Gangut naval battle (July 27 (August 7) 1714) - a battle that took place during the Great Northern War, near Cape Gangut (Finland) in the Baltic Sea between the Russian fleet under the command of Fedor Apraksin and the Swedish fleet under the command of Gustav Wattrang.
Prehistory of the battle
The Northern War between Russia and Sweden lasted from 1700 to 1721. One of the main stages of the struggle for access to the Baltic Sea was the campaign of 1714 and, first of all, the Battle of Gangut. Russia intended to finally take possession of Finland in the battle for the Aland Islands and in case of receiving a refusal from the Swedish government to conclude peace on the conditions put forward by it, to transfer the war to Swedish territory.
Balance of forces
To accomplish the assigned task the following ships were allocated: a sailing fleet consisting of 11 battleships, 4 frigates and auxiliary ships under the personal command of Peter 1; a rowing fleet (scampaves) in the amount of 99 ships of various types and an amphibious corps of about 16,000 people. The rowing fleet was headed by F. M. Apraksin.
The Swedish fleet consisted of 15 battleships, 3 frigates, 2 bombardment ships and 9 rowing ships.
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Action plan
According to the plans of the campaign, the rowing fleet, together with the landing pass, was to leave Petersburg by skerry fairway, break through to Abo and, having occupied the Aland Islands, begin landing on the Swedish coast.
The task of the sailing fleet was first to cover the passage of the fleet from Kotlin to the entrance to the Finnish skerries, and then, concentrating in Revel, to prevent the Swedish fleet from entering the Gulf of Finland and the Aland region.
Battle of Gangut, engraving of Mauritius Bakua.
Preparing for battle
Throughout the winter of 1713-14. preparations were made for the upcoming campaign. The Swedish fleet, for its part, was preparing to prevent the Russians from breaking through into the Gulf of Bothnia. The Russians, fearing that with the onset of spring and the clearing of the western part of the Gulf of Finland from ice, the Swedish fleet would be able to penetrate into the Kotlin region before the rowing fleet left St. Petersburg, took a number of measures to speed up reconnaissance and put the fleet out to sea. In order to detect the approach of the enemy fleet in time, a network of observation posts was deployed on the entire southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, which, with the advent of the Swedish fleet, had to light beacon lights according to the number of ships detected or notify the command of this with the help of horse messengers. Frigates were sent to the sea with the task of conducting reconnaissance until the exit from the Gulf of Finland to the Baltic Sea.
1714, end of May - the rowing fleet together with the landing corps left Petersburg and, covered by the sailing fleet, was able to safely make the transition to the Finnish skerries. Then he independently walked along the Skerry fairway to the Tverminna bay, located at. Gangut Peninsula. The sailing fleet is concentrated in Reval.
The Swedish fleet under the command of Admiral Vatrang, taking advantage of the fact that the western part of the Gulf of Finland is cleared of ice, faster than the eastern, was in the Gulf of Finland in April 1714 and, having taken an advantageous position at the southern tip of the Gangut Peninsula, blocked the path of the Russian rowing fleet in Abo.
Apraksin, upon arrival in the Tverminne Bay, was convinced of the impossibility of the unhindered passage of rowing ships past the enemy squadron, which had great superiority in artillery weapons, reported this to Peter 1 in Revel. Having received this report, Tsar Peter arrived in Tverminna and ordered to strengthen the observation of the enemy, for which a patrol detachment of 15 scampawes was sent to the Gangut reach area, and posts were deployed on the coast, whose task was to monitor the movement of the Swedish fleet.
Peter decided to make a cunning maneuver - to drag part of the light galley-scampaways over land in order to go with them behind enemy lines and thereby help the main forces break through the Gangut. For this reason, in the narrowest part of the isthmus (2.5 km), connecting the peninsula with the "mainland", they began to build - "perevoloka" (special wooden flooring).
It should not be ruled out that this was a deliberate demonstrative step. The Swedes learned about the construction of the bridge, and Vice-Admiral Vatrang sent a detachment of Rear Admiral Ehrensheld - a frigate and 9 rowing ships to the place of the supposed descent of Russian ships in Rilaksfjord. They were given the task of destroying the Russian scampaves as soon as they were launched. Another detachment, which included 8 ships of the line and 2 bombardment ships, under the command of Vice Admiral Lille was sent to attack the Russian rowing fleet in Tverminna.
Perhaps Peter was counting on the division of the enemy's fleet. The Russian fleet quickly prepared to break through the weakened enemy. The weather also contributed to this. On July 26, calm came - Russian rowing ships received an undoubted advantage in maneuverability over Swedish sailing ships. The breakthrough has begun.
Gangut battle (L. Kamenev).
