In the early spring of 1790, the third, decisive campaign of the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790 began. Despite all efforts, King Gustav III had not managed to achieve any noticeable advantage over the two previous years. Russia, while simultaneously waging a victorious war with Turkey in the south, not only successfully fought back in the Baltic, but also inflicted tangible retaliatory strikes on the Swedes. The main role here was played by the Baltic Fleet, which defeated the enemy in the Hogland and 1st Rochensalm battles. However, this did not cool the warlike fervor of the king. He longed for revenge, pinning his hopes on his naval forces. His plan was simple and audacious. Considering that the Swedish coast and ports are cleared of ice two weeks earlier than the Gulf of Finland, Gustav intended to send his fleet to Revel, where the squadron of Vice-Admiral V. Chichagov spent the winter, and destroy it using the surprise factor. Then the king proposed to inflict the same blow on the Kronstadt squadron of Vice-Admiral A. Cruz, to land troops at the walls of St. Petersburg, where he would dictate the conditions of peace to the Russians. Before going to sea, the commander-in-chief of the Swedish fleet, the king's brother, Admiral-General Duke Karl of Südermanland, received comprehensive information from his scouts about the state of Revel harbor and the ships standing in it. Considering the two-fold superiority in forces, the Swedes were confident of victory.
However, the Russian intelligence officers also ate their bread for a reason, and soon V. Chichagov already knew about the upcoming attack. In winter, he visited the capital, reported to the empress on the plans of the fleet for the current campaign. Catherine II asked if V. Chichagov could repel the attack of superior enemy forces on Reval in the spring. The vice admiral assured her that he would manage. “But there are a lot of them, but you are not enough!” - Ekaterina did not calm down. "Nothing, mother, do not swallow, choke!" the commander replied.
On the Revel roadstead, the Russian squadron was preparing for battle. It consisted of ten ships of the line and five frigates, up to 900 guns in total. V. Chichagov was especially alarmed by the fact that the squadron had not yet floated, and the crews of the ships consisted of three-quarters of recruits who had seen the sea for the first time. Therefore, V. Chichagov decided to accept the battle while anchored, "strengthening his position defensively."
All battleships and the frigate "Venus" lined up in the first line. The rest of the frigates, auxiliary vessels and fire ships made up the second line. The vanguard commander, Vice Admiral A. Musin-Pushkin, was stationed on the Saratov, the rearguard commander, Rear Admiral P. Khanykov, on the 74-gun St. Helena. The commander raised his flag on the Rostislav. Everyone was in a hurry. Working around the clock, Russian sailors managed to load cannonballs and gunpowder, and replenish supplies. On May 1, the squadron met the enemy in full readiness.
The next day at Fr. Nargen saw the Swedes in the morning haze. The enemy fleet consisted of 20 ships of the line and seven frigates with more than 1600 guns. In addition to the teams, there were six thousand landing people on the ships. During the passage, the Swedes conducted several artillery exercises, and their fleet was quite amalgamated.
A faint wind was blowing, favorable to the attackers. Having found each other almost simultaneously, the opponents were still in different situations. If for V. Chichagov, the appearance of the Swedes was not a surprise, then for Karl Südermanlandsky the sight of Russian ships ready to join the battle was an unpleasant surprise. This confused the Duke's plans. On the quarterdecks of the Swedish flagship ship "Gustav III" all the officers gathered for a conference. After a short debate, they decided to attack the Russian squadron under sail.
Karl told Chief of Staff Nordenskjold that twenty years ago the Russians had burned the Turkish fleet at Chesme in this way. This time, the Swedes decided to repeat the Russian maneuver, but at the same time burn them themselves. At the side of "Gustav III" the frigate "Ulla Fersen" was already swaying on the waves, to which, before the battle, by order of the king, his brother had to get over, so as not to be exposed to unnecessary danger.
The wind began to rapidly intensify, with its gusts urging the Swedish ships directly into Revel Bay. Unable to stay in line, one of the ships of the line jumped out onto the stones all the way, firmly seated on them. Avoiding the loser, from whom the guns were thrown overboard, the fleet continued to move. The commander of the flagship, Clint, tried to convince Rear Admiral Nordenskjold to accept the battle at anchor, pointing to a sharp deterioration in the weather. "Late! - threw the chief of staff, - We are already attacking!"
V. Chichagov made the last preparations for the battle. At the council of war, he ordered to hit from the guns only on the sails and spars, in order to deprive the Swedish ships of the opportunity to maneuver. “They, darlings, will be nailed to us. Backlash is a passing one for them! " - explained the vice admiral. And then the signal "Prepare for battle!" Soared over "Rostislav". Calmed down on the battery decks. The strong hands of the gunners were already gripping the banniks and ganspugs. A light smoke escaped from the fuses. By ten in the morning on May 2, 1790, the leading Swedish ships entered the Russian squadron at a distance of fire. The battle has begun.
