Suomenlinna was founded in 1748 as a Swedish stronghold against a Russian Helsinki. Conquered by Russia in 1809, heavily bombarded by joint British and French naval forces during the Crimean War in 1854, it remained a Russian fortress until the Finnish independence after the First World War. However, at the the end of the 19th century long-range guns made Suomenlinna obsolete as a forward defence for Helsinki and its defensive structures remain as they were at about 1880. From this time date a or so dozen heavy guns in various stages of decay that still remaining in their open earth-work emplacements. About half of them appear to be Krupp clones with the characteristic 'Rundkeilverschluß' (round wedge lock) and Krupp-style carriages. They are engraved as being manufactured at the Perm Ironworks in Russia and this was done so presumably under license by Krupp.

Understandably the history, but regrettably, the Russian period on Suomenlinna is not really represented in any of the museums on the islands. Therefore, no information could be found to date on the history of these particular guns.

Some years ago, Suomenlinna was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

While the carriages are of the coastal type, pivoted at the front, the upper slides are virtually identical to the slide used for the 30.5 cm gun on the WESPE-class as known from the pictorial sources. Hence, there is a unique opportunity to study details of design and execution that are not so clear from the surviving drawings and photographs.

Overview

General view of one of the 28 cm guns					Similar gun being fired from the fortress

Barrel and Lock

Lock open, ready to be loaded	Seat for the packing	Cyrillic inscriptions	Holes for the screws to suspend loading cradle	Closed lock from the right	Open lock from the right
Moving screw, covering plate of the lock missing	Channel for the moving screw from top	Channel for the moving screw from top	Nearly closed lock from the back	Nearly closed lock from the left	Hook for chain limiting the depression

Top-Slide

Eye for running-in tackle	View from the rear	View from the rear, excenter to lift rear wheels	Bulkhead construction	Bulkhead construction	Bulkhead and stoppers
Bulkhead and stoppers	Rear wheel	Rear wheel	Gratings	Gratings	Gratings

Elevation Mechanism

Gear train and spoked hand-wheel	Gear train and spoked hand-wheel	Gear train and brake handle	Gear train inside and outside the frame	Brass indicating disc
Main gear	Inside gear train with 'zero backlash'(?) wheel, from the front	Inside gear train with 'zero backlash'(?) wheel, from the rear	Elevating rack and pinion	Bracket for attaching the rack to the barrel

Carriage

Looking from the rear left	Constructional details of the frame	Constructional details of the frame	Rivetted angle irons at the rear	Looking from the rear right	Rivetted front part of the frame
Rivetted front part of the frame	Buffers to stop the recoiling slide (springs are missing)	Hydraulic brake for the slide	Covering gratings	Eye to fasten running-in tackle for the slide	Gunner's shield

Crane for shells

Winding gear with pawl	Spill without gears	Spill drum	Winch bearing bracket	Winding drum from above	A different type of bearing and bracket