Battle of Køge Bay (1710)

Phase 1: Swedish dominance ( 1700-1709 )

Humlebæk • Tonning I

Jungfernhof Riga • I • • Pühhajoggi Narva River Dvina • • • Rauge Erastfer Hummelshof • • • Peipussee Tartu Narva • II • Wesenberg

Nöteborg Nyenschanz • • • Systerbäck Petersburg, Vyborg • I • Porvoo

Salads • James City • Gemauerthof • Jelgava • Grodno Nyasvizh • • • Kletsk Ljachowitschi •

Klissow • Pultusk • Thorn • Lviv • Warsaw • Posen • Punitz • Tillendorf • Rakowitz • woman • City Kalisch

Golowtschin Moljatitschi • • • Rajowka Lesnaja Koniecpol • • • Weprik Krasnokutsk • Poltava

Phase 2: Sweden on the defensive ( 1710-1721 )

Riga Vyborg II • II • • Pärnu Kexholm Reval • • • Pälkäne Storkyro • Hanko

Helsingborg • Køge Bay Frederikshald • I • Dynekilen Fjord Gothenburg • I • II • Marstrand Frederikshald Strömstad • • • Gothenburg Osel II • Södra Stäket • Grönham • Sundsvall

Lübow • I • Stade Stralsund Rügen • • • Altona • Gadebusch Tonning II • Szczecin • Fehmarn • Wismar Stralsund • II • Jasmund • Peenemünde • Stresow

The naval battle against the Køge Bay took place in the Great Northern War on October 4, 1710 before the Køge Bay between the Danish-Norwegian fleet under Admiral Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve and the Swedish fleet under Admiral Hans Wachtmeister instead.

Prehistory

In the summer of 1710 Admiral Gyldenløve, a half-brother of King Frederick IV of Denmark - Norway, sent to the Hanseatic city of Danzig to accommodate 6,000 Russian soldiers in Danish service. This corps was the Danish king from the Russian Tsar Peter the Great in battle against the Swedish king Charles XII. provided. The Tsar hoped thereby a new front against Charles XII. be able to open. The Danish king wanted to attack with the help of Russian troops the southern Swedish province of Skåne County.

During the trip to Denmark, the convoy ran into a strong storm, were completely destroyed by the four ships of the line. Admiral Gyldenløve retired with his battered fleet in the Koge Bay back. In addition, disease broke out among the crews of the ships, which aggravated the situation and led to that the ships were manned only by authorized strength. This meant that Gyldenløve sent four ships in the North Sea and five more ships made ​​unfit for service out of service (they were towed to Copenhagen). Thus his fleet had shrunk to 26 ships of the line with 1700 guns, five frigates and 13 smaller warships. In addition, still belonged to 40 merchant ships that were converted as a troop transport for the Russian contingent, the convoy of Gyldenløve. The total strength of the crews numbered about 10,000 men. The flagship of the fleet was the battleship Elephant, which was equipped with 90 cannons.

Although the king asked him again and again to put to sea and attack the Swedish mainland, Gyldenløve remained in the bay. On 21 September, the Swedish Admiral sergeant stabbed with 21 ships of the line ( a total of 1500 guns), several frigates and smaller vessels of Karlskrona in the lake. His flagship was the Gata Loewe, a battleship with 96 cannons. The Swedish fleet headed for the Øresund to engage the Danish invasion fleet in a naval battle.

The Battle

When the Swedish Admiral on 24 September, the Køge Bay reached, he found the alerted Danish fleet before in battle formation. Sergeant knew nothing of the low commitment of the Danish ships, so that he avoided an open battle and with his ships only shelled the vanguard of the Danes.

During the firefight began, the Danish line ship Dannebroge fire. The guns were so badly overheated by continuous fire that the surrounding planks caught fire. The commander of the ship knew about the risk of explosion of the ship and the resulting risk to place other ships of the fleet on fire. He decided to sacrifice his ship and crew for the benefit of the fleet and not to control it through the fleet through to the beach. The anchor of the Dannebroge was not cleared and the surrounding vessels were instructed to remove from the burning ship. Captain Huitfeld died with almost all of its 800 sailors. Only three men were pulled after the explosion alive from the water. The bodies of the other crew members were picked up by the other ships and buried in the bay.

An emerging storm stopped the continuation of the battle between the fleets. Two Swedish ships, the Three Crowns under the command of Admiral and the Princess Ulrika Eleonora Ruuth under the command of Rear-Admiral of lions, were damaged during the storm, ran aground and was abandoned and burned by their crews. Both were ships of the line with 90 guns.

Assessment

The battle was not crucial but the Russian- Danish plan an invasion in southern Sweden was defeated.

After the storm had subsided again on 27 September, the Swedish fleet withdrew to Ystad. A pursuit of the Danes in the shallow waters were too dangerous for Admiral sergeant. The Danish fleet retired to Copenhagen back to hibernation.

Monument

To the captain of the Dannebroge Ivar Huitfeldt (1665-1710) and his 800 crew members who lost their lives in the battle, today commemorated by a memorial column on the Copenhagen Long line. The column is decorated with cannon parts that were like the anchor 1872-1875 salvaged from the wreck still present in the Køge Bugt.