Attack on Strömstad
| date | July 19, 1717 |
|---|---|
| place | Strömstad , Bohuslan , Sweden |
| output | Swedish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| Beach batteries and infantry 1800 men |
three ships of the line, two of them, nine galleys, 20 rowing boats |
| losses | |
|
19 dead |
96 dead, |
1st phase: Swedish dominance (1700–1709)
Riga I • Jungfernhof • Varja • Pühhajoggi • Narva • Pechora • Düna • Rauge • Erastfer • Hummelshof • Embach • Tartu • Narva II • Wesenberg I • Wesenberg II
Arkhangelsk • Lake Ladoga • Nöteborg • Nyenschanz • Neva • Systerbäck • Petersburg • Vyborg I • Porvoo • Neva II • Koporje II • Kolkanpää
Vilnius • Salads • Jacobstadt • Walled Courtyard • Mitau • Grodno I • Olkieniki • Nyaswisch • Klezk • Ljachavichy
Klissow • Pułtusk • Thorn • Lemberg • Warsaw • Posen • Punitz • Tillendorf • Rakowitz • Praga • Fraustadt • Kalisch
Grodno II • Golovchin • Moljatitschi • Rajowka • Lesnaja • Desna • Baturyn • Koniecpol • Weprik • Opischnja • Krasnokutsk • Sokolki • Poltava I • Poltava II
2nd phase: Sweden on the defensive (1710–1721)
Riga II • Vyborg II • Pernau • Kexholm • Reval • Hogland • Pälkäne • Storkyro • Nyslott • Hanko
Helsingborg • Køge Bay • Gulf of Bothnia • Frederikshald I • Dynekilen Fjord • Gothenburg I • Strömstad • Trondheim • Frederikshald II • Marstrand • Ösel • Gothenburg II • Södra Stäket • Grönham • Sundsvall
Elbing • Wismar I • Lübow • Stralsund I • Greifswalder Bodden I • Stade • Rügen • Gadebusch • Altona • Tönning II • Stettin • Fehmarn • Wismar II • Stralsund II • Jasmund • Peenemünde • Greifswalder Bodden II • Stresow
During the attack on Strömstad on July 19, 1717 during the Great Northern War , a Danish fleet under the command of Captain Peter Wessel Tordenskiold tried to destroy the port and the city of Strömstad on the Swedish west coast.
In advance
The town of Strömstad is two miles from the Swedish-Norwegian border. After the defeat in Dynekilen Fjord and the subsequent retreat from Norway , the Swedes began to fortify the small coastal town. It was a very conveniently located base for the Swedish fleet, as the activities of the Danish fleet could be monitored very well from this port. In addition, the city was expanded as a supply base. On the offshore island of Laholm, a horn factory with 14 eighteen pound cannons was built. The fortress was called "Carolus Battery". The island was connected to the mainland by a bridge. For this purpose, six gun batteries were placed on both sides of the city .
Major General Johan Giertta led the defense of this strategically important city . About 1,800 men were available to him in the garrison . The Danes did not miss these preparations for a second campaign in Norway. They sent Tordenskiold to destroy the city. His fleet hoisted anchor off Fredrikshald on July 14th and sailed towards Strömstad. Unfavorable winds left part of the fleet behind.
On July 15, the ships of the line reached the island of Laholm and went within range of the Carolus battery located on the island. The Danish command first examined the fortifications. Tordenskiold then drew up the attack plan together with his ship commanders. The three ships of the line were supposed to divert the Carolus battery, while the piece subframes and galleys steered past the island into the harbor. The storm troops (1000 men) were then to take the port and the positions on land with the help of row boats.
The plan could only be implemented when all ships were in front of Strömstad. On July 18, 1717, the piece of Noah Ark with three galleys reached the anchorage of the Danes. With the delays the risk of failure of the enterprise increased, because the Swedish general Giertta was drawing more and more troops together in Strömstad. The white tents of the infantry regiments could be seen from the Danish ships. Their number grew from day to day. This prompted the Danish commander to discuss a change of plan with his commanders. So it was decided not to wait for the rest of the ships and to attack the following night.
The attack
The attack began on the night of July 18-19, 1717. The pram Noah Ark lay down in front of the Carolus battery and began firing at around one o'clock. Since the ships of the line had not followed so quickly, the captain Grip had to break off the attack and retreat behind a protruding rock. Around six o'clock in the morning the three ships of the line and the boat were in position together in front of the battery and began the fatal fire. A little later, all of the Swedish artillerymen were either dead or wounded and the battery was switched off. But the Swedish general reacted to this situation and sent new troops across the bridge to the battery, which resumed the shelling.
In order to break this connection with the mainland, Tordenskiold sent his three galleys against the bridge to bombard them. In this position, the ships were exposed to the mainland batteries without protection, so that they quickly withdrew. Only the Prahm Noah Ark under Captain Grip remained in this position. He prevented further troops from being sent to the Carolus Battery, but the captain was so badly wounded by a grape ball that he had to be brought to his cabin. From there he continued to give orders to hold the position and fire at the bridge. The commanding lieutenant only maneuvered the prahm out of the danger area after it had received four hits below the keel line and threatened to sink.
The ships of the line were also under heavy fire from the Carolus battery. Tordenskiold, who was on the Laland , was only standing on deck with his brother Captain Wessel and a sailor when he learned of the wounding of Captain Grip.
At that moment the second boat and the rest of the galleys appeared. Tordenskiold had four galleys with 300 men steered towards the coast and tried to land. He himself was on board the galley Sophia and commanded the attack. But only two crews had the courage to take this action. As the crews of the galleys Sophia and Prince Charles approached the coast and ready talked to the landing craft to rise, they were greeted by a grenadier battalion under the direct command of General Giertta in an ambush enticed. At just under 30 feet away, the ship's decks were taken under rifle fire and a short time later were littered with dead and wounded. Panic prevailed on the ships and those who could escaped below deck to escape the bullets. On the galley Prince Karl only two crew members survived the attack. While trying to call for reinforcements, Tordenskiold was hit by three bullets in the upper body. The attempt to land was canceled and the galleys with the galleys hurrying to help were dragged out of the danger area.
The fire of the Carolus battery flared up again and when Tordenskiold realized that the venture had failed, he had all ships brought out of battery range and sailed back to Fredrikshald.
The consequences
Although the Danes had not lost any of their ships, they still suffered heavy losses. As a direct consequence of the unsuccessful attempt to destroy the city, Tordenskiold's command of the Kattegat fleet was withdrawn. Admiral Rosenpalm took command and was ordered to block Strömstad. This blockade had to be abandoned on August 28 of the same year, because a Swedish transport fleet broke through the blockade and in the subsequent pursuit of the ships, the Danish ships got caught in the fire of the land batteries in Strömstad and suffered very heavy losses.
The Swedish king went personally to Strömstad to thank the general for the successful defense. He arrived in town while a thanksgiving service was being held. After participating in this, the king visited the wounded and the battlefield. He also dealt with the reinforcement of the defenses.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Lundblad, p. 542
- ↑ a b Lundblad, p. 546
- ↑ Lundblad, p. 544
- ↑ a b Fryxell, p. 428
- ↑ Lundblad, p. 547
literature
- Anders Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden Volume 2, Braunschweig (1861)
- Knut Lundblad, Georg Friedrich Jenssen-Tusch: History of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden , Volume 2, Hamburg (1835)