Battle of Dynekilen

Tordenskjold i Dynekilen by Carl Neumann

Date	June 28, 1716 (O.S.) July 8, 1716 (N.S.)
Location	Dynekilen fjord, north of Strömstad
Result	Danish-Norwegian victory

Belligerents

Swedish Empire

Denmark-Norway

Commanders and leaders

Olof Strömstierna

Peter Tordenskjold

Strength

1,284 men
13 warships,
14 merchant vessels,
1 land battery with
40 heavy cannons and
72 light cannons in total

931 men
7 warships with
97 heavy cannons,
38 light cannons and
2 howitzers in total

Casualties and losses

9 warships captured,
4 warships sunk,
5 merchants captured,
9 merchants destroyed
21 men or more captured,
unknown number of killed and wounded

19 killed,
57 wounded

The naval Battle of Dynekilen (Slaget ved Dynekilen) took place on 8 July 1716 during the Great Northern War.

On 28 October 1709 Frederik IV of Denmark, the Danish-Norwegian king declared war against Sweden. The war declaration came after the Swedish defeat at the Battle of Poltava, which resulted in a decisive victory for Peter I of Russia over Charles XII of Sweden.

In the naval enactment, a light Danish-Norwegian force of 7 ships under Peter Tordenskjold trapped and defeated a Swedish transport fleet of 44 ships in Dynekilen fjord, just north of Strömstad, on the west coast of Sweden. The Swedish transport fleet was transporting troops, ammunition and supplies from Göteborg, destined for the land forces under the command of Charles XII invading Norway.

The Danish-Norwegian flotilla ambushed the Swedish fleet while it was positioned in the harbour of Dynekilen. In the process, it overcame and destroyed a small island fort equipped with six 12-pounder guns positioned in the harbour entrance. The largest Swedish ship, Stenbock, a former ship-of-the-line converted into a cannon barge, surrendered, after which the lighter vessels were run aground, and an attempt made to destroy most of them. The Dano-Norwegian forces worked to putting out fires and salvaging as many of the ships as possible. They managed to save and capture 30 ships, while 14 ships, consisting of various galleys and transport ships, were successfully destroyed by the Swedish. Swedish land forces continued to fire muskets from the surrounding hills during these operations, eventually forcing Tordenskjold to leave, but not preventing him from taking with him all of 30 captured Swedish ships. The Dano-Norwegian force suffered 76 casualties, 19 killed and 57 wounded.

On account of the loss of this transport fleet at Dynekilen, Charles XII was forced to abandon the invasion of Norway and withdraw his troops to Sweden, where he was soon preoccupied with setting up defences against the expected combined Danish and Russian invasion force.

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