Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790 230 years ago, on July 26, 1789, the Åland naval battle between the Russian and Swedish fleets took place. Tactically, the battle ended in a draw due to the indecision of Admiral Chichagov. Strategically, this was a victory for Russia, the Swedes could not prevent the connection of the two Russian squadrons and ceded dominance at sea.
General situation
Sweden, pushed by England, France and Prussia, decided to restore its former dominance in the Baltic, and in 1788 began a war with Russia. The Swedish king Gustav III hoped that the main and best forces of Russia were connected with the war with the Turkish Empire. The Swedish leadership hoped with a surprise attack on land and at sea to create a threat to seize the Russian capital - Petersburg, and force Catherine II to agree to a peace beneficial to Sweden.
In July 1788, 38 thousand. The Swedish army, led by the king, moved to Friedrichsgam, Wilmanstrand and Neishlot. Russian 14 thous. the army, led by Count Musin-Pushkin, was extremely weak, mostly consisting of barely trained or not trained soldiers at all. However, the Swedes were unable to use their numerical and qualitative advantage, and got stuck in an unsuccessful siege of Neishlot. In August, the Swedish army retreated beyond its border indefinitely. The Swedish fleet under the command of the king's brother, Duke Karl of Südermanland, was to attack the Russian fleet at Kronstadt and land troops to attack the Russian capital. A squadron under the command of Admiral Greig left Kronstadt and as a result of the Battle of Hogland on July 6 (17) forced the Swedish fleet to retreat to Sveaborg. There the Swedes were blocked by our fleet.
During the blockade of the Swedish fortress, Admiral Greig fell seriously ill. On October 15, Samuel Karlovich Greig died. Rear Admiral Kozlyaninov took command of the fleet in his absence. He lifted the blockade of Sveaborg and the Russian fleet went to winter in Revel and Kronstadt. On November 9, the Swedish naval fleet left Sveaborg and calmly reached its main naval base, Karlskrona. The Swedish king was able to return to Sweden with troops loyal to him and suppress the rebellion.
Thus, the plan for the "Swedish blitzkrieg" was destroyed. Stockholm was unable to use the weakness of Russia in the St. Petersburg direction. Denmark entered the war against Sweden, there was a threat of invasion of its troops. In addition, a rebellion began in Sweden itself. Anjala Union (a group of rebel officers) opposed the absolutism of King Gustav III. The rebels presented the king with demands for an end to the war, the convocation of the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) and the restoration of the constitutional order. The mutiny was suppressed, but distracted Stockholm from the war with Russia.
Copenhagen squadron
The main events took place at sea. The outcome of the war depended on the outcome of the confrontation between the Russian and Swedish fleets. The Swedes hoped to crush the Russian fleet, divided into two large parts (in Copenhagen and Kronstadt), and thereby force Petersburg to a peace advantageous for Sweden. Even before the outbreak of war in 1788, part of the Baltic Fleet was sent to the Mediterranean to fight the Turks. The detachment consisted of three new 100-gun ships "John the Baptist" ("Chesma"), "Three Hierarchs" and "Saratov", a 32-gun frigate "Nadezhda", as well as several transports. The detachment was commanded by Vice Admiral Willim Petrovich Fidezin (von Desin). In Copenhagen, the boats Mercury and Dolphin, built in England, joined Fondazine's squadron. In addition, a squadron of Rear Admiral Povalishin arrived in the Danish capital - four new ships built in Arkhangelsk, two frigates. Denmark, which was an ally of Russia, reinforced the Russian squadron with three battleships and one frigate. As a result, a strong squadron appeared in Russia - 10 battleships, 4 frigates, 2 boats, several transports.
The commander of the Copenhagen squadron, Fondezin, turned out to be a weak naval commander. At the beginning of the war, he received the task of attacking the Swedish port of Gothenburg, where there were three enemy frigates, then it was possible to attack the Swedish city of Marstrand. But the admiral was inactive. Then Fidezin, having no information about the enemy, sent two transports with artillery and other equipment for new ships to Arkhangelsk. The Swedes seized the transport "Kildin" in full view of the Russian fleet.
Further, Fondezin was ordered to block Karlskrona and, when the enemy fleet appeared, to give him a battle. In September - October 1788 our squadron set out for the blockade of the Swedish port. But upon learning of the death of Admiral Greig and the withdrawal of the squadron by Kozlyaninov, which was blocking the Swedish ships in Sveaborg, Fidezin was afraid of a meeting with the enemy fleet and retreated to Copenhagen. He did not even wait for the three ships that Kozlyaninov sent him. Thanks to this, the Swedish fleet calmly came to Karlskrona.
