Russian naval operation in the Gulf of Bothnia, 1714

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Russian galley from the Great Northern War

The Russian naval operation in the Gulf of Bothnia in 1714 was the prelude to a whole series of Russian devastations on the Swedish coast in the Great Northern War . The venture ended in a fiasco, as 16 out of 60 galleys sank in the Baltic Sea by storms , with a total of 285 Russian soldiers drowning.

prehistory

By 1714 the Russians managed to build a fleet in the Baltic Sea from scratch that was equal to the Swedish navy .

After the sea ​​battle at Hanko , the Swedish fleet withdrew from the Gulf of Finland and cruised between the Aland Islands and Gothland . This allowed the Russian ships to advance into the western Baltic Sea. On August 14, 1714, the Russian fleet landed on the Aland Islands with 60 galleys and 16,000 men. The Russian sailing warships left Reval with the aim Helsingfor . On September 1, 1714 Peter I returned from Åbo to Helsingfors and sent the galley fleet to Björkö . A galley was damaged on September 11, 1714. The fleet reached Kronschlot on September 15th .

Operation of the galley fleet in the Gulf of Bothnia

Illustration of the fleet operation

At the same time Fyodor Matvejewitsch Apraxin's galley fleet received the order to row up the Gulf of Bothnia . On September 20, the Russian galley fleet reached Vaasa . From there, Apraxin dispatched nine galleys under the command of Mikhail Golitsyn for further attacks on Swedish coastal towns.

By then, Apraxin had already lost two galleys and had to send four galleys back for repairs. On the same day, the remaining galleys sailed further north from Vaasa to Nykarleby to meet there with a Russian detachment under the command of Lieutenant General Robert Bruce , who had marched on from Tavastehus . According to Russian information, 600 Swedish riders should be there under the command of Major General Armfelt . These withdrew when the Russians approached. The Russian detachment received orders from Apraxin to remain there until November, while Apraxin rowed back with the fleet in early October 1714.

Due to bad weather, the fleet had to anchor off the island of Wargo for a few days . The fleet then rowed to Kristinestad . On the way, the fleet was hit by a strong storm and another five galleys were lost. The fleet needed another three days to repair the storm damage to the remaining ships. On October 19, the fleet reached Berenburg , where they stayed for another ten days. Major General Golitsyn arrived there on October 29th with only four galleys left from nine.

After the separation, Golitsyn's galleys had rowed with Apraxin's fleet to the town of Umeå . Golyzin landed at Umeå with 800 men. The Swedish troops stationed there under Major General Ramsay then withdrew into the interior. The inhabitants also fled from the Russians. The city was then burned down and a few Swedish boats destroyed. On the way back, the galleys also got caught in a storm, with five of them sinking. On September 30, 1714, the remaining ships went to Lawscheer , where they again had to stay due to unfavorable winds. On October 12th, better weather enabled the journey to the meeting point with Apraxin's fleet.

Together the reunited fleet rowed back to Nystad.

losses

Apraxin's fleet lost a total of eleven galleys. 211 soldiers drowned. Golyzin's fleet lost five galleys, with 74 soldiers drowned. Of the 16 galleys that were sunken, nine had recently been put into service.

On November 10, 1714, the fleet was sent to its winter quarters at Nystad , north of Abo. It only consisted of 47 galleys. New galleys were built over the winter, which almost doubled the strength of the archipelago fleet at the start of the next operation the following year.

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