Turku Coastal Regiment

Turku Coastal Regiment
Active	1939—1998
Country	Finland
Role	Coastal defence
March	Suomalainen veljeslaulu
Anniversaries	10 September

Turku Coastal Regiment (Finnish: Turun Rannikkorykmentti) was a Finnish coastal artillery unit operating in the Turku area and Archipelago Sea. It was formed on 10.9.1939 as Turku Sector (Turun Lohko) as part of the neutrality guard and later Winter War coastal sector system from a peace time 1st Independent Coastal Artillery Battalion (1. Erillinen Rannikkotykistöpatteristo). Turku Coastal Regiment was disbanded as an independent unit on 30.6.1998 and became part of the newly formed Archipelago Sea Naval Command as Turku Coastal Artillery Battalion (Turun Rannikkopatteristo).

Following the naval losses in the Russo–Japanese War the Russian Empire began constructing Peter the Great's Naval Fortress, a coastal fortification system on the Gulf of Finland. Primarily built to protect Saint Petersburg, during the First World War Russia began to also fortify western Finland to guard against a possible German invasion. This fortification project resulted in the forts of Örö, Utö and Lypertö among others, which then fell into Finnish possession after Finland's Declaration of Independence. Åland Islands had also been fortified, but the nine batteries built there were demolished later due to the demilitarization of Åland.

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