Brandenburg Fleet

In the spring of 1626, the Elector of Brandenburg, George Wilhelm, hired (or acquired) in Gdansk four ships launched in the same year ( Welcome, Valentin, der Hoffnung, Kameel ), which were to be used as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth fleet in the war against the Swedes. Soon all of them were captured without a fight by the Swedes in Pillau .

The Elector’s first attempt to create his own fleet during the Northern War was limited to a small fleet of the Baltic Sea, assembled in 1657 in Pillau and Memel, 3 ships, 34 guns and 140 people in command, under the command of artillery colonel ^{[1 ]} . The start of the flotilla was the Swedish ship Förgyllda Lejonet , stranded off the coast of Prussia in 1655. The following year, it was removed, repaired, renamed Clevescher Lindenbaum and admitted to the fleet in the rank of frigate with 10 guns. A year later, the 7-gun flute Kurfurst von Brandenburg, bought in Königsberg, was added to it. In the years 1659-1660, two Courlandic ships carried the Brandenburg flag: the 30-gun Pax and the 12-gun Clementia , formally hired by the elector in Copenhagen to avoid being captured by the Swedes. Over time, the flotilla was enlarged to seven large ships, three gunboats and twenty armed boats, which were successfully used against the Swedish ships and fortifications in the Frishez Huff Bay from the Commonwealth. After the war, the fleet was reduced due to lack of money, and already in 1662 there were only eight units in its composition. There is a mention that between 1661 and 1664 the ship Kurprinz (or Churprinz ) existed , but neither type, size, nor fate was indicated. Later, the fleet continued to decline due to reduced costs. Until about 1670, the fleet consisted of only one ship - the Leibjacht des Kurfürsten . To increase his income, the Elector participated in international maritime trade, for which he built two ships in the Netherlands: Herzogtum Cleve and Grafschaft Mark , but they were confiscated by England ^[2] .

Scones War

When the Swedish king Charles XI declared war on Brandenburg and the Netherlands in May 1675, the Brandenburg government did not have warships. The origins of the revival of the Brandenburg Navy were Friedrich Wilhelm , Elector of Brandenburg, and the Dutch merchant Benjamin Raule . After the French invasion of the Netherlands in 1672, Raoul suffered heavy losses, so he turned to piracy, having equipped several ships for this purpose. In 1675, during his stay in the Netherlands, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm contacted Raule and issued him letters of marque for action against the Swedes ^[3] .

Raule provided the Elector with three small frigates (16–20 guns) and two small vessels, with the help of which they captured about 20 Swedish ships within four weeks, and after another four weeks the Baltic Sea was essentially completely cleared of Swedish ships. However, neither England nor the Netherlands, to the ports of which the hijacked ships were delivered for sale, recognized them as privateer booty and began to return them to their owners. From the debt prison Raoul, who under the contract himself had to bear all the costs and at the same time did not get any benefit, the elector saved only his expenses and appointed him as his adviser.

On July 7, 1675, Friedrich Wilhelm entered into a new, subsequently extended many times, agreement with Raule on the hiring of his ships for the war with Sweden . In total, five ships were hired, which became the ships of the Brandenburg Navy - 16-20 cannon Churprinz , Berlin and Potsdam , 6-10 cannon Bielefeld and Bulle ^[4] . A 600-man marine corps was landed on ships, designed to attack the Swedish fortress of Carlsburg at the mouth of the Weser River. The operation failed, however, as early as the next year Raoul again provided the Elector with three frigates and three ships (a total of 67 guns, 287 crew members) for 40 thousand thalers . These ships participated in the blockade of the island of Rugen . In May 1726, the Brandenburg fleet, heading from Copenhagen (consisting of the frigates Churprinz von Brandenburg 26, Konig von Spanien 18, Berlin 15; Galots, Potsdam , Cleve; six sloops), captured the 22-gun Swedish fire fighting from the rest of the ships after the Jasmund battle Leopard ^[5] .

