Battle of Svensksund (1790)
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The Second Battle of Svensksund (fi: Ruotsinsalmi, ru: Rochensalm) was a naval engagement fought in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, outside the present day city of Kotka, on 9-10 July, 1790 during the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790) in which Swedish naval forces defeated the Russian coastal fleet.
Origins
The Swedish king Gustav III started the war to cover up for domestic political problems, but also to be able to fulfill the role as the king and hero. The war started in 1788 and was supposed to be won by a surprise assault on St Petersburg, conducted by the royal navy and the Army´s navy; (Skärgårdsflottan). The latter was a superb brown-water force, designed for coastal amphibious warfare in the baltics and the elite of the Swedish armed force in the late 18th century.
After the Battle of Hogland (1788) (a tactical tie but a strategic failure for the Swedes) the Russians gained the initiative and the tensions in Sweden rose. The First Battle of Svensksund on August 24, 1789 and ended in a massive Swedish defeat.
Battle
In 1790 an attempt to assault Viborg failed, and the Swedish navy, caught in a trap in the Bay of Vyborg was able to escape but with heavy losses on the 3rd of July. After retreating to Svensksund, the King Gustav III together with his Flag Captain Lieutenant-Colonel Carl Olof Cronstedt waited and prepared the fleet for the expected Russian attack. On the 6th of July, the final decisions were made for the defences, and early in the morning on the 9th of July, 1790 the "Ordre de Bataille" was given and the battle started.
The second battle of Svensksund was the biggest naval battle ever at the time: 500 ships (including supply ships and other ships not involved in combat), close to 30,000 men and several thousand cannons. In Svensksund, the Swedes boasted to have destroyed 40 percent of the Russian coastal fleet.
The Russians lost 9,500 of 14,000 men and one third of their fleet captured, compared with Swedish losses of 6 ships and 300 men. Along with 21 other ships the swedes captured the flagship of Prince Nassau, the Catarina.
The battle is considered one of the biggest naval battles in history because of the number of vessels involved. Only the Battle of Leyte Gulf has involved a larger number of vessels (if you disregard sources from the Classical Era, e g regarding the Battle of Salamis and Battle of Ecnomus.
Aftermath
This defeat encouraged Russia to negotiate with Sweden eventually signing the Treaty of Värälä on August 14 1790. Neither side gained any territory.After the war the Russian started a massive fortification programme on the eastern, Russian, side of the Kymi river, building the sea fortress Fort Slava and the land fortress Kyminlinna. The forts later grew into the port city of Kotka.
Sankt Nikolai
The Russian frigate Sankt Nikolai was sunk in the battle. She was found in 1948 almost intact in the sea bottom outside Kotka. Over 2300 objects have been recovered from her hull by divers. [link]External links
- [Vyborg and Rochensalm] in [History of Russian Navy]
- [The Sea Battle at Svensksund 1790]
- [The Swedish-Russian Sea Battles of 1790]
- [The Swedish Navy 1788-1809]
- [Ruotsinsalmi from the east]
- [The wreck of Saint Nikolai]
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