Swedish Naval History

16th Century

1522 November
The Battle at Sandhamnsloppet against the Danish fleet.

1563 November 11
The Battle off the coast of Blekinge against the Danish fleet under command of Søren Norby.

1535 June 9
The Battle at Bornholm against the joint Danish and Lübecker fleets.

1535 June 16
The Battle at Svendborgsund against the joint Danish and Lübecker fleets.

1535 November 11
The Battle at Dragør against the Hanseatic fleet.

1563 July [May?] 30
The Battle at Bornholm against the Danish fleet. The Swedish fleet was commanded by Admiral Jakob Bagge.

1563 September 11
The Battle at Gotska Sandön against the joint Danish and Lübecker fleets.

1564 May 30-31
The Battle at Gotland against the joint Danish Lübeck fleets. The Swedish fleet was commanded by Admiral Jakob Bagge. The new 173-gun ship Mars, also called Makalös or Jutehater, caught fire and exploded.

1564 July 11
The Battle at Warnemünde against the Danish fleet.

1564 August 12-13 [14?]
The Battle at Ölands Norra Udde against the joint Danish and Lübeck fleets.

1565 June 4
The Battle at Bukow against the joint Danish and Lübecker fleets.

1565 July 7
The Battle between Bornholn and Rügen againt the joint Danish and Lübecker fleets.

1566 July 26
The Battle at Ölands Norra Udde against the joint Danish and Lübecker fleets.

1570 July 17 [16?]
The Battle at Bornholm against the Danish fleet.

1598 August
The Battle at Åland against the Finnish fleet.

17th Century

1611 July 21
The Battle at Gladefjärden against the Danish fleet.

1611 July 30
The Battle at Ölands Norra Udde against the Danish fleet.

1611 August
The Battle off the Smålandsskären.

1627 November 18
The Battle on the Danzig Roads against ten Polish ships. The commander of the Swedish squadron, Stjernskjöld, was killed and the Tigern taken while the Solen was blown up by her captain Alexander Forath.

1628 August 10
The 64-gun ship Wasa capsized and sank at her maiden voyage.

1629 September 16
The Battle at Wismar against the Emperor's fleet.

1630-16__: The Thirty Years War

1644 May 16
The Battle at Listerdyb against the Danish fleet.

1644 May 25
The Battle at Listerdyb against the Danish fleet.

1644 July 1
The Battle at Kohlberger Heide against the Danish fleet.

1644 October 13
The Battle at Fehmarn Bält against the Danish fleet. The Swedish fleet was under command of Karl Gustaf Wrangel.

1657 September 12-13
The Battle at Møen against the Danish fleet. The Swedish fleet under Admiral Klas Bjelkenstjerna consisted of 25 ships and the Danish fleet under Riksviceadmiral Henrik Bjelke consisted of 28 ships which were re-enforced by 11 ships under Admiral Niels Juel during the night before the second day of the battle.

1658 October 29
The Battle at the Sound against a Dutch fleet. The Swedish Admiral of the Fleet Karl Gustaf Wrangel had a fleet of 44 ships including armed merchantmen and the Dutch Lieutenant Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam commanded a fleet of 35 ships. The Dutch fleet was able to force its way through the Sound but the 54-gun ship Brederode was sunk and Admiral Witte de With was killed.

1659 March 30
The Battle at Fehmarn Belt.

1659 July 23
The Battle at Ebeltoft against the joint Danish and Dutch fleets.

1676 May 25-26
The Battle between Rögen and the Skåne coast against the Danish fleet.

1676 June 1
The Battle at Ölands Södra Udde against the combined Danish and Dutch fleets. The Swedish Admiral Lorentz Creutz with a fleet of ?? ships and the Danish Admiral Niels Juel and the Dutch Admiral Cornelis Tromp with together 35 ships. The Swedish 126-gun ship Stora Kronan capsized and exploded. In the resulting confusion the Swedish ship Svärdet was surrounded by the enemy and lost.

1677 June 1
The Battle at Lolland against the Danish fleet.

1677 July 1
The Battle at Stevens Klint against the Danish fleet. The Swedish Amiral General Henrik Horn commanded a fleet of 21 ships and the Danish Admiral Niels Juel had ?? ships.

1678 June 9
The main naval base was moved from Stockholm to Carlskrona.

18th Century

1700-17__: The Great Nordic War

1700 July 24
The Battle at Humlebeck against the Danish fleet.

1701 June 26
The Battle at Arkangelsk against the Russian fleet.

1704 July 28
The action between the 50-gun ship Öland and eight English ship-of-the-line and a frigate off the British coast at Oxfordness. The Öland was commanded by Gustav Psilander.