Subsequently, the Elector continued to hire warships and Raule ships, in addition, ships captured by privateers entered the fleet. As a result of all efforts, by 1677 the fleet consisted of 19 ships with 160 guns and more than 600 crew members. These ships supported army operations and hunted Swedish merchant ships ^[6] . This year, the Dutchman was appointed admiral of the Brandenburg fleet and led the siege of Stettin . During the siege, two ships - Berlin 18 and Prinz Ludwig 10 - attacked and captured the Swedish Ekorre 12. On August 4, eight Swedish ships attacked three Brandenburg ships and captured one of them, six-gun. In late August, van Beveren sent Churprinz 24, Maria 6, and Eichhorn 12 (formerly Ekorre ) to the mouth of the Elbe to hunt for French ships. In December 1677, Stettin was taken ^[7] . In September 1678, the fleet participated in the capture of Rugen. The next contract with the Elector was concluded in January 1679, according to which Raule hired him 8 ships with a crew of 400 officers and sailors.

Expeditions against Spain

After the end of the Second World War, Friedrich Wilhelm was able to begin to implement his plans for the creation of colonies and navy. The Commercial and Admiralty Collegiums were founded in Pillau, and a shipyard for building ten commercial ships was built in Königsberg. To get money, the Elector opened privateering actions against Hamburg, which hesitated in paying him the debt. After capturing several prizes and raising the insurance premium from 3% to 25%, Hamburg paid its debt ^[8] .

Soon after, the Elector opposed Spain , which owed him about 2 million thalers. On August 14, 1680, seven ships ( Friedrich Wilhelm 40, Churprinz 32, Dorothea 32, Röther Löwe 20, Fuchs 20, Berlin 16, Salamander 6 - a total of 166 guns, ships delivered to Raule) left Pillau under the command of van Beveren. On September 18, in the English Channel, this squadron attacked and captured the Spanish frigate Carolus II . van Beveren brought his booty back to Pillau and, in addition, sent his deputy, Cornelis Raes, to the West Indies with the task of intercepting one of the Spanish silver fleets , but the expedition was unsuccessful ^[9] . At the same time, Raoule was appointed "Director General of the Navy" ( French General Directeur de Marine - a position corresponding to the Minister of the Navy) with a salary of 400 thalers monthly (for comparison: at that time professors from German universities to earn such money , it took a whole year ^[10] ). By the end of 1681, he prepared another expedition against Spain, which captured several prizes in the English Channel ^[11] .

The following year, a new squadron of six ships was assembled ( Markgraf von Brandenburg 28 (formerly Carolus II) ; Röther Löwe 20, Fuchs 20, Eichhorn (formerly Swede ) 12; Prinzess Maria 12; Wasserhund 10 - a total of 102 guns). Commodore took command. The squadron arrived at Cape San Vicente and cruised there in the hope of intercepting the silver fleet. Instead, the Brandeburg squadron stumbled upon a much superior Spanish warship, which was specifically sent in search of the Brandenburg fleet. Mistakenly believing that he was facing a silver fleet, Alders on September 30 . After two hours of the battle, having lost about forty killed and wounded, Alders realized his mistake and, having managed to break away from the enemy ships, retreated to the Portuguese port of Lagos , which allowed the silver fleet to freely reach Cadiz . Although at the end of the year, the Brandenburgers won several prizes, in general, the expedition made virtually no profit ^[9] . As a result, the elector did not achieve significant success, except for the captured ships, one of which, Markgraf von Brandenburg (formerly Carolus II), became the flagship of the Brandenburg fleet ^[3] .

Creating Colonies

The third expedition against Spain was the last surge of activity of the Brandenburg fleet in Europe, after which Frederick switched to the creation of colonies. Agreeing with Raule’s own arguments that own ships would be much cheaper for the state treasury, on October 1, 1684, the Elector bought the ships belonging to him from Raule, and this day has since been often called the birthday of the Brandenburg Navy ^[12] . Nine ships with 176 guns were bought: five 10-54 cannon frigates, three 4-8 cannon ships and one unarmed, but high-speed yacht. Shortly before this, in 1682, the Admiralty and shipyard were founded in Pillau. In 1684, when the city of Emden passed into the possession of Brandenburg, the Admiralty and the Trading Company were transferred to it from Pillau. In Berlin, under the leadership of Raule, the Admiralty College was established ^[13] .

