Finnish Navy

Finnish Navy Merivoimat Marinen
Finnish Navy emblem
Active	1918–present
Country	Finland
Role	Naval defence
Size	6,700 personnel, 31,500 personnel mobilized
Battle honours	Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) Finnish Civil War Continuation War
Website	merivoimat.fi/en/
Commanders
Commander	Rear Admiral Kari Takanen
Insignia
Naval ensign
Naval Jack

The Finnish Navy (Finnish: Merivoimat, Swedish: Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short for "Finnish Navy ship" and it is not used in Finnish language contexts. The Finnish Navy also includes coastal forces and coastal artillery.

The current Commander-in-Chief of the navy is Rear Admiral Kari Takanen. The navy is organized into the Navy Command and four Brigade-level units. The navy includes, since 1998 also the Nyland Brigade, where Finnish Marines or Coastal Jaegers are trained. Nyland Brigade is also the only Swedish language unit in the country and it carries on the traditions and battle-honours of the Nyland (Uusimaa) Regiment of the Swedish Army.

Total of 31,500 personnel

During the Swedish era, the Finnish Gulf saw many battles between the Swedish and Russian fleets. Many of the Swedish naval bases were located in present-day Finland and many sailors came from Finland (see Archipelago Fleet).

During the Russian rule (1809–1917) an entirely Finnish Navy unit, named Suomen Meriekipaasi was defending the Finnish coast, alongside the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. The Meriekipaasi participated in the Crimean War, albeit mostly with on-shore duties. The Meriekipaasi also manned the coastal batteries at the Santahamina Island during the siege of fortress Viapori in Helsinki. The ships the Meriekipaasi operated included the steam frigates Rurik and Kalevala, named after the Finnish national epic. These ships later served in the Russian Pacific Fleet).