Battle of Åland Islands
Battle of Åland Islands | |
---|---|
Part of Gotland, Sweden near Åland | |
Result | Allied victory |
1 cruiser
2 light cruisers
7 torpedo boats
2 light cruisers
1 destroyer
1 submarine
1 cruiser grounded
27 dead and 49 wounded
The Battle of Åland Islands, or the Battle of Gotland, which occurred in July 1915, was a
The battle
On 1 July [
On the same day the German mine-laying
In the early morning of 2 July [O.S. 19 June] 1915, the Russian squadron spotted and immediately opened fire on Augsburg, Albatross and three torpedo boats. Karpf commanded Roon and Lübeck, which at the time were heading towards Liepāja (Libau), to return to Gotland. At the same time he ordered Albatross to find shelter in Swedish territorial waters. Bogatyr and Oleg managed to catch up with Albatross and opened fire. The flaming Albatross ran aground near Östergarn. Bayan, Oleg and Rurik then attempted to return to their base. A couple of hours later they encountered Roon and Lübeck. A short artillery duel followed. A shortage of shells forced the Russian cruisers to retreat. Fearing a possible arrival of enemy reinforcements the damaged German ships also retreated.[1]
As the German armoured cruisers SMS Prinz Adalbert and Prinz Heinrich sailed to reinforce the German squadron, Prinz Adalbert was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS E9 and limped to shore.[2]
Legacy
The battle is regarded as the first instance of Russian signals intelligence.[3]
Notes
- ^ Russia was still using the Julian calendar in 1915
References
- ^ a b c "Gotland Raid". Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "Russian Newspapers". Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "War on Sea" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
External links
Media related to Gotland Battle (1915) at Wikimedia Commons