The enemy, approaching the squadron, turned through the fordewind to the left tack and walked along the entire Russian battle line, and then retreated north to the island of Wulf. The head Swedish sailing ship "Dristikgeten", descending in the wind, swept along at a high speed parallel to the Russian ships. His salvo had no success. The kernels lay undershot. But in response, he received several well-aimed volleys from each Russian ship and, turning towards Wulf, shielded with holes in the sails. And along the line of the Russians the next one was already rushing - "Raxen Stender". Seriously injured, he ran aground near Wolfe Island and, after attempting to lift off the rocks, was abandoned by the team and burned.
A favorable wind drove the enemy ships to the shore and heeled them to the starboard side so that the lower batteries were flooded with water, and all the upper ones became open targets for the Russian gunners. The fifth in a row in the Swedish ranks was a ship flying the flag of the vanguard commander, Rear Admiral Modee. To set an example of courage, he turned away from the Russian line only a dozen meters. His ship managed to achieve several hits, but he himself barely left with broken yards.
The Russian artillerymen acted harmoniously, their volleys followed one after another with minimal intervals. The Forsigtikheten, who tried to repeat the maneuver of the vanguard commander, paid with a deck that was cleaned with buckshot. He was replaced, desperately heeling, the flagship "Gustav III". But as soon as his commander Clint effectively paraded along the Russian squadron, a well-aimed shot from the Yaroslav interrupted the ship's forehead. It immediately began to be carried towards the Russians.
V. Chichagov gave the command to get ready to take the enemy flagship for boarding. However, the Swedes managed to repair the damage just twenty fathoms away from Rostislav. "Gustav III" was lucky and narrowly escaped capture. But miracles are not repeated. The rear matelot of the flagship "Prince Karl", which was broken at the turn by the main and foremastmills, could not be saved. The ship became uncontrollable. An attempt to restore position using the lower sails failed.
They were immediately swept away by Russian nuclei. After ten minutes of resistance, "Prince Karl" dropped anchor and surrendered at the mercy of the victors. V. Chichagov crossed himself: "There is one!" The Sophia-Magdalene, which followed it, was ready to share the fate of the captive ship. He was lucky - "Prince Karl" covered him with himself from the Russian cannons. At a distance from the battle, Karl Südermanlandsky watched with horror what was happening. The fate of the "Prince Charles" awaited many of his best ships. The signal to end the battle soared over the Ulla Fersen. Swedish ships were in a hurry to get away from the destructive fire of the Russians. In the distance near Fr. Wulf blazed a huge bonfire on the Raxen Stender.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Russian "Hurray!" Was thundering over the raid. The Revel battle ended in complete victory. Having lost two ships of the line and more than 700 prisoners, the Swedes withdrew. Russian losses amounted to 8 killed and 27 wounded. It would seem that the Revel fiasco should have sobered the Swedes, but Karl Südermanlandsky believed otherwise. He was sure that the Russians had suffered serious losses, and besides, Chichagov was still not ready to sail. And the Swedes turned to Kronstadt.
Reinforcements arrived from Karlskrona: two new ships of the line, a frigate and several transports with various supplies. The king, who was with the rowing fleet at Rochensalm, having received news of the defeat and the desire of his brother to renew the attack on the Russians, blessed the duke and his fleet for victory. But Kronstadt was already preparing to meet the foe. The ships standing there were headed by the idol of youth, the heroic captain "Eustathia" under Chesma, Vice Admiral A. Cruz. Direct and quick-tempered Cruz often became objectionable to the high society. Yes, and Catherine II treated him with coolness. But the fleet adored its hero, believed in him - this determined his appointment as commander of the Kronstadt squadron.
Preparations for the upcoming campaign were associated with great difficulties. The best went to Revel to Chichagov, the Kronstadters were content with the rest. There were not enough officers to recruit teams - A. Cruz ordered to take the army, there were not enough sailors - they took orderlies from the capital and even prisoners from prisons. To provide the squadron with supplies, the admiral went to the extreme - ordered to knock down the locks from the warehouses and rake out everything that was there.
Upon learning of the events at Revel, the vice admiral decided to take a position between the islands of Seskar and Biorke. On the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, steep cliffs, popularly called Krasnaya Gorka, rose in the distance. To strengthen the position and defense of the fairway, the old battleship and the frigate were left near Kronstadt, and the northern fairway from Sisterbek to Eotlin was blocked by small vessels. The main forces of the Kronstadt squadron consisted of seventeen ships of the line and twelve frigates.
And in St. Petersburg, confusion reigned. Having learned about the Swedish forces that came to Revel, Catherine II was worried: is the Kronstadt squadron ready to repel a possible attack? "Tell me, what is Cruz doing now?" - every now and then she asked her secretary Khrapovitsky. "Rest assured, your majesty, he will overpower the devil himself!" - answered the secretary, who knew the vice-admiral closely. Not reassured by the answer, Catherine sent to Kronstadt the former chief of Cruise on the Archipelagic expedition, Alexei Orlov, with instructions to find out what and how. Arriving on the flagship "John the Baptist" ("Chesma"), Orlov jokingly asked Cruz: "When will the Swedes come to St. Petersburg?" Cruz gestured to the squadron: "Only when they pass through the chips of my ships!" Returning from the squadron, Orlov calmed the empress.
