Minelayer Keihässalmi

Minelayer Keihässalmi

This minelayer moored in the Aura River was the first new ship built for the Finnish Navy after the Second World War. Now a museum vessel, the steel-hulled warship is still imbued with the spirit of the postwar decades. The traditional minelayer tells a story about the work and working conditions of the Finnish Navy’s young conscripts and professional soldiers at sea in the years Finland bordered a country known as Soviet Union, walking a precarious tightrope of neutrality under the leadership of President Urho Kekkonen.

On the Keihässalmi, you get to see for example the mine deck with old naval mines, the steep stairs and narrow corridors of the interior, the crew’s living quarters, and the commanding officer’s private cabin. 

The minelayer Keihässalmi, designed for mine-laying and mine-sweeping duties, was decommissioned and turned into a museum ship in 1994. The vessel is owned by the Military Museum of Finland, and its maintenance is the responsibility of the Forum Marinum Foundation. The ship is open to the public during the summer months.

History of Minelayer Keihässalmi

Keihässalmi was built in Helsinki in 1957. Its design was based on minelayers constructed in Turku during World War II. While primarily built for mine-laying and mine-sweeping, various weapon systems were also tested on the vessel.

In 1975, a new weapons system equipped with a fire-control radar was installed. The ship underwent a major overhaul in 1980–81, which improved its seaworthiness by adding ballast, and the forward section of the mine deck was made watertight by sealing side openings.

Keihässalmi participated in the first post-war naval visits to Sweden and the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. It also served as a training ship.

Opening hours:

Open in the summer season 1.6.-16.8.2026.

General Information

Year built: 1957

Length: 56 m

Beam: 7.7 m

Draft: 2.0 m

Displacement: 360 tons

Crew: 60 people — 3 officers, 12 non-commissioned officers, 45 conscripts

Engines

2 × 800 hp Wärtsilä diesel engines

Speed: 15 knots

Armament

The vessel has had several different armament configurations.

Current armament after overhaul:

2 × 30 mm Nikolayev AK-230 twin-barrel autocannons (30 63 65 2TLT)

2 × 20 mm Madsen machine guns (20 Itk/42 ML)

Mine deck capacity: up to 100 mines

2 × Depth charge throwers WBW C/35 (SPH/43)

2 × Depth charge racks

Previously also equipped with:

3 × 40 mm Bofors autocannons (40 60 ItK 35-39) or

2 × 40 mm Bofors autocannons (40 60 Itk 58)