Author: Ville Katajamäki

  • A Small Island

    A Small Island

    The island of Luotsi-Kuusinen is a small island just to the south-east of Kotka Island. It is in the Baltics Sea at the Gulf of Finland. While Luotsi-Kuusinen used to be a proper island, an artificial road has been built to it. The coast of Luotsi-Kuusinen is rocky with alot of pebbles and larger rocks.…

  • Along the Kymi Line

    Along the Kymi Line

    The Kymi River in Finland has been important for indrusty and military purposes throughout history. At the most eastern branch of the end of the Kymi River in Kotka, there used to be logging industries and a WW2-era military defense line. These pictures are from the Jumal Peninsula, which is at the mouth of the…

  • Mountain on an Island

    Mountain on an Island

    The Äijävuori (Äijä Mountain) is a location at Kolkka Island, Kotka. In Finland, there does not really exist any proper mountains, but this is the highest point of Kolkka. Äijävuori is only about 56 m high and very spread out, so the height is not well visible from any point, expect from the observation tower…

  • The Soviet R-5 Missile and its Variants

    The R-5 missile was the first Soviet intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) and its variant, the R-5M, was the first Soviet missile with a nuclear warhead in service. The R-5 was designed after the planned R-3 missile was cancelled. Other variants of the R-5 were used to test equipment for the R-7 missile and for…

  • Lappeenranta Fortress

    The Lappeenranta Fortress is a small fortress that was built in the 1700’s. It has been used by the Swedish and Russian armies for military purposes, and by the White faction of the Finnish civil war in 1918 as a prison. I was visiting Lappeenranta for business reasons and I did not have too much…

  • WW2 Hill Bunker

    Near the Kymi River, there is a small WW2 era bunker in a hill. The bunker was probably part of a defense line along the Kymi. On the hill there is a radio tower, that is the tallest building near this place. The door to the bunker is closed, but here are pictures from outside…

  • Melting River

    As the weather becomes warmer and the snow starts to melt, rivers start to flow at a higher rate and small streams that were hidden beneath the snow become visible. I took some pictures of both of these typer of rivers today. The first pictures are from the large flow of the Kymi river. Most…

  • Frozen Sea

    I walked near the sea at southern Kotka and took some photos of the sea and some other interesting things during the walk. First, here is a picture of the frozen sea at southern Finland. The HaminaKotka port can be seen at the right along with small islands. Here is a picture of the same…

  • The Soviet R-2 Missile and its Variants

    The R-2 missile was the second large rocket, that was built in the Soviet Union. Like the R-1, the R-2 was also based on the German A-4 (V-2) missile. The R-2 was basically a streched R-1 with double the range and payload weight. The missile had other improvements, such as a new engine and a…

  • Photos Along the Kymi River

    I walked along the Kymi river from near Leppä island to south towards Lankila. Here are some pictures I took along the way. While heading south, I walked across the Lankila suspension bridge. This last picture is from a bit north to the Langinkoski royal fishing house, and from the other side of the river.