The naval Battle of Reval took place on during the

Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was fought between Gustavian era, Sweden and Russian Empire, Russia from June 1788 to August 1790. The war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790 and took place concomitantly with both the A ...

, off the port of Reval in the

roadstead A roadstead or road is a sheltered body of water where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5-360. Port Construction and Rehabilitation'. Washington: United States. Gove ...

(now

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

). This battle ended in an imposing

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

victory; it has been compared to the practice of

running the gauntlet "Running the gauntlet" refers to taking part in a form of corporal punishment in which one or more individuals is forced to run between two rows of people who attack them with weapons. Metaphorically, the term is also used to convey a public tr ...

Origins

Undaunted by the Swedish defeats and failures during 1789, the Swedish king,

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...

, sent the battle fleet under his brother Prince Charles, Duke of Södermanland, to eliminate Admiral Chichagov's Russian squadron, which had wintered in the

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

at Reval. General-Admiral Duke Karl of

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

approached Reval with 26

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

and large

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s 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

The Russian fleet (10 ships of the line, 5 frigates) was anchored in a line going from Reval harbour towards the

Viimsi Viimsi () is a small borough () in Harju County, Estonia, about northeast of the centre of Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north ...

(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 Pavel Vasilyevich Chichagov or Tchichagov (; ) was a Russian army and naval commander of the Napoleonic Wars. Biography He was born in 1767 in Saint Petersburg, the son of Admiral Vasily Chichagov and his English wife. At the age of 12 he was ...

) and ''

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'' (flagship of

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Alexey Vasilyevich Musin-Pushkin, captained by Nikolai Barsch), the 74-gun ships of the line ''Kir Ioann'', ''Mstislav'', '' Sv. Elena'' (flagship of contre-admiral Pyotr Khanykov, captained by Carl Magnus von Breyer) and ''Yaroslav'', the 66-gun ships of the line ''Pobedonosets'', ''Boleslav'' and ''Izyaslav'' and the 40-gun frigate ''Venus'' (captained by Robert Crown). 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

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. 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

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found ...

s 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 In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of a collection of smaller-caliber round shots packed tightly in a canvas bag and separated from the gunpowder charge by a metal wadding, rather than being a single solid projectile ...

. The 64-gun battleship ''Prins Karl'', fifteenth in the Swedish line, lost her

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

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 Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

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 A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

north of

Aegna Aegna is an Estonian island in the Bay of Tallinn in the Baltic Sea. Administratively it is part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and is a sub district of the Kesklinn (City center) district. Geography Aegna island has an area ...

(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

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

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * ** Original: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Reval

Reval Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju ''maakond'' (co ...

Revel 1790 Reval, Battle of