Sea battle in Dynekilen Fjord
Sea battle in the Dynekilen Fjord (Carl Neumann)
| date | July 8, 1716 |
|---|---|
| place | Dynekilen , fjord north of Strömstad in Bohuslän |
| output | Danish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| seven ships | approx. 15 warships approx. 20 transport ships |
| losses | |
|
19 dead, 57 injured |
931 dead and prisoners |
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
The sea battle in Dynekilen Fjord was a sea battle during the Norwegian campaign in the Great Northern War . It took place on July 8, 1716 in the Dynekilen Fjord between a Danish-Norwegian fleet under the command of Peter Wessel Tordenskiold and a Swedish fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Olof Stromstierna . The Swedish defeat in battle is considered to be the decisive turning point and cause of the failure of the first Norwegian campaign of the Swedish King Charles XII.
In advance
During the winter of 1715/16, Karl, like his grandfather Karl X. Gustav in 1658, planned to march with an army across the frozen Baltic Sea from Scania to Zealand . The winter turned out to be mild, so that this plan could not be implemented because the sound did not freeze over. So he decided to move overland towards the Danish province of Norway. He was able to conquer Christiania (today's Oslo) in Danish-controlled Norway , which was abandoned by its inhabitants, and then moved against the fortress Fredrikshald . During the siege of the city, it was set on fire by the Norwegian defenders.
In the meantime, a transport fleet has been equipped in Gothenburg to deliver ammunition, supplies and heavy artillery to the Swedish army. An archipelago fleet (galleys) was also put together to cover the transport convoy. In addition, the ship's artillery should bombard Fredrikshald fortress from the sea. The fleet was placed under the command of Rear Admiral Olaf Stromstjerna.
The flotilla headed north and between Svinesund and Strömstad, three miles from Fredrikshald, it reached the small port of Dynekilen. It lay in a small bay and was only connected to the sea by a narrow entrance 160 to 180 feet wide. There was also a small fortress on an offshore island, which further increased the defense value of the bay. This fortress was manned by six twelve-pound cannons and could prevent any ship from entering the port. To further relieve the Danish defense forces, the Danish King Frederick IV sent the captain Peter Tordenskjold with seven smaller warships towards Fredrikshald. He was supposed to attack the transport ships of the fleet with his small, fast galleys and rush to the aid of the besieged fortress.
On his way north, he took a catcher and two armored sloops from the Swede . He received news from a cruiser in the large fleet that the Swedes had anchored in the Dynekilen Fjord. On the evening of July 7th, he landed in front of the fjord and learned from some fishermen that the fleet consisted of around 40 to 50 ships. All ships, including the transport ships, had also been armed with cannons. There were eleven full and half galleys among the ships. The fishermen also told the captain that a large part of the Swedish officers would be invited to a wedding. The other officers were also absent from duty as they had been invited to dinner by the Rear Admiral. Tordenskjold immediately convened a council of war. Together with his officers, he decided to attack the flotilla in port the following morning.
The naval battle
On July 8th at eight in the morning he maneuvered his fleet into the fjord on the frigate Hvide-Örn . The island's crew kept firing at the ships; But they were very fast and agile and could quickly pass the narrow point near the island.
In the fjord he approached the Swedes with his ships within shooting range and was the first to attack the Swedes' flagship, the Stenbocken under the command of Admiral Stromstjerna.
The ships of the Danish fleet attacked each Swedish ship one after the other. By three o'clock in the afternoon all the Swedish ships had been abandoned by their crews and some had been set on fire. After the offshore island had also been conquered by the Danish sailors and their cannons had been made unusable, the captain was able to begin rescuing the Swedish ships that had been set on fire and hunted down.
One ship after another was led out of the narrow fjord with an emergency crew. While the ships were being salvaged, the Danes were constantly being shot at by Swedish soldiers on land. At the exit of the sound, the Swedish troops tried again to position their artillery in such a way that they could prevent the Danes from leaving the fjord. But they were too fast and by ten o'clock in the evening all the ships had left the fjord and some were on their way to Copenhagen.
The Swedish admiral was left with no ship, so he was temporarily stuck in the fjord.
The ships involved
Danish flotilla
- Frigate Hvide-Örn (this Swedish frigate had captured Tordenskjold near Bülk )
- Piece parcel Arche Roa
- Piece frame covers
- Galley Prince Christian
- Galley Lovisa
- Galley Charlotta Amalia
- Galeote greyhounds
Swedish fleet
- Piece barges Stenbocken - hijacked
- Galley Proserpina - captured
- Galley Ulysses - captured
- Galley Lucrezia - captured
- Galley Contact - sunk
- Galley Hekla - sunk
- Galley Kastor - sunk
- Galeote Skildpadden - sunk
- Half-galley Achilles - captured
- Half galley Pollux - captured
- Half galley Hector - captured
- Half galley Björnen - captured
- Half-galley Sort Maren - captured
- Double sloop ? - captured
- Power boat ? - captured
- 28 transport boats (19 of which were captured and 9 sunk)
The consequences
Captain Tordenskjold was hailed as the savior of Norway and comforter of the inhabitants of Frederikshald, because the Swedish King Charles XII. broke off the siege of the city after the defeat in Dynekilen and withdrew to Swedish territory. On July 18, the Norwegian campaign was over. According to his own statements, the Swedish king had lost over 4000 (according to other sources over 6000 men).
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)