As part of the “Battle of Åland” campaign in the Crimean War (1853-1855), Britain and France sought to obstruct Russia’s foreign trade and force Russia to accept peace.

The intention was to render the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea obsolete by destroying the coastal defence fortresses, vessels and storehouses that Russia used in foreign trade. As most of the merchant ships sailing under the Russian flag at that time were based in Finland, most of the damage ended up being inflected on Finnish property.

After the Battle of Åland, the majority of the navigation markers in the Finnish Archipelago had to be rebuilt. Drawings of these new navigation markers remain in various archives.