At dawn on May 23, 1790, the opponents found each other four miles away. 42 Swedish ships, unlike ours, were located in 2 battle lines. But this did not embarrass Cruise in the least. His squadron with a slanting line in a checkerboard pattern and with its right wing advanced forward on the enemy.
The first to enter the battle were the ships of the vanguard under the command of Vice Admiral Y. Sukhotin. The Swedes turned the full power of their cannons to her. The fierceness of the battle increased with each passing minute. The Russian gunners fired so often that there were even bursts of guns that crippled and killed the servants. In the midst of the battle, a Swedish cannonball launched at close range tore off Y. Sukhotin's leg. However, the vice admiral did not allow himself to be carried to the ship's infirmary, but, bleeding on the quarterdecks, continued to command the vanguard.
With each passing hour, the Swedes intensified their onslaught. Cruz, walking on the deck of the flagship, was outwardly completely calm, smoking his favorite clay pipe. Only once did the commander turn pale when he learned about the injury of his friend, Yakov Sukhotin. Having transferred command to the flagship commander, he rushed to the vanguard in a boat to say goodbye to his dying comrade. He hugged, kissed, according to Russian custom, and back. Under enemy fire, he walked around the entire squadron. Standing to his full height, drenched in the blood of a sailor killed nearby, he encouraged the crews, giving the necessary orders to the captains.
By evening, the Swedes fired less often. Their ships, extinguishing the fires, began to leave the battle one after another. The wind died down, and Karl Südermanlandsky feared that calm would overtake him. The Russian squadron was in the same position. The place of the battle remained with her!
As soon as the last volleys had stopped, Cruise on a boat again bypassed the ships. He examined the damage and congratulated the sailors on their victory. In the evening, Catherine received a report from the commander of the rowing flotilla, Prince K. Nassau-Siegen, who was at Vyborg. It is not known for what reasons, but he informed the empress that Cruz was utterly defeated and the Swedes were about to break through to the capital. Panic began in the palace. However, closer to midnight, a message came from Kronstadt that Cruz, although he was attacked by the enemy, fired back all day and did not retreat.
On May 24, the battle resumed. Karl was now striking at the Russian center. He approached Cruise's squadron, but did not become very close and, wanting to take advantage of the large number of his ships, made various maneuvers, but all the tricks of the enemy were unsuccessful, and Cruz everywhere opposed him with a worthy rebuff. Trying to reach the Russian ships at the maximum distance, the Swedes hit the water with cannonballs so that they ricocheted to reach the target. But it did not help. The squadron met the enemy with fierce fire. Moreover, dance music thundered on the Russian flagship, which incredibly amazed Karl. After holding out for half an hour, the Swedes withdrew.
Learning about the deplorable state of his brother, Gustav III, who was with rowing ships four miles from the battlefield in Biorkesund, sent Karla to support twenty galleys. But two Russian frigates put them to flight. Soon the king was informed that the squadron of V. Chichagov, having entered under sail, was moving towards Kronstadt. Gustav immediately notified Karl of this. The duke had one last chance. And he decided on it. Raising battle flags, the Swedish ships rushed forward. Frequent volleys rang out again. We jumped over the decks of the cannonball. The Swedes pressed forward with such decisiveness that the Kronstadters began to faint under the onslaught of the superior enemy. The moment came when the position of the squadron became critical: the Swedes, at the cost of incredible efforts, managed to cut through the weakened line of the Russians. Cruise's ships were shot through and through. The upper decks were covered with dead, streams of blood froze in the scuppers.
It seemed that the battle was lost according to all linear canons. But Vice Admiral Cruz found the only correct way out in this situation. At his signal, a detachment of frigates, which was in reserve, rushed at the enemy. Having made a dashing maneuver, the ships decisively attacked the enemy, forcing him to retreat. The situation was restored. The Russian squadron, as before, was blocking the Swedes' path to St. Petersburg. Cruz, who was closely following the course of the battle, noticed that the Swedes began firing blank charges, trying to maintain the noise and conserve ammunition. "What if the adversary's stock has come to an end!" - thought the vice admiral. He ordered the squadron to take a new course in order to get close to the Swedes. But, not accepting the fight at the shortest distance, they began to hastily retreat. The admiral's guess was confirmed. On a signal from the flagship, the small Kronstadt squadron rushed in pursuit of the enemy. The danger of a Swedish attack on the capital was eliminated.
The Swedish fleet, towed by thalers, tried to hide in the Vyborg Bay. Cruise's ships pursued him relentlessly. The Revel squadron of V. Chichagov came to their aid. Together, the Russian sailors drove the enemy to Vyborg and blocked it there. Only a month later, at the cost of huge losses, he managed to break through to Karlskrona, but the fate of the Russian-Swedish war was a foregone conclusion. Nothing could save the snake from the defeat of Gustav III. Soon a peace was signed in the town of Verele, according to which Sweden renounced all its claims and pledged to reimburse Russia for all the costs of the war. Catherine II was again able to focus the country's efforts on the fight against Turkey. But, as it turned out, not for long.