On November 12, three ships from Reval (Panteleimon, Pobedonosets and Mecheslav) arrived in Copenhagen, joining Fidezin's squadron. The admiral nearly killed them. After delaying a whole month in setting up the ships for a safe wintering, Fondazin left them in Sound (this is the strait that separates Sweden from the Danish island of Zealand). There the ships for the whole winter, under the threat of death, rushed along with the ice between the coasts of Denmark and Sweden. The ships did not die, which was the merit of their crews and a fluke. It was not for nothing that Empress Catherine II noted: "Fidezin will oversleep and lose ships." At the end of December, he was replaced, and in the spring of 1789 Kozlyaninov entered the command of the Copenhagen squadron, who was promoted to vice admiral.
Campaign of 1789
In 1789, the Russian army in Finland was brought to 20 thousand people and Musin-Pushkin decided to go on the offensive, despite the numerical superiority of the enemy. The war was moved to Swedish territory. During the summer, our troops occupied a significant part of Finland with S. Michel and Friedrichsgam. There were no major battles on land, as in the campaign of 1788.
At sea, the confrontation continued. By the beginning of the 1789 campaign, the Russian fleet, reinforced with newly built rowing ships, had 35 ships of the line, 13 frigates and more than 160 rowing ships. The Russian fleet was divided into several parts: in Revel there was a squadron of Admiral Chichagov, who was appointed commander of the Baltic Fleet; in Kronstadt, the squadron of Rear Admiral Spiridov was preparing and the reserve squadron of Vice Admiral Kruse was stationed; in Denmark - Kozlyaninov's squadron; the rowing fleet was concentrated mainly in St. Petersburg. At the same time, the position of our ships in the Danish capital was complicated by the hostile attitude of England and Prussia. Copenhagen was under pressure from London and Berlin and was forced to stop the war with Sweden, albeit without a peace. However, the Danes treasured their alliance with Russia, therefore they considered it their duty to protect our squadron. The Danish fleet, together with our ships, defended the entrance to the Copenhagen roadstead. That is, the Danes defended their capital from the Swedes and at the same time supported the Russian squadron. By the summer, the naval artillery of the Russian squadron was significantly strengthened by replacing the 6- and 12-pounder cannons with 24- and 36-pounder carronades purchased from the British.
The Swedish naval fleet consisted of 30 ships of the line, which were located in Karlskrona. Three large frigates spent the winter in Gothenburg. The rowing fleet was divided into two parts: the first was located in Stockholm and other ports of Sweden, the second - in Sveaborg. There were also several ships on Lake Saimo. The Swedish command was going to prevent the Russians from joining forces, smashing the Russian fleet in parts and gaining dominance at sea.
The hostilities in 1789 began with the feat of the boat "Mercury" Lieutenant Commander Roman Crown. In April, a 22-gun boat left Copenhagen on cruise and won 29 Swedish merchant ships in the prize, in May - attacked and captured the 12-gun tender "Snapop". May 21 (June 1) in the Christian Fjord "Mercury" discovered the Swedish 44-gun frigate "Venus". Crown displayed not only courage, but also military cunning. The boat was disguised as a merchant ship and, using the calm, came close to the stern of the enemy frigate. If there was a wind, the Swedish frigate could simply shoot the Mercury from 24-pounder cannons at a distance of half a mile, without entering the firing zone of its small-caliber cannons (it could conduct effective shelling at a distance of a quarter of a mile). The Russian ship landed sideways to the stern of the frigate and opened fire on the enemy's rigging and spars. The Swedes could only fire from the poop (there were several 6-pounder guns), and in the course of an hour and a half battle they lost most of the mast and rigging. The Swedish frigate surrendered, 302 people were taken prisoner. Our losses are 4 killed and 6 wounded. For this battle, the Russian empress awarded Crown with the Order of St. George, 4th degree and promoted him to captain of the 2nd rank. The brave man was appointed commander of the captured frigate. During the war with Sweden, Crown distinguished himself in several more battles, was promoted to captain of the 1st rank. In 1824 he rose to the rank of full admiral.
