Battle of Svensksund (1789)

First battle of Svensksund / Rochensalm

Battle of Svensksund August 24 1789
by Johan Tietrich Schoultz

Date	August 24 (August 15 OS), 1789
Location	Svensksund, (now Kotka, southern Finland)
Result	Russian victory

Belligerents

Swedish Navy

Imperial Russian Navy

Commanders and leaders

Carl August Ehrensvärd
Carl Olof Cronstedt
Enrique MacDonell

Charles Henry of Nassau-Siegen
Ivan Balle
Count Giulio Litta

Strength

5,000 men

24 Larger ships
3 Bomb vessels
47 Galleys
30 Gun sloops
3 Cutters
Auxiliaries

12,000 men

Casualties and losses

Battle:

5 archipelago frigates
2 galleys
10 gun sloops
1,500 men

30 auxiliaries torched after battle

1 galley
1 gun sloop
383 killed
628 wounded
22 captured

The First Battle of Svensksund, also known as the First Battle of Rochensalm from the Russian version of the Finnish: Ruotsinsalmi, was a naval battle fought in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, outside the present-day city of Kotka, on August 24, 1789, during the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790).

The Swedish fleet at Svensksund consisted of one light, shallow draft, frigate, six turumas, one hemmema, three udemas, and one pojoma archipelago frigate, with twenty gun sloops, four mortar longboats, four cannon longboats and five galleys. The fleet had 5,000 men plus those aboard auxiliaries and transports. Swedish strength was dispersed defending the whole length of the coastline. The Swedish open sea fleet failed to defeat the Russian fleet at Öland and was unable to clear Russian ships from the Porkkala region.

The Russian coastal fleet consisted of a frigate, eight xebecs, five brigs, three bomb vessels, eighteen galleys, twenty-nine half-galleys, twelve gun sloops and three cutters with a total of 12000 men plus those aboard auxiliaries. The Russian coastal fleet was supported by a squadron of three frigates, seven xebecs, and two dozen smaller ships from the open sea fleet commanded by Ivan Balle.

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