The ferry from Helsinki to Sveaborg/Suomenlinna goes every 20 minutes during daytime, and accepts the standard Helsinki bus/tram/train ticket (or you can use a credit/debit card). It is apparently the No. 1 tourist attraction in Helsinki - the large and complex fortress spanning the four islands of this group (all connected via bridges) has been largely preserved, with many of the buildings repurposed into museums, arts centres etc.My reason for visiting was the submarine Vesikko. She was a hugely important submarine. When Germany was banned from building/operating submarines by the Treaty of Versailles, they set up a clandestine design office (IVS) in the Netherlands. One of their designs was for this boat, which was then built in Finland and commissioned by German 'contractors'. It became the prototype for the first submarines built by Germany when they abrogated the Treaty of Versailles (Type II), and the 'contractors' became the nucleus of the U-boat crews that fought in WW2. Later, the boat was bought by Finland, and operated by her during the war, including sinking one Russian merchant ship.The boat is now mounted on blocks out of the water, and visitors enter and leave the submarine though a pair of doors cut into the pressure hull at each end of the boat. The boat is well maintained and well presented, and there is extensive multi-lingual (Finnish/Russian/English) interpretive signage through the boat.The boat is operated as part of the Sotamuseo/Military Museum/Krigsmuseet (everything is in three languages here), and the one 7 euro ticket gets you into all three military museum sites on Sveaborg (Vesikko, an equipment hall, and a military art gallery). In addition to the military museum, there are several (maybe 8 or 9 - I didn't visit them all) coast defence guns mounted around the island, which are out in the open and don't require a ticket. A note for anyone planning to visit is that while the fortress seems to be open pretty much all the time, the three military museum sites don't open until 11am, so if you get there early like I did, you end up with time to kill.There is a good shop at the military art gallery site, with a smaller version of it in the equipment hall (at Vesikko you can just buy t-shirts and mugs). The two main shops sold a range of books, including a number published by the museum itself - I ended up buying four books on the Finnish Navy, and have now completely blown my non-existent luggage allowance (I was attempting to visit 14 countries over 7 weeks with only a small carry-on bag). I suspect I will have to visit a Post Office before I catch my next flight.Anyway - another good visit, and the highlight of my visit to Helsinki.
Links and References:
George, A, 2016, Finnish Submarine Vesikko: Submarine Designed in Holland, Built in Finland, Tested by Germany, Warship World, 14 (10), pp27-28.
Corwin, W, 1985, Vesikko, Warship International, 22 (4), pp392-395.