Thus, the Brandenburg fleet organized by Raoul at that time numbered 28 ships ^[14] , which made it possible to solve the tasks assigned to it in the adjacent seas, although it could not be compared in number with the largest maritime powers of that time (for example, in the war that began several years later) The Augsburg League was attended by 173 English, 102 Dutch and 221 French ships ^[15] ). On March 7, 1682, Friedrich Wilhelm signed a decree establishing the Brandenburg-African company, whose tasks included maritime trade and the development of new lands. At the same time, the company received the right to use the Brandenburg Navy to protect its interests. Since 1683, the management of the Brandenburg-African company operated in the city of Emden. At that time, the company had 30 merchant ships. On January 1, 1683, Major with the frigates Morian and Churprinz landed on the coast of modern Ghana and founded the colony Gross-Friedrichsburg ^[16] . In addition, the fleet served the interests of the Brandenburg-American company and the Brandenburg colonies in the Caribbean ^[2] .

In 1688, the fleet reached its peak: it consisted of 35 ships with 210 guns and 40 small ships with 80 guns ^[13] . These vessels were primarily used to provide control over trade routes and maritime trade, and, if necessary, provided blockade and naval defense, and also served to strengthen various military operations and counteract enemy warships.

Like the attempted privateering against Spain, the colonial undertakings of Friedrich Wilhelm as a whole ended in failure. The forces of the Brandenburg fleet were not enough to compete with such maritime powers as the Netherlands, Spain, England and Sweden ^[3] . Friedrich Wilhelm died in 1688, and under his descendants the fleet gradually fell into complete decline. Frederick I and Frederick William I admitted that they could never compete directly with the great maritime powers and instead focused on creating a better army in Europe, while maintaining good relations with naval powers such as Denmark and the Netherlands.

The contribution of Frederick I to the development of the fleet was limited to ordering two luxury yachts in the Netherlands in 1704. Of these, the pleasure yacht Friedrich (sometimes Fridericus Rex , Fridericus I or Fridericus ^[17] ) stands out , which cost a huge sum of 100 thousand thalers, causing a sensation both in Amsterdam and in Berlin, where it arrived on March 8, 1708. Measuring 82 feet long and 23 feet wide, it was armed with 22 bronze cannons, richly equipped and decorated. The yacht was used as Frederick's personal ship. In 1716, it was donated to Peter I (in exchange for the recruits that Russia transferred to Prussia) and in 1719 it became part of the Russian fleet under the name Dekrone ^{[3] [18]} .

As for the military and merchant fleets, ships and shipyards, as well as ports and colonies fell into decay, there were not enough funds for their maintenance. In 1701, Frederick was crowned king of Prussia, in the same year the Brandenburg fleet officially became the Prussian fleet, but it had already fallen into disrepair, there were only 11 ships in it ^[19] . Fortuna was last mentioned in documents in 1702, Schloss Oranienburg was sold in 1708, and Kurprinzess in 1712. In 1711, the Brandenburg-African Company was liquidated. The last warship - the frigate Friedrich III - did not go to sea since 1708, but was sold only in 1725, having survived the royal Große Jacht for 4 years. In 1713, the Berlin yacht galley Leibyacht was last mentioned ^[2] . In the end, in the 1720s, the remnants of the fleet were sold to various commercial enterprises, the colonies were abandoned or sold to other powers ^[20] .

• Brandenburg
• Prussian army

• Ulrich van der Heyden: Rote Adler an Afrikas Küste. Die brandenburgisch-preußische Kolonie Großfriedrichsburg in Westafrika . Berlin: Selignow-Verlag 2001, ISBN 3-933889-04-9
• Werner Rahn: Deutsche Marinen im Wandel: Vom Symbol nationaler Einheit zum Instrument internationaler Sicherheit , R. Oldenbourg Verlag, München 2005, ISBN 3-486-57674-7
• Stenzel A. History of wars at sea from the point of view of naval tactics. The third part (free supplement to No. 1 of the Marine Collection) / captain of the second rank K. Zhitkov. - Petrograd: Printing house of the Ministry of the Sea, 1917. - 508 p.
• Anderson RC Naval wars in the Baltic during the Sailing Ship Epoch (1522-1850) . - London: C. Gilbert-Wood, 1910 .-- 423 p.

• Brandenburg Fleet www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de (German)
• BRANDENBURG FLEET (Kurbrandenburgische flotte, 1675-1701)
• Boris Solomonov. UNDER THE FLAG OF BRANDENBURG.