied by the destroyers and , approached the fortified
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...
battery located on the island. After a short exchange of fire, ''Stremitelny'' and ''Kirov'' were hit and the ships withdrew. Aboard the ''Kirov'', 17 men were killed and 30 wounded.
Climate
References
External links
Helsingin Sanomat: Risteilyllä Russarön linnakkeeseen
Hanko, Finland
Finnish islands in the Baltic
Islands of Uusimaa
{{SouthernFinland-geo-stub