Battle of Reval

The Battle of Reval took place on 13 May [O.S. 2 May] 1790 during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790, off the port of Reval in the roadstead (now Tallinn, Estonia). This battle ended in an imposing Imperial Russian Navy victory; it has been compared to the practice of running the gauntlet.

Undaunted by the Swedish defeats and failures during 1789, the Swedish king, Gustav III, sent the battle fleet under his brother Prince Charles, Duke of Södermanland, to eliminate Admiral Vasily Chichagov's Russian squadron, which had wintered in the harbor at Reval.

General-Admiral Duke Karl (Charles) of Södermanland approached Reval with 26 ships of the line and large frigates mounting a combined 1,680 cannon. Chichagov, preparing to meet the enemy in the harbour, formed a battle line made up of 9 ships of the line and the frigate Venus.

The Russian fleet (10 ships of the line, 5 frigates) was anchored in a line going from Reval harbour towards the Viimsi (Wims) peninsula. The first line consisted of nine ships of the line and frigates, i.e. the 100-gun battleships Rostislav (flagship of Admiral Vasily Chichagov, captained by his son Pavel Chichagov) and Saratov (flagship of Vice Admiral Alexey Vasilyevich Musin-Pushkin, captained by Nikolai Barsh), the 74-gun ships of the line Kir Ioann, Mstislav, Sv. Elena (flagship of Counter Admiral Pyotr Khanykov, captained by Carl Magnus von Breyer) and Yaroslav, the 66-gun ships of the line Pobedonosets, Boleslav and Izyaslav and the 40-gun frigate Venus (captained by Robert Crown). In the second line, four frigates: Podrazhislav (32 guns), Slava (32), Nadezhda Blagopoluchiya (32) and Pryamislav (36). Two bomb-vessels were deployed on the flanks. The third line was composed of seven cutters. The squadron was assisted by coastal artillery.

The Swedish fleet under the command of General-Admiral Duke Karl consisted of 22 ships of the line, four frigates and four smaller vessels. It entered the harbour and started passing by the anchored Russian ships.

Due to strong winds and inaccurate aiming, most Swedish projectiles ricocheted past their targets, while the Russian ships that were anchored within the protected area of the harbour were able to use their guns much more effectively. The ship of the Swedish General-Admiral, which could not be brought into the wind due to a rigging problem, was forced to drift towards Rostislav and received major damage from grapeshot. The 64-gun battleship Prins Karl, fifteenth in the Swedish line, lost her rudder to Russian fire and had to strike her colours.

The Duke of Södermanland directed the battle from the frigate Ulla Fersen, beyond the range of Russian fire. After a two-hour artillery duel he ordered his ships to break off the engagement; hence the last ten ships of Swedish line veered off without firing a shot. The Swedish ship Riksens Ständer hit the reef north of Aegna (Wolf) island. Swedish attempts to dislodge her failed, and the Swedes were forced to burn her so that the Russians would be unable to take her.

The Battle of Reval was a resounding Russian victory. The Swedes lost two ships of the line, and were forced to retreat despite their more than twofold numerical superiority in line ships. Russian losses were 8 killed and 27 injured. Contemporary sources reported Russian casualties of 4 killed, 7 seriously and 18 lightly wounded, with almost 400 Swedish sailors, soldiers and officers captured and presumably 130 killed. Swedish losses vary considerably in other sources, ranging from 381 (Swedish estimate) to 800 (various combined estimates).