Victor von Stedingk

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Victor von Stedingk

Victor von Stedingk (born November 11, 1751 in Lentschow , † November 30, 1823 in Stockholm ; full name Victor Karl Ernst Berend Heinrich von Stedingk ) was a Swedish admiral of the archipelago fleet (army fleet).

Life

Victor von Stedingk was a son of Christoph Adam von Steding (1715–1792), major in the Prussian service and fiefdom owner on Lentschow in Swedish Pomerania , and Christina Charlotte von Schwerin, a daughter of the Prussian Field Marshal Kurt Christoph von Schwerin . His older brother Curt von Stedingk became a Swedish field marshal.

Victor von Stedingk joined the Hamilton Regiment in Stralsund in 1762 . From the following year he studied at Uppsala University and from 1765 attended the Admiralty's cadet school in Karlskrona . In 1768 he completed the naval officer examination and in the following year he was promoted to lieutenant. He first traveled on cargo ships belonging to the Swedish krona, which was an advantage for him because of his limited financial resources, as he could get room and board free of charge. At that time it was common for young officers to gain practical experience in foreign service. At his request he received permission to go abroad in 1770 and served on Genoese and Prussian ships as well as in the Spanish navy. He gained his first experience of sea warfare when he met several Moorish Schebecken . In 1774 he became a captain and in 1777 a major in the Swedish navy. In the same year he was transferred to the archipelago fleet as an artillery major.

In order to gain further combat experience, he was released like his brother in 1778 to take part in French service in the American War of Independence . In 1779 he was promoted to Lieutenant de Vaisseau . On the 77-gun ship Diadéme he took part in a squadron under Charles Henri d'Estaing in the conquest of the islands of Grenada and St. Martin . Although he suffered greatly from gout , so that at times he could only move with a crutch , his use in sea battles was praised. In 1783 he returned to Sweden with a bonus of 2,400 livres . Like other Swedish officers who took part in the War of Independence, he was awarded the French Military Merit Order and the Swedish Order of the Sword .

In 1784 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed senior adjutant in the archipelago. As commander of the frigates Sprengtporten and af Trolle , he took part in the Russian-Swedish War in the naval battle near Hogland on July 17, 1788. In August of the same year he was sent to the archipelago by ship , brought cannons to reinforce the redoubts to Åbo and was deployed as far as the Porkkala peninsula . In early 1790 he oversaw the construction of cannon-equipped sloops at several shipyards in Norrland . In May of the same year he met with two sloops and equipped with 36 cannons Styrbjörn , a Hemmema combination called from the galley and sailing frigate , one in Finland. In Björkösund he united on June 3 with the under the command of King Gustav III. standing archipelago, whose vanguard he commanded during the offensive of the Russian fleet on July 3rd. During this eruption from Vyborg Bay, known as the gauntlet of Vyborg , he achieved great fame. In the second archipelago battle on Svensksund on July 9, 1790, he commanded the middle battle line with great skill, which consisted of several larger ships and most of the galleys, and thus contributed to the victory of the Swedes. In recognition he received from Gustav III. a sword of honor. He became widely popular and celebrated in a poem by Carl Michael Bellman .

In 1790 he was promoted to colonel in the army and in the same year appointed master of equipment in Åbo. In 1793 he became adjutant general to the king and soon afterwards rear admiral of the blue flag and chief of the Åbo squadron of the archipelago fleet as well as a member of the Rikets allmänna ärendens beredning . In 1802 he was promoted to vice admiral and the following year appointed chief of the Gothenburg squadron and member of the naval administration. The Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword was awarded to him in 1805.

During the Russo-Swedish War (1808-1809) he commanded the archipelago fleet on the south and west coast of Sweden. After Gustav IV Adolf's dismissal in 1809, he was appointed adjutant general for the fleet and promoted to admiral. In 1811 he was naturalized to the Swedish nobility and raised to the rank of baron . In the same year he was appointed chief of the naval administration and the naval construction corps. In 1813 he became head of the entire archipelago fleet and especially of the Stockholm squadron. He was last appointed General Admiral in 1818 . He was opposed to the unification of war and archipelagos under one command, which the military and politicians were increasingly calling for. This was not carried out until the year after his death.

Stedingk lived in Långa Raden on Skeppsholmen from 1784 to 1787 and from 1811 until his death . He was buried in the Galärvarvskyrkogården ( galley shipyard cemetery) in Stockholm.

Victor von Stedingk married Lovisa Löf (* 1764 - 13 September 1832) in 1794, the daughter of court servant Johan Gottfrid Löf. With her he had two sons and three daughters, one of whom a son and two daughters reached adulthood.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Friedrich Gottschalk: Almanach of the knight orders. Second division. The knight orders except the German Goeschen, Leipzig 1818, p. 21 ( Google Books ).
personal data
SURNAME Stedingk, Victor von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stedingk, Victor Karl Ernst Berend Heinrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish admiral
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Lentschow
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1823
Place of death Stockholm