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Battle of Reval

This article is about the 1790 battle. For the 1602 battle, see Battle of Reval (1602).

The naval Battle of Reval[g] took place on 13 May [O.S. 2 May] 1790 during the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790), off the port of Reval in the roadstead (now Tallinn, Estonia). This battle ended in an imposing Imperial Russian Navy's victory; it has been compared to the practice of running the gauntlet.[5]

Battle of Reval
Part of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–90)

The Battle of Reval, Ivan Aivazovsky
Date13 May 1790
Location
Off Reval; Revel Roadstead, Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea
59°30′N 24°45′E / 59.5°N 24.75°E / 59.5; 24.75
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Vasily Chichagov Prince Charles
Strength
10 ships of the line,
5 frigates,
2 bomb vessels,
7 cutters[a]		 22 ships of the line,
4 frigates,
4 smaller ships[b]
Casualties and losses
8 killed & 27 wounded[2] ~150–200 dead, wounded or missing[c]
  •  • 130 to 150 killed[d]
or: 51 dead and ~80 wounded.[8]
1 ship of the line captured:[2]
  •  • ~400 to 600 captured seamen and army personnel on it;[e]
  •  • or incl. as few as 250 men captured.[8]
1 ship of the line destroyed[2]
5 ships heavily damaged[9]
40 to 42 cannons lost[f]

Origins

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Undaunted by the Swedish defeats and failures during 1789, the Swedish king, Gustav III sent the battle fleet under his brother Prince Karl, Duke of Södermanland, to eliminate Admiral Chichagov's Russian squadron, which had wintered in the harbor at Reval.

General-Admiral Duke Karl of Södermanland approached Reval with 26 ships of the line and large frigates mounting a combined 1,680 cannon. Chichagov, preparing to meet the enemy in the harbour, formed a battle line made up of 9 ships of the line and the frigate Venus.

Battle

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The Russian fleet (10 ships of the line, 5 frigates) was anchored in a line going from Reval harbour towards the Viimsi (Wims) peninsula. The first line consisted of nine ships of the line and frigates, i.e. the 100-gun battleships Rostislav (flagship of admiral Vasili Chichagov, captained by his son Pavel Chichagov)[10] and Saratov (flagship of vice admiral Alexey Vasilyevich Musin-Pushkin, captained by Nikolai Barsch),[10] the 74-gun ships of the line Kir Ioann, Mstislav, Sv. Elena (flagship of contre-admiral Pyotr Khanykov, captained by Carl Magnus von Breyer)[10] and Yaroslav, the 66-gun ships of the line Pobedonosets, Boleslav and Izyaslav and the 40-gun frigate Venus (captained by Robert Crown).[10] In the second line, four frigates - Podrazhislav (32 guns), Slava (32), Nadezhda Blagopoluchiya (32) and Pryamislav (36). Two bomb-vessels were deployed on the flanks. The third line was composed of seven cutters.

The Swedish fleet under the command of General-Admiral Duke Karl consisted of 22 ships of the line, four frigates and four smaller vessels. It entered the harbour and started passing by the anchored Russian ships.

Due to strong winds and inaccurate aiming, most Swedish projectiles ricocheted past their targets, while the Russian ships that were anchored within the protected area of the harbour were able to use their guns much more effectively. The ship of the Swedish General-Admiral, which could not be brought into the wind due to a rigging problem, was forced to drift towards Rostislav and received major damage from grapeshot. The 64-gun battleship Prins Karl, fifteenth the Swedish line, lost her rudder to Russian fire and had to strike her colours.

The Duke of Södermanland directed the battle from the frigate Ulla Fersen, beyond the range of Russian fire. After a two-hour artillery duel he ordered his ships to break off the engagement; hence the last ten ships of Swedish line veered off without firing a shot. The Swedish ship Riksens Ständer hit the reef north of Aegna (Wolf) island. Swedish attempts to dislodge her failed, and the Swedes were forced to burn her so that the Russians would be unable to take her.

Aftermath

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The Battle of Reval was a resounding Russian victory. The Swedes lost two ships of the line, and were forced to retreat despite their more than twofold numerical superiority in line ships. Russian losses were 8 killed and 27 injured.[2] Contemporary sources reported Russian casualties of 4 killed, 7 seriously and 18 lightly wounded, with almost 400 Swedish sailors, soldiers and officers captured and presumably 130 killed.[6]

After the battle the Swedish fleet partially repaired at the sea, and then sailed away east of Hogland Island.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ This is the number of only those ships that participated in the battle; as on the side of Sweden, whose fleet attacked Chichagov's squadron at the roadstead.[1][2] The entire fleet of Vasily Chichagov when joined with Timofey Kozlyaninov [ru] (22 July 1789) consisted of 30 ships of the line, 10 frigates, 2 bomb ships, 4 gunboats, 3 transports and 9 other/small ships.[3]
    Based on N. V. Novikov and P. Jordan
    In the first line were 10 line ships and a frigate; in the second, opposite the gaps of ships, 4 frigates, having a bomb ship on each flank. In the third were 7 cutters.[4]
    Based on F. F. Veselago
    The Swedish fleet put to sea on 30 April; on the way, news came that the Russians were anchored in the Revel Roadstead: 2 three-deckers, 6 two-deckers and 6 frigates.[5]
    Based on Alfred Stenzel
  2. ^ On 30 April the Swedish fleet put to sea, with a total force of: 22 ships of the line, 12 frigates, 13 transports; there were nearly 2,100 cannons and 18,000 men; about 3,000 men were missing.[5]
    Based on Alfred Stenzel
    Swedish fleet consisting of 22 ships of the line, 4 frigates and 4 small ships under the Duke of Södermanland's command attacked the Russian squadron standing on the Revel Roadstead.[1][2][4]
    Based on N. V. Novikov, P. Jordan, and F. F. Veselago
  3. ^
    • According to Prince Charles's "unreliable" reports, — 150 dead and wounded.[2] This figure also appears in Swedish historians.[4]
    • >200[1]
  4. ^
  5. ^
    • almost 400 sailors, soldiers, and officers[6]
    • 420 naval officers, army officers, sailors, cuirassiers, and infantrymen[2]
    • 520 crew[1][9][7]
    • 600 crew[5]
  6. ^
  7. ^ Russian: Ревельское сражение, dir. 'Battle of Revel'

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Novikov 1948, pp. 136–137.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Paul Jordan (1890), "Die Seeschlacht bei Reval. Den 2. Mai 1790", Baltische Monatsschrift (in German), vol. 37, no. 1–9, Reval, pp. 205–228, hdl:10062/18940
  3. ^ Novikov 1948, p. 133.
  4. ^ a b c d Veselago 1939.
  5. ^ a b c d e Stenzel & Kirchhoff 2002.
  6. ^ a b c "Kurze Nachricht von der am 13. May auf der Rhede von Reval zwischen der Russischen und Schwedischen Flotte vorgefallenen Seeschlacht", Bayreuther Zeitungen (in German), no. 68, 1790, Bayreuth, 7 June 1790, retrieved 28 October 2017
  7. ^ a b Tredrea & Sozaev 2010, p. 99.
  8. ^ a b "Reval 1790 – från nederlag till älskad konst". digitaltmuseum.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Revel and Krasnaya Gorka (The History of Russian Navy)". Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d Kirchhoff, Hermann (1885), German Imperial Naval High Command (ed.), "Die Schlachten zwischen den russischen und schwedischen Flotten in den Jahren 1788–1790", Marineverordnungsblatt (in German), 16 (Beiheft Nr. 57): 9–28

Bibliography

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