The Construction of Diana

The Artillery Sloop Project & Shipbuilding

A shipyard founded by the Ehrensvärd Society and the Viapori Shipyard Foundation built a cannon loupe in Suomenlinna. The artillery loop Diana construction project started in the autumn of 2010 and the ship was baptized as the Diana in the summer of 2014 and was registered in the spring of 2015.

The artillery loop belonging to the archipelago fleet represented the new ship design of the 18th century. It was a low-passage and heavily armed ship capable of both sailing and rowing. The hull of the sloop with two masts and 15 pairs of airs was 20 meters long and 4.5 meters wide. It was rowed by 50 men. Small and agile artillery magnifiers played a decisive role in the naval battle of the Swedish Strait in 1790 during the War of Gustav III (1788–1790), which ended in a glorious victory for the Swedish navy.

Artillery loupe Diana is based on drawings by ship architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman and old documents from the Swedish Navy’s drawing office. The ship was built using traditional building materials and construction methods at the Suomenlinna shipyard, which until 1808 served as the base for the Viapori squadron of the Swedish archipelago fleet. The shipyard currently operates as a traditional ship center, where ships of cultural and historical value are rehabilitated and restored. As with the example of the Enlightenment, the new cannon magnifier can be used for sailing and rowing. However, the ship’s wooden deck hides underneath modern technology and an electric motor. Diana is Finland’s first electric passenger ship in the sea area.

The ship’s operations are managed by Suomenlinna’s tourism expert Oy.

Video Footage of Cannon Sloop Diana and its Construction

Timelaps video depicting the construction of the sloop

The video tells the story of artillery magnifiers from the end of the 18th century and visits the Suomenlinna shipyard.

The video, created by Metropolia, introduces the cannon magnifier with the help of a scale model and animation. Sometimes there is also a picture of Diana’s construction phase.