Pojama

A pojama or pojema (also pojanmaa) was a type of warship built for the Swedish archipelago fleet in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The pojama was designed by the prolific naval architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman for use in an area of mostly shallow waters and groups of islands and islets that extend from Stockholm all the way to the Gulf of Finland.

The pojama was intended to complement and partially to replace the existing galleys of the Swedish inshore squadrons, but were designed as hybrid sailing vessels that could also be rowed.

[2] The Swedish military invested considerable resources into the establishment of the "archipelago fleet" (skärgårdsflottan), a separate branch of the armed forced that organizationally belonged to the army.

In 1756, it was even officially designated Arméns flotta, "Navy of the Army", though it was in many ways a highly independent organization that attracted a social and cultural elite and enjoyed the protection of Gustav III after his 1772 coup that empowered him as an absolute monarch.

The result was four new vessels that combined the maneuverability of oar-powered galleys with the superior rigs and decent living conditions of sailing ships: the udema, pojama, turuma and hemmema, named after the Finnish regions of Uudeenmaa (Uusimaa), Pohjanmaa, Turunmaa and Hämeenmaa (Tavastia).

For maneuverability, it carried 14 pairs of oars which operated through oarports attached to a rectangular outrigger which improved the leverage for the oarsmen.