Jasmund battle

The battle of Jasmund , the battle of Bornholm — the naval battle of the Danish-Swedish war of 1675–1679 between the Danish-Dutch and Swedish fleets, which took place on May 25–26, 1676.

In the campaign of 1676, the Swedish fleet was ready to go to sea at the end of April. Part of the Danish fleet under the command of Niels Yuel was ready much earlier. Already at the end of March, Yuel went to sea with 8 battleships , 5 frigates and several small vessels, trying to disrupt the Swedish sea connection with the mainland. According to the instructions received, he was supposed to avoid a battle with a stronger opponent and protect ships. Other Danish ships were hastily put on alert.

Despite the complete dominance of the Danish fleet in Zund , it was decided to wait for the arrival of the Dutch fleet, which, however, came much later than anticipated.

In mid-April, Yuel was ordered to take possession of Gotland , which he fulfilled. From there, he sailed on May 4 to Bornholm , where he connected with the Dutch squadron under the command of Schautbenhacht van Almond and 4 Danish ships under the command of Admiral Jensen Rodsten. Thus, the composition of the Danish squadron increased to 26 pennants. She began cruising between Skane and Rugen .

On May 19, Lorenz Kreutz left the skerries to immediately engage in battle with the Danes.

On May 25, Niels Yuel saw the Swedes 10 miles northeast of the Jasmund Peninsula on Rügen. The Swedish fleet included 32 warships, 8 merchants and 11 transport ships, as well as 8 firewalls . On board were a total of 11 thousand people. The 1st squadron (vanguard) was commanded by Kreutz himself, the 2nd (center) - Admiral Uggl , the 3rd (rearguard) - Admiral Johan Ber .

Yuel went south in a closed wake column , the wind was east. Kreutz was approaching, following a somewhat more southern course. After unsuccessful attempts to take the windward position, the squadron of Yuel at about 9 am turned to the northeast. She was now on the Yasmund traverse, 4 miles from him.

Due to several signals misunderstood by many Swedes ships, the Swedish fleet was confused. Kreutz wanted to turn sequentially in each detachment, but the maneuver was not provided for in the signal book , so it was necessary to dial a number of separate signals, which in their totality were differently understood by the younger flagships . This led to significant confusion in the battle line. The Swedes were also prevented by a very fresh wind, which caused the lower batteries to be lifted.

During this maneuver, Yuel managed to cut off 6-7 of the enemy’s rear ships, but the night did not allow him to develop success.

At night, the fleets dispersed, but at 6 o’clock in the morning at south-west-ost the battle resumed. Swedish squadrons separated from each other. In addition, some ships broke away from their squadrons and marched separately from them. Order gradually recovered during tacking. Swedish ships remained all the time in the wind. They did not accept decisive close-range combat. Yuel tried in vain to approach the Swedes on the leeward side. Shooting began only when the fleets approached on counter-hulls .

Several Swedish ships were damaged, but despite the fact that they were blown away by the wind, they did not fall into the hands of the Danes. Kreutz, seeing that the Danish fireman was dangerously close to the ship on which his son was, rushed to the rescue. All the ships, according to the instructions, turned, following the movements of the admiral, because of which there was a mess in their ranks.

Yuel at 3 o'clock stopped trying to get closer to the enemy. He descended under the wind and lay heading west, pursued by the squadrons of Kreutz and Uggla. At Falsterba he anchored, while Kreutz, fearing the shallows, did not dare to pursue the enemy anymore and went to Trelleborg .