Battle of Grengam

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Battle of Grengam
Part of Great Northern War

The Bringing of four Swedish frigates into St. Petersburg after the victory in the Battle of Grengam.
Date July 27, 1720
Location Near Granhamn Island [2], Sweden
Result Russian victory.[1] The Swedes were forced to retreat leading to a peace treaty that halted Russian operations
Belligerents
Sweden Russia
Commanders
Vice-Admiral Eric Sjöblad Admiral Mikhail Galitzine
Strength
Ship of the line
4 frigates
9 smaller craft
over 1,000 sailors		 61 galleys
25 boats
11,000 sailors and soldiers
Casualties and losses
103 killed,
407 taken prisoner		 82 killed and 236 wounded [2][3]
v • d • e
Great Northern War
Narva – Daugava – Erastfer – Kliszów – Pułtusk – Jēkabpils – Poznań – Punitz – Gemauerthof – Warsaw – Grodno – Fraustadt – Kalisz – Holowczyn – Malatitze – Lesnaya – Poltava – Perevolochna – Helsingborg – Gadebusch – Bender – Pälkäne – Storkyro – Gangut – Stralsund – Dynekilen – Ösel – Stäket – Grengam

The Battle of Grengam (Russian: Гренгамское морское сражение) of 1720 was a major naval battle in the Great Northern War that marked the end of Russian need to launch operations with their galley fleet in the Baltic waters due to the conclusion of the war and the signing of the Treaty of Nystad.[4] The name is based on the Russian transliteration of the Swedish name of the island: Granhamn.

Four Swedish line-of-battle ships the 34-gun frigate Stor Phoenix, the 30-gun Vainqueur, the 22-gun Kiskin and the 18-gun Danska Orn were captured by the Russian Navy. 43 Russian galleys, out of 61, were either sunk by the Swedish force (1 ship-of-the-line, 6 frigates and some smaller crafts) or burnt and abandoned after the battle. The Swedish admiral Eric Siöblad was first criticised after the battle, but when the scope of the Russian losses were discovered he was praised. Russia celebrated the battle as a victory, but their fleet was unable to launch effective operations until the end of the war in 1721.

Like the previous Battle of Gangut, the Battle of Grengam was fought on Saint Pantaleon Day. In order to commemorate the victory, a timber church to this saint was built in St. Petersburg in 1722. It was rebuilt in stone in 1735-39. The facade of the church bears (since 1914) two marble plaques listing the ships and regiments that fought at Gangut and Grengam.

Church of St. Pantaleon in St. Petersburg (1735-39)
Church of St. Pantaleon in St. Petersburg (1735-39)

[edit] References

  1. ^ p.71, Morfill, "...almost under the eyes of the English."
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Grengam
  4. ^ p.244, Wilson, Callo

[edit] Sources

  • Wilson, Alastair, Callo, Joseph F., Who's who in Naval History: From 1550 to the Present, Routledge, 2004 ISBN 0415308283
  • Morfill, William Richard, A History of Russia: From the Birth of Peter the Great to Nicholas II, James Pott Publisher, London, 1902

[edit] Recommended readings

  • (Russian) Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Grengam
  • George Bruce. Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981) (ISBN 0-442-22336-6).
  • Gunnar Unger (1923). Illustrerad svensk sjökrigshistoria, omfattande tiden 1680-1814. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag.


  • Magnus Ullman, Rysshärjningarna på Ostkusten sommaren 1719
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