Battle of Møn

Henrik Horn was appointed commander-in-chief of the Swedish navy in March 1677, becoming the third consecutive navy chief (after Gustaf Otto Stenbock and Lorentz Creutz) without any naval experience. The Danish fleet, on the other hand, was well-staffed with capable, experienced officers, which placed the Swedes at a marked disadvantage from the outset. Horn was quickly informed that Dutch reinforcements under Tromp were heading for the Baltic, and on 21 April he was received orders from King Charles to join the main body of the Swedish fleet with a minor squadron anchored off Gothenburg under the command of Erik Sjöblad. The main fleet did not get to sea until early June, but Sjöblad nevertheless sailed as early as 20 May to join Horn. Sjöblad tried to sail through the Great Belt, but was becalmed for on the 23rd and did not pass Langeland until the 29th. ^[1] Danish admiral Niels Juel, victor of the battles of Bornholm and Öland in 1676 was already at sea with 13 large warships, a yacht and two fireships when he received the report on Sjöblad's position on 28 May; within two days, the two fleets had sighted one another.^[2]

The Danish force was superior in numbers, armament and quality of equipment. Sjöblad's force had nine ships to Juel's 13, eight of which had 50 or more guns. The Danish ships were also dedicated warships while the Swedish vessels were armed merchants and less suited for battle. In total, the Swedes had 394 guns while the Danes had nearly 670, and the heaviest guns on the Swedish sides were merely 12-pounders, a relatively light caliber for naval artillery.^[3]

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Henrik Horn

Henrik Horn

Henrik Horn was a Swedish Nobleman (friherre), Admiral and member of the Privy Council of Sweden.

Gustaf Otto Stenbock

Gustaf Otto Stenbock

Count Gustaf Otto Stenbock was a Swedish soldier and politician.

Lorentz Creutz

Lorentz Creutz

Lorentz Creutz was a Swedish friherre, government administrator, county governor (landshövding) of Kopparberg County (1655–62), member of the Privy Council and supreme commander of the Swedish navy for a few months in 1676.

Gothenburg

Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a population of approximately 590,000 in the city proper and about 1.1 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area.

Great Belt

Great Belt

The Great Belt is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn) in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits.

Langeland

Langeland

Langeland is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446. The island produces grain and is known as a recreational and wellness tourism area. A bridge connects it to Tåsinge via Siø – a small island with a population of approximately 20 – and the main island of Funen. There are connections by car ferry to the islands of Lolland, Ærø, and Strynø.

Niels Juel

Niels Juel

Niels Juel was a Danish admiral and a naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy.

Battle of Bornholm (1676)

Battle of Bornholm (1676)

The battle of Bornholm was a naval battle between a superior Swedish and a smaller Danish-Dutch fleet that was fought 25–26 May 1676 as a part of the Scanian War. The objective for both sides was naval supremacy in the southern Baltic Sea. The Swedish commander Lorentz Creutz sought to destroy the allied fleet and then land reinforcements in Swedish Pomerania to relieve the Swedish forces in northern Germany. The aim of the Danish fleet under Niels Juel was to prevent this reinforcement without being destroyed by the superior numbers of the Swedish forces.

Battle of Öland

Battle of Öland

The Battle of Öland was a naval battle between an allied Danish-Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland on 1 June 1676. The battle was a part of the Scanian War (1675–79) fought for supremacy over the southern Baltic. Sweden was in urgent need of reinforcements for its north German possessions; Denmark sought to ferry an army to Scania in southern Sweden to open a front on Swedish soil.

Juel had taken up a position between the Swedish squadron and the outlet between the German mainland and the island of Falster. After a war council on 30 May, the Swedish force decided to attempt to sail around the Danish force and set a course for east-northeast on 31 May. The wind abated once more that day and both sides began towing their ships to make headway. The Swedish force tried to stay in formation by setting the pace by the slowest ships, and later that afternoon, the first Danish ships came within firing range. Before night fell, Drejer of Enigheden managed to overtake and capture Wrangel Palats. During the night, the wind picked up once more, which was to Juel's benefit.^[4]

On the morning of 1 June, the Danish force had the wind at their backs (the weather gauge) and could rake Sjöblad's force with their heavier guns while still keeping out of range of the lighter Swedish artillery. Since the wind was too light for coordinated maneuvers, Juel gave orders for every captain to attack the nearest enemy ship to sink or capture them. By 4 o'clock, Juel's flagship Christianus V had caught up with Sjöblad's Amarant and after an intense artillery duel that lasted two hours, the Swedish flagships lost a yard and had its largest topsail shot to pieces. Per Rosenlund of the Andromeda tried to turn around to assist his admiral, but his crew refused to follow orders since they "did not want to go back and let themselves be slaughtered like sheep".^[5] Sjöblad had to surrender and was taken prisoner. Kalmar Kastell was attacked by four Danish ships and also struck its colors. The captain of the Swedish ship, Cornelis Thijssen, gave his artillery officer orders to shoot up the ship's hull, and the Danish boarding party had to quickly ground the ship at Falster, later only managing to salvage the guns and the rig.^[6]

One after the other, the Swedish ships came under attack: Havsfrun and Ängeln Gabriel were both overtaken while the rest of the fleet managed to escape. Rosen and five smaller ships tried to turn back to Gothenburg through Öresund. Rosen hoisted the English flag and managed to deceive the Danish land defenses, but two others were captured. Only Andromeda, the badly damaged Gustavus and one fireship managed to escape into the Baltic to join with the Swedish main fleet south of Öland.^[7]

The captured Swedish ships and the prisoners were brought to Copenhagen. Sjöblad was exchanged for Danish prisoners on 15 August and was given command of Gothenburg's defenses.^[8] The Danish losses were limited to damage on some of the ships — the mainmast of Churprinsen broke during the battle — while the losses in men were very low. On Juel's flagships, for example, there was only one death and two injuries reported. However, Juel was not satisfied with the behavior of some of his subordinates and court martialed several. Five of his captains were accused of violating orders or showing lack of discipline. One was completely exonerated, while the others were convicted for disciplinary offenses and fined or had their pay reduced.^[9]

The Danish-Norwegian victory had thwarted the Swedish attempt to concentrate their forces. Juel avoided having to fight a much larger Swedish fleet and managed to give the Danish navy a welcome addition of ships. The Swedish losses, on the other hand, were over 1,500 wounded, injured or captured.^[10] The defeat weakened the Swedish fleet while strengthening the Danes. Exactly one month later, the two main fleets met at the Battle of Køge Bay, an engagement which would become the greatest Danish victory at sea and which would raise Niel Juel to hero status.^[11]

The numbers in parentheses indicates the number of guns for each ship.^[12]

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Niels Juel

Niels Juel

Niels Juel was a Danish admiral and a naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy.

Erik Carlsson Sjöblad

Erik Carlsson Sjöblad

Erik Carlsson Sjöblad was a Swedish governor, admiral, and baron.

Bojort

Bojort

A bojort is a type of ship first used by the Dutch to transport in the shallow canals in the Netherlands and Flanders. From the 17th to 19th century, Kristinehamn was Bergslagen's most important shipping route. The iron from Bergslagen was transported over Vänern to the oceans via Gothenburg. Because of this, Kristinehamn got a royal charter in 1642 from Queen Christina of Sweden's guardian regency and to remind the people of the importance of the shipping, a bojort was included in the coat of arms, which today can be seen in the coat of arms of the Kristinehamn Municipality. Vänersborg Municipality's coat of arms also features a bojort.