Qualla: Battle of Svensksund (1789)

Battle of Svensksund (1789): Introduction

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Zache, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Swedes thought the channel was too shallow to use. On 24 August 1789, in the maze of granite islets off the modern Finnish city of Kotka, a Russian galley squadron under the Italian-born commander Giulio Litta proved them wrong. He took his small, flat-bottomed warships through the unblockaded narrows between Tiutinen and Koiromsari and broke through the Swedish line of scuttled blockship hulks from behind. By nightfall the Swedish archipelago fleet was burning its own transports to prevent capture and limping westward toward the safety of Svartholm fortress.

Image: Zache | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Svensksund (1789): Two Fleets, Two Designs

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wanderer602, CC BY-SA 3.0. The First Battle of Svensksund — known to Russians as the First Battle of Rochensalm, after the Finnish word for the strait, Ruotsinsalmi — was a fight unique to the Baltic. The water here is too shallow and too rocky for ships of the line. Both sides built specialized 'archipela...

Image: Wanderer602 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Svensksund (1789): The Blockade That Wasn't

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Johan Tietrich Schoultz, Public domain. The Swedish commander, Carl August Ehrensvärd, had a sound plan but a bad king. He wanted to scuttle ships across the narrow passages between the islands, sealing the channels through which Russian forces could approach. On 23 August, his crews began sinking blockships in the cho...

Image: Johan Tietrich Schoultz | Public domain

Battle of Svensksund (1789): Six Hours and Then Disaster

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Havesj, Public domain. The action began at ten in the morning on the 24th. The first phase, against Balle's supporting squadron coming up from the south, went well for the Swedes — six hours of artillery duel, three Russian ships captured, others badly damaged, the southern attack beaten back. Then, at...

Image: Havesj | Public domain

Battle of Svensksund (1789): What the Swedes Lost

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Zache, CC BY-SA 3.0. The final tally was brutal. Three turuma archipelago frigates, one hemmema, one light frigate, a galley, a half-galley, a schooner, nine gun sloops, and thirty transports and auxiliaries — gone, captured, or burned by their own crews north of Kotka island to keep them out of Russ...

Image: Zache | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Svensksund (1789): A Year Later, the Same Strait

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit SeppVei, Public domain. The story does not end there — and that is what makes Svensksund unusual in naval history. Almost exactly one year later, on 9 and 10 July 1790, the Russian and Swedish fleets met again in nearly the same waters. That second battle, the Second Battle of Svensksund, became the lar...

Image: SeppVei | Public domain