Chichagov in May sent ships to the entrance to the Gulf of Finland to observe the Swedish fleet and to the skerries of Gangut and Porkallaud to inspect these important points and strike at the communications of the Swedish galley fleet. However, the Swedes took advantage of the fact that the Russians did not occupy Gangut during the 1788 campaign and erected strong fortifications there in winter and spring, armed with 50 cannons and mortars. By doing this, they ensured themselves free passage through the skerries.
Sent from Reval to Porkalloud, the captain of the 2nd rank Sheshukov with a detachment of the battleship Boleslav, frigates Premislav, Mstislavets and boats Neva and Flying troops. The Swedes tried to oust Sheshukov's detachment, but without success. On June 21, 8 ships of the Swedish rowing fleet, which left Sveaborg and wanted to break through in the Porkallaud area, with the support of coastal batteries, attacked a Russian detachment. After a stubborn two-hour battle, the Swedes retreated. Russian ships landed troops and destroyed the enemy coastal battery. On June 23, Sheshukov's detachment at a position near Porkallaud was replaced by a detachment of Captain 1st Rank Glebov (2 battleships, 2 frigates and 2 boats). Glebov's detachment remained in this position until mid-October.
In August, the Swedes again tried to unblock Porkallaud. For this, a detachment of 3 battleships and 3 frigates left Karlskrona. Swedish ships approached Berezund, where they joined up with a rowing flotilla and were going to attack Glebov's detachment. However, then the Swedes learned that Trevenin's squadron came to the aid of Glebov's detachment, and the main forces of the Russian fleet were discovered in the sea in the Revel region. As a result, the Swedes abandoned the operation to free the passage in the Porkallaud area and returned to Karlskrona.
Öland battle
On July 2, 1789, Chichagov's Revel squadron, reinforced by Spiridov's ships that arrived from Kronstadt at the end of May, went to sea to join up with the Copenhagen squadron. The Russian fleet consisted of 20 battleships (3 - 100-cannon, 9 - 74-cannon and 8 - 66-cannon), 6 frigates, 2 bombardment ships, 2 boats and auxiliary ships. Admiral Chichagov held the flank on the 100-gun "Rostilava", Rear Admiral Spiridov - on the 100-gun "Twelve Apostles", Vice-Admiral Musin-Pushkin - on the 100-gun "Vladimir".
On July 14 (25), 1789, at the southern tip of the island of Öland, Chichagov's squadron discovered the Swedish fleet under the command of Duke Karl of Södermanland (in Russian tradition, Karl of Südermanland). The Swedish fleet had 21 ships of the line (7 - 74-gun ships, 14 ships had from 60 to 66 guns) and 8 heavy frigates (40 - 44 guns each), which the Swedes also put in the battle line. The Swedes had an advantage in strength. However, the Russian battleships had more powerful artillery and numerous crews. The Swedish ships had a shortage of crews.
The battle began on July 15 (26), at 2 pm, approximately 50 nautical miles southeast of Öland. The Swedish fleet, being in the wind, in the battle line on the port tack, began to slowly descend towards Chichagov's squadron. When the wind changed, the Swedes corrected their line and tried to maintain contact with Karlskrona. The long-range firefight of large-caliber guns continued until the evening (Russian naval commander Ushakov called such cases a "lazy battle"). Both admirals were clearly avoiding a decisive engagement. After the battle, the Swedish fleet took refuge in Karskrona.
As a result, the losses on both sides were small. Half of our ships were slightly damaged, others were intact. Killed and wounded - 210 people. One of the best Russian sailors, the commander of the Mstislav Grigory Mulovsky, who in 1787 became the head of a detachment of four ships assigned for the first Russian round-the-world voyage (as a result, the Russian government abandoned the plan for a round-the-world voyage for many years), died. The 66-gun ship "Fight" by Captain 1st Rank D. Preston suffered the greatest losses (15 killed and 98 wounded). He had to be sent for repairs to Kronstadt. At the same time, the ship was no longer damaged by enemy shells, but by the explosion of its three guns. The Swedish fleet apparently suffered about the same losses. Already during the battle, three ships were withdrawn by tugs beyond the battle line.
Having learned from the merchants about the Battle of Eland, Kozlyaninov's Copenhagen squadron left the Danish straits and soon joined the Chichagov fleet. For several days the Russian fleet held out at Karlskrona, and then returned to Revel. The Swedes did not dare to fight again.
Thus, the Ezel battle ended tactically in a draw. However, strategically it was a victory for the Russians. Russian naval squadrons united and gained dominance at sea.