1705 June 4
The Battle at Retusari against the Russian fleet.

1705 July 16
The Battle at Retusari against the Russian fleet.

1710 October 4 [September 24?]
The Battle at Køge Bugdt against the Danish fleet.

1712 May 1
The Battle at Fladstrand against the Danish fleet.

1712 September 18-19
The Battle at Wittow against the Danish fleet.

1713 July 11
The Battle at Hogland against the Russian fleet.

1714 July 27
The Battle at Hangöudd against a Russian galley fleet.

Scoutbynacht (Rear Admiral) Nils Ehrensköld, and Generaladmiral Apraksin. The light 15-gun frigate Elefanten was anchored broadside on in a narrow sound with three galleys facing the attacker on each side, two small boats were placed behind the line. In the first attack a division of 35 Russian galleys was thrown back, and the second attack in which two divisions of together 80 Russian galleys participated also failed.

In the third and successful attack all available vessels remaining from the three divisions, or about 95 galleys, participated. This battle must be considered a strategical victory for the Swedish squadron as it achieved its objective and broke the force of the Russian attack against the Swedish coast. Only 60 galleys were able to continue the campaign.

1715 April 13
The Battle at Fehmarn Belt against the Danish fleet.

1715 July 28
The Battle at Rügen against the Danish fleet.

1716 June 27
The Battle at Dynekilen against the Danish fleet.

1717 May 3
The Battle at Älvsborg against the Danish fleet.

1717 July 8
The Battle at Strömstad against the Danish fleet.

1719 May 24
The Battle at Gotska Sandön against the Russian fleet.

Commander Anton Johan Wrangel's detachment consisting of the 48-gun ship Wachtmeister, the 30-gun frigate Karlskrona Vapen, and the 10-gun brigantine Bernhardus was taken after a fierce fight by a Russian squadron consisting of six 52-gun ships and a frigate under command of Captain Senyavin.

1720 August 6
The Battle at Ledsund, Åland, against the Russian galley fleet.

Vice Admiral Karl Georg Sjöblad and General Golitsyn. A Swedish divison of one ship-of-the-line, four frigates, three galleys, and seven small vessels were retreating through Ledsund before 61 Russian galleys and 29 smaller vessels. The four Swedish frigates Stora Phoenix (34), Vainqueur (30), Kiskin (22) and Danska Örn (18) grounded in the sound when the wind failed and were taken after a short but brisk action. Of the Russian fleet, two galleys were sunk during the action while 43 were so much damaged that they had to be burnt.

1743 May 20
The Battle at Korpoström againt the Russian fleet.

1756
The Royal Swedish Navy was divided in a high seas navy and a coastal or inshore navy, called the Fleet of the Army [Armens Flotta].

1759 September 10
The Battle at Stettiner Haff against the Preussian fleet.

1788 July 17
The Battle at Hogland against the Russian fleet.

1789 June 1
The frigate Venus was captured by a Russian squadron in neutral Norwegian waters.

1789 July 26
The Battle of Öland against the Russian fleet.

1789 August 24
The First Battle at Svensksund against the Russian galley fleet.

1790 March 17
The Battle at Batischport against the Russian fleet.

1790 May 13
The Battle at the Reval Roads.

1790 May 15
The Battle at Fredrikshamn against the Russian fleet.

1790 June 3-4
The Battle at Kronstadt against the Russian fleet.

1790 July 2
The Gauntlet at Viborg. The Swedish 60-gun ship Enigheten was accidently put on fire by a Swedish fire-ship and exploded.

1790 July 9
The Second Battle at Svensksund against the Russian galley fleet.

19th Century

1808 April 27
The Battle at Strömstad against the Danish fleet.

1808 June 30
The Battle at Krampholmen against the Russian fleet.

1808 July 4
The Battle at Bockholmen against the Russian fleet.

1808 August 2
The Battle at Sandöström against the Russian fleet.

1808 August 18
The re-capture of the hemmema-frigate Styrbjörn from the Russians at Lövöfjärden, Åbo skärgård. The cutting-out expedition was commanded by Överstelöjtnant von Krusenstierna.

1808 August 26
The Battle at Batischport against the Russian fleet.

1808 September 18
The Battle at Palvasun against the Russian fleet.

1809 August 20
The landing at Ratan.

1823
The Navy of the Swedish Army was once more combined with the high seas fleet under one organisation.

20th Century

1914-1919: First World War

1943 April 14
The loss of the submarine Ulven on the west-coast of Sweden.

1939-1945: Second World War

1941 September
The disaster at Hårsfjärden. The destroyers Klas Horn, Göteborg, and Klas Uggla were lost.

Updated 1996-07-03 by Lars Bruzelius.


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Copyright © 1996 Lars Bruzelius.