The Battle of Ösel Island took place on May 24(4 June), 1719 (O.S.), during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

. It was fought near the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

(Ösel). It led to a victory for the Russian captain

Naum Senyavin Naum Akimovich Senyavin or Sinyavin (; 1680 – ) was Vice Admiral (1727) of the Imperial Russian Navy. He was Russia's first Vice Admiral. He was the father of Alexey Naumovich Senyavin. Biography In 1698, Naum Senyavin began his milita ...

, whose forces captured three enemy vessels, sustaining as few as eighteen casualties. It was the first Russian naval victory which did not involve ramming or boarding actions.

Battle

Five months after Charles XII of Sweden died at Fredrikshald, a Russian squadron of seven warships assumed the offensive and Captains Naum Sinyaven and

Konon Zotov Konon Nikitich Zotov (Russian: Конон Никитич Зотов) was a Russian rear admiral. He was the son of Nikita Zotov. He was highly valued by Peter the Great. He was also an eminent author of textbooks on shipbuilding and navigation. ...

attacked Commodore Anton Johan Wrangel near Osel Island. The Russian ships engaged in convoying

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

s and transports, which waged the campaign along the Swedish skerries, landing troops on the islands and the sea coast. The raid by the Russian forces bore a clearly expressed

punitive Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beha ...

- demonstrative character. Swedish

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

of three vessels was defeated. All three Swedish ships were captured at the cost of 18 Russian casualties. The Swedish flagship ''Wachtmeister'' (1681) and a frigate were captured in heavy fighting.

Ships involved

Russian Empire

*''Devonshire'' 52 *''Portsmouth'' 52 *''Raphail'' 52 *''Uriil'' 52 *''Varachail'' 52 *''Hyagudiil'' 52 *''Natalia'' 18

Swedish Empire

*''Wachtmeister'' 52 - Captured *''Karlskrona Vapen'' 30 - Captured *''Bernhardus'' 10 - Captured

Notes

References

*''Naval Wars in the Baltic 1553-1850'' (1910) - R. C. Anderson *http://www.neva.ru/EXPO96/book/chap2-3.html Battle of Ösel Island Naval battles of the Great Northern War 1719 in Europe History of Saaremaa Naval battles involving Russia Naval battles involving Sweden {{Estonia-mil-stub