Battle of revel

Having made peace with Denmark and received subsidies from Great Britain and Prussia , the Swedes hoped to wage an offensive campaign of 1790. It was planned, having gathered forces into a fist, with quick blows to crush separate parts of the Russian linear and galley fleets scattered around Revel , Friedrichsgamn , Vyborg and Kronstadt . At the same time, the army was to attack with all its might on St. Petersburg . However, the Swedish ships ’attack on Rogervik (Baltic port) , which was undertaken back in March, although successful, made the Russians wary and deprived the Swedes of surprise. Nevertheless, the Swedish fleet, which left Karlskrona at the beginning of May, hoped to destroy the Russian Revel squadron. With 22 battleships , 4 frigates and 4 small vessels, the Swedes were significantly superior to the enemy. Admiral Chichagov , being aware of the approach of the Swedes, put his forces at anchor in three lines: in the first - 10 battleships and 1 frigate, in the second - 4 frigates opposite the spaces between the ships and 1 bombardier ship on the flanks, in the third - 7 boats . The vanguard and rearguard were commanded by Vice-Admiral Musin-Pushkin and Rear-Admiral Khanykov .

According to the plan of the Chief of Staff Admiral Nordenskiöld, the Swedish fleet had, continuously firing, to pass in the wake column by the Russian ships anchored and repeat this maneuver until the Russian squadron was destroyed. This plan, according to the German researcher Alfred Stenzel, was unsuccessful and did not give the Swedes any benefits: they did not concentrate their forces, did not anchor with overwhelming forces against the enemy, did not try to circumvent it, etc. Because of the strong wind and Inaccurate sight most of the Swedish nuclei did not hit the target. At the same time, the return fire of the Russian ships anchored proved much more effective.

Those of the Swedish ships who tried to approach at close range suffered the most and reduced the sails to reduce the turn and roll. They were met with sighting volleys and with large losses of people and significant damage to the spars and rigging left from under the shots, without causing serious damage to the Russian courts. Swedes' flagship Gustav III, due to unsuccessful maneuvers, began to drift onto the Russian line and was only 50 feet from Rostislav, which showered the enemy with nuclei and canister. With difficulty, he managed to escape from the fire, while he was so tilted that the ship was saved from being flooded only by the presence of the spirit of an artillery officer who ordered the downwind cannon ports. The other ship, the 64-gun ship “Prins Carl”, which ranked 15th on the line, was so badly damaged that it lost control and was forced to surrender to the Russians.

Shortly thereafter, the Swedish commander, who had been watching the battle with the frigate Ulla Fersen, gave the order to stop the battle. Several ships that closed up the Swedes did not take part in the battle. During the retreat, one of the damaged ships, the Riksens Ständer, ran aground and was burned by the Swedes. (His gun and anchor stand in Tallinn near the English gymnasium)

This "run through the ranks" (in the words of Stenzel, who compared the battle with the cruel soldiers' punishment ) cost the Swedes great casualties: 61 killed, 71 wounded and about 520 prisoners, 1 ship fell into the hands of the enemy, 1 was wrecked, and from the 3rd 42 guns dropped to break. Several Swedish ships left for repair at Sveaborg . The losses of the Russians amounted to only 8 killed and 27 wounded. The strategic result of the battle was the collapse of the Swedish campaign plan - it was not possible to defeat the Russian forces piece by piece, and the losses suffered (which were previously planned to be more than replenished by captured Russian ships) had a severe effect on the condition of the Swedish fleet.

Russian fleet : First line:

2 100-gun ships:

• "Rostislav" (flagship, commander - Captain 2nd rank P.V. Chichagov ),
• “Saratov” (flag of Vice-Admiral AB Musin-Pushkin , commander - 2nd rank captain N. I. Barsh );

4 74-gun ships:

• "Mstislav" (commander - captain 1st rank Andrei Iv. Denisov)
• "Kir Ioann" (commander - captain of brigadier rank E. E. Tet )
• "St. Elena ”(flag of Rear Admiral P.I. Khanykov , commander - Captain 1st Rank Karl Evstafevich von Breyer),
• "Yaroslav" (commander - captain 1st rank S. N. Telepnev );

4 66-gun ships:

• "Boleslav" (commander - Captain 2nd rank N. I. Sheshukov )
• "Izyaslav" (commander - Captain 2nd rank Efim K. von Sievers),
• "Victorious" (commander - captain 1st rank Alexis I. Timashev)
• Prokhor (commander — captain 1st rank F. G. Skorbeev );

1 50-gun frigate:

• "Venus" (commander - captain of the 2nd rank R.V. Crown ).

Second line:

1 36-gun frigate:

• “Pryamislav” (commander - lieutenant commander Ekim Lazarev-Stanischev);

3 32-gun frigates:

• "Hope of Well-Being" (Commander - Lieutenant Commander HA Bodisko ),
• "Podrazhislav" (commander - Lieutenant Commander KI von Grevens),
• "Glory" (commander - captain-lieutenant Rodion Svitin).

2 bombing ships:

• "Terrible" (commander - Lieutenant Commander AC Babayev),
• "Winner" (Commander - Lieutenant Commander HA Tutolmin).

The third line - 7 boats:

• "Mercury",
• "Neptune",
• "Happy",
• "Flying" (commander - S. G. Scott),
• "Herald" (commander - E. P. Getzen ),
• "Swan",
• "Volkhov".

Swedish fleet :

3 74-gun ships:

• Wladislaff
• Konung Gustaf III,
• Sophia Magdalena;

4 70-gun ships:

• Götha Lejon
• Enighet
• Konung Adolf Fredrik,
• Louise Ulrika;

9 64-gun ships:

• Äran
• Dristigheten
• Dygd,
• Fädernesland
• Försiktigheten
• Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotta,
• Prins Carl,
• Tapperheten
• Wasa;

3 62-gun ships:

• Ömheten
• Prins Fredrik Adolf,
• Rättvisan;

1 60-gun:

• Riksens Ständer;

2 44-gun frigates:

• Grip
• Uppland;

4 42-gun frigates:

• Camilla,
• Euredice,
• Fröya,
• Galathea.

Note: the composition of both the Russian and the Swedish fleet needs to be clarified.

By supreme decree, Admiral V.Ya. Chichagov was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, Vice-Admiral A.V. Musin-Pushkin was awarded a golden sword with diamonds, Captain 1st Rank P.V. Chichagov - Order of St. George, IV Class Rear Admiral P. I. Khanikov - Order of St. Vladimir, II degree, Captain of the brigadier rank E. Ye.Tet - Order of St. Vladimir, III Degree, captains An. Ive Denisov, A. Iv. Timashev, F. G. Skorbeev, S. N. Telepnev, K. E. von Breyer, N. I. Sheshukov, R. V. Crone , E. K. von Sievers, and N. I. Barsch and Ceichmeister Major Jacob Lamsdorf - golden swords with the inscription "For courage."

• Stenzel A. The History of Wars at Sea
• Veselago F. F. A brief history of the Russian Navy
• The military chronicle of the Russian fleet: A chronicle of the most important events in the military history of the Russian fleet from the 9th century. to 1917
• Shirokorad A. B. Northern wars of Russia
• The Russian-Swedish War of 1788-1790