Finnish and Russian navies battling for control the Gulf of Bothnia and Aaland Archipelago in December 1939

An item reported that the Finnish naval forces seemed to gather at the south west of the Aaland Islands to control the mined entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia. The entrance to the eastward of the Aaland Archipelago was full of skerries making it impossible to navigate excluded the local coastal vessels. Russian minelayers seemed to lay mines in the waters west of the Aaland Islands and four Russian submarines were sighted north of the Islands past the recently laid mines.(1)

Note

1.  Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union between 30 November 1939-13 March 1940.

Source

The National Archives, Kew Gardens, England CAB-66-4-13 Weekly Résumé (No. 15) of the naval, military and air situation from 0700 7 December to 0700 14 December 1939.