Battle of Someri

Date	8–10 July 1942
Location	Sommers in Gulf of Finland 60°12′25″N 27°38′35″E / 60.207°N 27.643°E / 60.207; 27.643Coordinates: 60°12′25″N 27°38′35″E / 60.207°N 27.643°E / 60.207; 27.643
Result	Finnish victory

Belligerents

Finland

Germany

Soviet Union

Casualties and losses

23 dead, 68 wounded
2 gunboats, 2 large minesweepers damaged

7 patrol boats sunk
5 aircraft shot down
128 dead, 149 captured, ~200 drowned
11 patrol boats, 1 gunboat and 1 large minesweeper damaged

The Battle of Someri was a battle in the Gulf of Finland during World War II on 8–9 July 1942, between the Soviet Union and Finland. Starting as a modest operation to clear a Finnish observation post from a small island, it became one of the largest surface ship engagements in the Baltic theater.

During the Russo-Finnish Winter War (1939–40), Soviet forces captured several Finnish islands in the eastern Gulf of Finland. In March 1940 these were ceded to the Soviet Union in accordance with the Moscow Peace Treaty. The Soviets occupied some of them with small garrisons. When the Continuation War began in June 1941 the islands were generally ignored; in autumn 1941, however, the Finnish Navy attempted to occupy the small, rocky island of Someri (now Sommers, Russia), mistakenly thinking it had been abandoned by the Soviets. Coming under fire from the defenders, the small Finnish landing force hastily withdrew. Over the next few weeks the Finns shelled and bombed the island several times in hopes of forcing the Soviet garrison to depart. Finally in December 1941, as Soviet forces evacuated Hanko and several other islands in the Gulf of Finland, the garrison on Someri was withdrawn to Moshchny Island. Finnish coastal forces occupied the island soon after. It proved to be a good position for observing Soviet movements in the area.

The 100-man Finnish garrison on the island was equipped with two 75 mm field guns, a few 45 mm anti-tank guns and 20 mm automatic cannons, and several machine guns. During the battle the garrison was reinforced with an additional 100 men. The Finnish Navy deployed 3 gunboats (Turunmaa, Hämeenmaa, and Uusimaa), 2 minelayers (Riilahti, and Ruotsinsalmi), 6 VMV class patrol boats and 4 motor torpedo boats to the area. In addition, several small minesweepers were used to carry ammunition for the gunboats and reinforcements for the garrison. The Finnish Air Force supported the naval forces and sortied several flights of fighters (Brewster F2A Buffalo and Fokker D.XXI) and bombers (Bristol Blenheim and Dornier Do 17) to the area.

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