Naval battle at Jasmund (1864)
| date | March 17, 1864 |
|---|---|
| place | Baltic Sea east of Rügen |
| output | tactical danish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 2 corvettes 1 Aviso 7 gunboats |
1 ship of the line 2 frigates 2 corvettes |
| losses | |
|
7 dead |
3 dead |
Missunde - Königshügel - Danewerk - Schlei - Oeversee - Jutland - Vejle - Jasmund - Düppeler Schanzen - Fredericia - Helgoland - Alsen - Lundby - North Frisian Islands
In the naval battle near Jasmund on March 17, 1864 during the German-Danish War , Danish and Prussian naval forces clashed east of the Jasmund peninsula , part of the island of Rügen . It was the first naval battle by a Prussian Navy federation since it was founded in 1848. The Prussian attempt to weaken the Danish blockade forces off the Prussian coast failed because of material inferiority as well as navigation errors.
Strategic starting position
On March 15, 1864, Denmark declared the blockade of the Prussian coasts, on March 17, parts of the Danish Baltic Sea squadron appeared off Rügen, mainly to block the port of Swinoujscie .
With an order from King Wilhelm I of March 14, 1864, the squadron commander of the Prussian units off Swinoujscie, Captain Eduard von Jachmann , was given the task of driving out the Danish blockade forces or at least determining whether the Danish forces had already been defeated before the 15th. March 1864 threatened blockade even existed. In bad weather conditions or a strong Danish superiority, von Jachmann should refrain from the company.
For strategic reasons, it was impossible to break through the blockade. Even in the event of a severe tactical defeat of the blockade forces, it would not have opened the sea route to the North Sea and thus to the oceans, since the Danish Navy controlled the Oresund . In this respect, the Prussian maritime strategic situation in 1864 was similar to that of the German Reich in World War I during the British North Sea blockade.
The armed forces
At the outbreak of war, the Danish fleet owned 31 steamships with 387 guns , 26 of which were operational with 363 guns. There were also ten sailing ships . 50 rowing gunboats were only intended for coastal defense . The Danish Navy had a staff of 3757 men.
The Prussian fleet, on the other hand, had 23 units with 85 cannons and 1636 men. However, the Prussians did not own any of the modern 24-pounder towed boats.
In contrast, the Danish side had the four armored ships or armored gunboats Rolf Krake , Danebrog , Esbern Snare and Absolon . The tower ship Rolf Krake was bought in Great Britain in 1863 and was one of the most modern warships in the world at the time. The first Prussian ironclad, SMS Arminius , did not enter service until 1865.
The Danish units
- Skjold ship of the line , armament: 8 rifled , 56 smooth guns.
- Frigate Sjælland , flagship, armament: 12 rifled, 30 smooth guns.
- Corvette Hejmdal . Armament: 2 rifled, 14 smooth guns.
- Corvette Thor . Armament: 2 rifled, 10 smooth guns.
Commanding Admiral : Rear Admiral Carl Edvard van Dockum (1804-1893).
The Prussian units
- Covered Corvette SMS Arcona . Commandant Eduard von Jachmann. Armament: 6 rifled, 20 smooth guns.
- Corvette SMS Nymphe , Commander Reinhold von Werner . Armament: 7 rifled, 6 smooth guns.
- Radaviso SMS Loreley , pilot of the gunboat division under the sea captain Hans Kuhn (1824–1891). Commander: Lieutenant Captain Count Alexander von Monts (1832-1889). Armament: 2 rifled guns.
Squadron commander ( Commodore ): Sea captain Eduard von Jachmann.
The gunboat division was also planned by Jachmann for use , consisting of:
- Gunboat 1st class SMS Comet . Armament: 1 rifled 24-pounder (15 cm), 2 rifled 12-pounder (12 cm).
- Gunboat 2nd class SMS Hay .
- Gunboat 2nd class SMS Hyena .
- Gunboat II. Class SMS Pfeil .
- Gunboat 2nd class SMS Scorpion .
- Gunboat 2nd class SMS Wespe .
- Armament: 1 rifled 24-pounder (15 cm), 2 rifled 12-pounder (12 cm) each.
Course of battle
Von Jachmann was aware that his three units were inferior to the Danish blockade forces, both numerically and qualitatively. However, he had taken into account the deployment of the 1st Flotilla Division of steam gunboats and intended to pull the Danish units onto the gunboats that were in readiness off the island of Greifswalder Oie .
Von Jachmann steamed with Arcona , Nymphe and Loreley towards the blockade forces at noon on March 17, 1864 and opened fire at 2:30 p.m. After a good two hours of fighting, he had to retreat south. Due to the higher speed of his units, von Jachmann was able to break away from the Danish ships. His plan to pull the Danish ships onto the gunboats stationed in the south, however, failed because they maneuvered incorrectly for reasons that are not known. While the Loreley returned to the gunboats, the Arcona and Nymphe ran off to Swinoujscie.
