Operation Albion was a German air, land and naval operation in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, against Russian forces in October 1917 to occupy the West Estonian Archipelago. The campaign aimed to occupy the Baltic islands 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), Hiiumaa (Dagö) and

Muhu Muhu (also called Muhumaa in Estonian) is an island in the West Estonian archipelago of the Baltic Sea. With an area of , it is the third largest island belonging to Estonia, after Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Together with neighbouring smaller i ...

(Moon). The three islands were part of the Russian Empire and strategically dominated the central and northern Baltic Sea. The land campaign opened with German landings at the Tagalaht (Tagga) bay on the island of

(Ösel), on 12 October, after extensive naval operations to clear mines and subdue

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

batteries. German forces secured the island by 16 October and the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

evacuated

(Moon) on 20 October. After two failed attempts, the German army landed on Hiiumaa (Dagö) on 12 October, capturing the island the following day. The Russian

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

had to withdraw from the Suur Strait after its losses at the Battle of Moon Sound. The Germans claimed 20,000 prisoners and 100 guns captured during Operation Albion from 12 to 20 October 1917.

Strategic significance

At the beginning of the First World War, the islands were of little importance to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

or Germany. After the revolutionary turmoil in Russia during the early part of 1917, the German high command believed capturing the islands would outflank Russian defences and lay Petrograd ( St. Petersburg) vulnerable to attack.

Order of battle

German units

* Naval Forces(''Sonderverband''): Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt **

Battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

: (flagship) ** III Battle Squadron (''III. Geschwader'') (Vice Admiral Paul Behncke)

dreadnought battleship The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...

s: (flagship), , , , ** IV Battle Squadron (''IV. Geschwader'') (Vice Admiral Wilhelm Souchon) dreadnought battleships: (flagship), , , , ** II Scouting Group (''II. Aufklärungsgruppe'') (Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter)

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

s: (flagship), , , , ** IV Scouting Group (''VI. Aufklärungsgruppe'') (Rear Admiral Albert Hopman) light cruisers: (flagship), , ; minelayer: ; tender: ** Torpedo Boats (Commodore Paul Heinrich) cruiser: (flagship) *** II Torpedo Boat Flotilla: ''B 98''; 3rd Half-Flotilla: ''G 101'', ''V 100'', ''G 103'', ''G 104''; 4th Half-Flotilla: ''B 109'', ''B 110'', ''B 111'', ''B 97'', ''B 112'' *** VI Torpedo Boat Flotilla: ''V 69''; 12th Half-Flotilla: ''V 43'', ''S 50'', ''V 44'', ''V 45'', ''V 46''; 13th Half-Flotilla: ''V 82'', ''S 64'', ''S 61'', ''S 63'', ''V 74'' *** VIII Torpedo Boat Flotilla: ''V 180''; 15th Half-Flotilla: ''V 183'', ''V 185'', ''V 181'', ''V 184'', ''V 182''; 16th Half-Flotilla: ''S 176'', ''S 178'', ''G 174'', ''S 179'', ''V 186'' *** X Torpedo Boat Flotilla:: ''S 56''; 19th Half-Flotilla: ''T 170'', ''T 169'', ''T 172'', ''G 175'', ''T 165''; 20th Half-Flotilla: ''V 78'', ''V 77'', ''G 89'', ''S 65'', ''S 66'' *** VII Half-Flotilla: ''T 154'', ''T 158'', ''T 157'', ''T 151'', ''T 160'', ''T 145'', ''T 140'', ''T 139'' ** Courland Submarine Flotilla (''U-BootsFlottille Kurland''): ''UC 56, UC 57, UC 58, UC 59, UC 60, UC 78'' ** Minesweepers (''Minensuchdienst'') *** II Minesweeper Flotilla: ''A 62''; 3rd Half-Flotilla: ''T 136'', ''M 67'', ''M 68, M 75, M 76, M 77, T 59, T 65, T 68, T 82, T 85''; 4th Half-Flotilla: ''T 104, T 53, T 54, T 55, T 56, T 60, T 61, T 62, T 66, T 67, T 69''; 8th Half-Flotilla: ''M 64, M 11, M 31, M 32, M 39, A 35'' *** III Half-Flotilla of the Search Flotilla: ''T 141'', 15 motor-boats *** Mine-Searcher Group of the Outpost Half-Flotilla East: 6 fishing vessels *** I Minesweeper Division (Riga): 11 motor-boats *** II Minesweeper Division: 12 motor-boats *** III Minesweeper Division: 12 motor-boats *** IV Minesweeper Division: 10 motor-boats; outpost boat ''O 2'' *** Mine-barrage Breaker group (''Sperrbrechergruppe''): ''Rio Parbo, Lothar, Schwaben, Elass'' ** Anti-Submarine Forces (''U-Bootsabwehr'') *** Baltic Search Flotilla: ''T 144''; 1st half-flotilla: ''T 142, A 32, A 28, A 30'', 32 fishing vessels; 2nd half-flotilla: ''T 130, A 31, A 27, A 29'', 24 fishing vessels * Ground Forces: Generalleutnant Ludwig von Estorff ** 42nd Division ** 2nd ''Infanterie'' Cyclist Brigade

Russian units

* 425th, 426th and 472nd Infantry Regiments * Battleships: ''Grazhdanin'', *

Armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

s: , * Destroyers: , , , , , * Gunboats: , * Blockship: ''Lavwija'' * Minelayer: Operation Albion: The Attack On The Baltic Islands
/ref>

British units

* Submarines: , ,

Citations and references

Cited sources

* * *

External links

1 October entries on this site summarise Operation Albion

"Oesel Genommen", film footage of the invasion in 1917 from the German Federal Archives

Gregory Thiele "Operation Albion and Joint Amphibious Doctrine" ''Joint Forces Quarterly'' October 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albion, Operation 1917 in Estonia 1917 in Russia Amphibious operations involving Germany Amphibious operations of World War I Baltic Sea operations of World War I Military history of Estonia Military operations of World War I involving Germany Military operations of World War I involving Russia Military operations of World War I involving the United Kingdom October 1917 in Europe Petrograd in World War I