The course of the battle
It was started by 20 scampaways of Captain-Commander M. X. Zmaevich. Taking advantage of the calm, the Russian vanguard bypassed the enemy ships, being out of the reach of the Swedish artillery. The hostile ships tried to get closer, but for this they had to tow their ships with boats in the direction of the breakthrough. In a short battle in the skerries, the Russians threw back the Shautbenacht Taube detachment and blocked Ehrenscheld's forces off Lakkisser Island. Next came the patrol detachment (15 scampaways) under the command of Brigadier Lefort.
Vatrang in no way wanted to miss, like Zmaevich, the main forces of the Russians. Why on the evening of July 26, the vice admiral pulled the ships from the coast and took the place in which the Russian avant-garde passed. Then 64 Apraksin ships in the morning of July 27 passed the coastal fairway, broke through at Cape Gangut and connected with the rest of the ships of the Russian fleet in Rilaksfjord. Swedish ships again attempted to approach the breakthrough site, but the boats were not able to drag the Swedish ships at the same speed as the rowing ships of Apraksin passed.
Ehrenskjold's fleet in Rilaxfjord consisted of an 18-gun frigate, 6 galleys and 3 skerboats, armed with a total of 116 guns, but during the battle with the Russians, the Swedes could only fire from 60 guns at a time. Ehrenskjold placed his ships in the narrowest part of the fjord. Stronger ships - the frigate and galleys - were lined up in a semicircle, and the skerboats were placed in the second line. The flanks rested against the shallows, and the Russians could not get around them.
The Russian fleet could not use its numerical advantage in ships, and Peter 1 allocated only 23 scampaves for the attack. The rest of the ships made up the general reserve. A detachment under the command of the king took up a position half a mile from the Swedish ships. The ships were lined up in the front line, in the center in one, and on the flanks, pushed forward, in two lines. The fight was not going to be easy. First, the Swedish fleet had a great advantage in artillery (60 guns against 23 Russians). Second, the Swedish ships were high-board, which made boarding difficult.
The battle began at 14:00 with a frontal attack by Russian ships. Both the first and second attacks were repelled by enemy crossfire. The Russians failed to get close to the Swedish ships for a boarding battle. Then Peter switched from a frontal attack to flank attacks. Now the Swedes did not have the opportunity to effectively use the cannons. The Russians were able to successfully carry out a rapprochement with the enemy and a boarding battle.
Enemy ships were forced to surrender one after another. The most stubborn resistance was offered by the frigate Elephant (Elephant), but it was eventually captured.
During a 3-hour intense battle, the Russians were able to capture all the enemy ships. Ehrensheld tried to escape in a boat, but he was caught by Captain Bakeev's grenadiers.
Losses of the parties
The losses of the Swedish side amounted to 361 people killed, 350 wounded, the rest were taken prisoner. The Russians had no losses in the ships, 124 were killed and 342 wounded.
After the battle
The captured Swedish ships were taken to St. Petersburg, where a solemn meeting of the winners took place on September 9, 1714. Peter 1 received the rank of vice admiral. 130 officers were awarded gold medals, 3284 lower ranks - silver. On the obverse of the medal was a portrait of Peter I and his title. The inscription on the medal read: "Diligence and loyalty are superior." The officers and sailors passed under the Arc de Triomphe, on which was an image of an eagle sitting on the back of an elephant. The inscription on the arch read: "The Russian eagle does not catch flies." The memory of the victory in the Battle of Gangut was preserved in the uniform of Russian sailors. Three blue stripes on the sailor's collar mean three Russian naval victories - Gangut, Chesmu, Sinop.
Factors that led to victory
The victory of the Russian fleet in the Battle of Gangut was due to the correct choice of the direction of the main strike, skillful actions when using the skerry fairway to guide the rowing fleet to the Gulf of Bothnia, perfectly organized reconnaissance and interaction of the sailing and rowing fleets during the deployment of forces, skillful use of the meteorological conditions of the theater of operations for synchronization of the breakthrough of the rowing fleet in calm weather, the use of military cunning (demonstrative transfer of rowing vessels across the isthmus to the rear of the enemy), a variety of methods of striking in battle (strike from the front, girth of the flanks), decisiveness of actions and high moral and fighting qualities of Russian soldiers, sailors and officers.
The meaning of the victory at Gangut
The Gangut naval battle was the first large-scale victory of the Russian fleet. The importance of this victory is determined by the fact that it facilitated the breakthrough of a large formation of the Russian rowing fleet. The occupation of the Aland Islands forced the Swedes to finally clear the Gulf of Finland; made it possible for the Russian sailing fleet to take active steps to disrupt enemy communications in the Baltic Sea and, in the end, forced foreign states to talk about Russia as a strong maritime power that defeated a well-trained Swedish fleet.