The Jachmanns battle report
The Jachmanns battle report was reproduced in the edition of the Neue Preußische Zeitung ( Kreuz-Zeitung ) on March 19, 1864 on page 1:
- The captain of the sea Jachmann reports from Swinoujscie on the 17th, 7 in the evening: Ew. Royal Maj. Ship “Arcona”, “Nymphe” went from Swinoujscie to Divenow and from there to Arcona without meeting Danish cruisers. At 12½ o'clock I got 7 Danish ships in sight, northwest of Arcona and the captain Kuhn, who came to me with the "Loreley" from Thiessow, reported to me that the ships were frigates. Gave orders to withdraw the gunboats under land and attacked the enemy with "Arcona", "Nymphe" and "Loreley" in an open order, who in the meantime had gathered and ranked 2 columns. As I approached the enemy, it turned out that the enemy was leading a ship of the line, two frigates, two corvettes and a tank schooner towards us. All screws = ships. At 2 o'clock our ships opened fire, which was soon returned by the Danes, whereupon an ongoing battle continued until 5 o'clock and the Danes "Arcona" and "Nymphe" chased as far as Swinoujscie. The loss on them are 5 dead and 8 wounded, including the first officer Ew seriously wounded. Maj. Corvette, Lieut. Berger, who was hit at my side at the beginning of the battle. Ew. Royal Your Majesty gives me the special honor to report that officers and men have behaved bravely and in cold blood during this engagement. I have not yet received any reports from the “Loreley”; she is back in Thiessow. The 1st Division Kanonen = Boats could only take a very distant part of the battle and should not have any losses. The Danish squadron was superior to ours in every respect, but must have suffered similar losses.
The battle in the Prussian press
The Königlich Privilegierte Berlinische Zeitung von Staats = und schehrtenachen (later Vossische Zeitung ) reports in its edition of March 20, 1864, p. 3, first about the promotion of Jachmann to Rear Admiral:
- (St. = A.) According to reports, Se. Majesty the King to express the highest appreciation by telegraph to the Captain of the Sea Jachmann for the bravery shown on the part of the Navy against the great hostile superiority and to appoint the named officer as contre-admiral.
On pages 3 and 4 there are several notes on the battle:
Furthermore, the Osts. = Ztg. from Stralsund on the 18th a message based on the stories of a seaman involved in the battle. Then the gunboat division under Captain Kuhn saw two larger Danish ships coming from Arcona on the morning of the 17th. Capitain Kuhn went to meet them for recognition with the "Loreley". In the meantime, the Corvettes "Arcona" and "Nymphe" had also come into view from Swinoujscie and ran into the Prorer Wiek together with the gunboats. The Danes did not follow them but tried to cut them off. Our ships and three gunboats like the “Loreley” therefore also went out to sea again and began the battle. The gunboats fired at 3,000 paces. The "Loreley" is said to have approached the enemy up to 500 paces and to have crossed the Danish ships firing at this distance. - The gunboats returned unharmed after the Ruden, and no one of the crew is said to have been injured, on the other hand the Thissower Lootse Brand, who stood next to Capitain Kuhn in the battle, is very seriously wounded. He had his hand in his trouser pocket, and it and his genitals were torn from him. (He died on the morning of the 18th in Stralsund in the Lazareth.) Medical officer Wenzel gave him first aid. The pilot is said to have a large family, and it should be well suited to do something for them. - Already on the 17th, in anticipation of wounds, bandages and similar material left Stralsund for Dänholm. The third division (6) gunboats, Commander Lieutenant Arendt, left for Swinoujscie on the evening of the 16th.
- Stralsund, March 18th, becomes the Osts. = Zgt. reported: It is said that the Danish frigate "Jylland" is in a badly damaged condition in the Prorer Wyk. (?)
- Thiessow, where, according to the official reports, the “Loreley” returned after the naval battle on the 17th, is the main station of the Prussian pilots, next to the southeast tip of Rügen, the now bare promontory of the Mönchgut peninsula, Thiessower Höwt. The island of Moen, where the Danish flotilla went on 18th d. initially receded, lies between Zealand and Laaland, on the southeastern tip of Zealand.
The battle in the reports outside of Prussia
The Oldenburger Nachrichten in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg reported on the battle in its edition of March 20, 1864:
- Stralsund, March 18. The "Stralsund. Ztg. ”Writes about yesterday's naval battle: The Prussians broke off when the Danes were reinforced to seven ships. The gunboats arrived safely in Ruhden, and both corvettes in Swinoujscie; they were severely persecuted. The "Nymph" has two dead, the "Arcona" three; nine wounded in all, Lieutenant Berger seriously. There is great enthusiasm in the Navy. This morning the Danish fleet headed for Mön.
Results
The Danish casualties amounted to three dead and 19 wounded, all on the frigate Sjælland . Five crew members were killed on the Arcona and two on the Nymph . There were several wounded on both ships. The Arcona had received five hits, nymph 19 in the hull and a good 50 in the rigging .
The battle had no effect on the blockade, but can be viewed as a tactical Danish success, as the Prussian side had to withdraw and, above all, Jachmann's intention to damage the blockade forces by using the gunboats failed. Irrespective of this, von Jachmann was promoted to rear admiral after the battle .
See also
literature
- Hans Auerbach: Prussia's way to the sea. Pomerania, the cradle of the Royal Prussian Navy. Berlin 1993, pp. 80-84.
- Heinz Helmert, Hansjürgen Usczek: Prussian-German Wars from 1864 to 1871. 6th edition Berlin-East 1988, p. 53 u. 80.
- Jan Ganschow, Olaf Haselhorst, Maik without time: The German-Danish War 1864. Prehistory - course - consequences. Graz 2013, ISBN 978-3-902732-16-3 .
- Neue Preußische Zeitung ( Kreuz-Zeitung ) of March 19, 1864, p. 1.
- Wolfgang Petter: German fleet armor from Wallenstein to Tirpitz. In: German military history in six volumes, 1648–1939. Munich 1983, Vol. V, pp. 13-262, here p. 79.
- Albert Röhr: Handbook of German naval history. Oldenburg / Hamburg 1963, p. 50 f.
- Keyword: Danish-German War 1864. In: Dictionary of German military history. 2 vol., Berlin-Ost 1985, vol. 1, pp. 125-128.
