Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
17 March 1864 - The naval Battle of Jasmund (also known as the Battle of Rügen) took place between elements of the Danish and Prussian during the Second Schleswig War.
The Danish Blockade Squadron in the eastern part of the Baltic, composed of the Ship-of-the-line Skjold, the frigate Sjaelland and the corvettes Hejmdal and Thor, under Rear Ad. Carl E. van Dockum, fire at and drive away the Prussian frigate Arcona, the corvette Nymphe, the paddle steamer Loreley and 5 steam gunboats, under Kapitän zur See Jachmann, off Swinemünde.
The naval
Battle of Jasmund (also known as the
Battle of Rügen) took place between elements of the
Danish and
Prussian navies on 17 March 1864 during the
Second Schleswig War. The action took place east of the
Jasmund peninsula on the Prussian island of
Rügen, during a Prussian attempt to weaken the Danish
blockade in the
Baltic Sea. The Prussian squadron, commanded by
Eduard von Jachmann, sortied with a
screw frigate, a
screw corvette, a
paddle steamer, and six
gunboats to attack the Danish squadron blockading the eastern Prussian coast. The Danish force was commanded by
Edvard van Dockum, and it consisted of one screw frigate, one
ship of the line, and two steam corvettes. In an action lasting two hours, the superior Danish squadron forced the Prussians to withdraw, both sides suffering damage and light casualties. The Danish victory was compounded by the arrival of further warships after the battle, which cemented the blockade. The outcome of the battle, and the naval war in the Baltic as a whole, was irrelevant to the outcome of the war, however, as the Prussian and Austrian armies decisively defeated the Danes on land, forcing them to surrender.
Sjælland (right) engaging with the paddlewheel steamer
Loreley and the corvette
Nymphe. Painting by
Alex Kircher.
Background
The
screw frigate Sjælland, the Danish
flagship at Jasmund
In late 1863, as
Prussia began to prepare to launch the
Second Schleswig War, vessels of the
Prussian Navy were relocated. The
screw frigate SMS Arcona and the
screw corvetteNymphe were transferred from
Danzig to
Swinemünde, which would allow them to cooperate with the
gunboats based in
Stralsund. By the time Prussia and the
Austrian Empire declared war on 1 February 1864, the ships' crews were still performing maintenance on their engines, and the winter ice had yet to recede far enough to allow offensive operations. The Danish fleet, on the other hand, immediately proclaimed a blockade of the Prussian coast. As most of the Prussian fleet was in the
Baltic Sea, the Danes could easily enforce a blockade of the German North Sea ports, allowing most of their fleet to be concentrated in the Baltic.
The Danish fleet in the Baltic, commanded by
Rear Admiral Edvard van Dockum, was far superior in size and power to the Prussian fleet and it had no trouble enforcing the blockade. The
ship of the line Skjold and five smaller vessels were sent to blockade Swinemünde and
Stettin, the
ironclad warship Dannebrog and five unarmored ships blockaded
Danzig. Several merchant vessels were seized in February and March, prompting
Admiral Prince Adalbert of Prussia, the commander of the Prussian Navy, to begin plans for an operation against the blockade, to be led by
Captain Eduard von Jachmann, who during the war became the squadron commander in charge of operations.
By mid-March, the Prussian ships were ready for action and the ice had receded far enough that Prince Adalbert ordered Jachmann to conduct a reconnaissance of the blockading force on 16 March. In the meantime, Dockum's squadron had arrived off Swinemünde two days before.
Arcona and
Nymphe patrolled off
Greifswald, but the weather was very poor, with snow showers hampering visibility. The Prussian gunboats, led by the
paddle steamer Loreley, remained closer to Swinemünde. Jachmann spotted three vessels at around 15:30, but there was not enough time before dark to catch them. Instead, Jachmann turned back to Swinemünde, intending to try again the following day.
The battle
Danish and Prussian warships battling off Swinemünde, by
Carl Frederik Sørensen
On the morning of 17 March, Prince Adalbert sent Jachmann's squadron to attack the Danish blockade. The ships sortied from the mouth of the
Oder at 7:30 and initially steamed east, but could not locate any Danish warships. They turned west and, as they approached the island of
Greifswalder Oie, lookouts aboard the ships spotted smoke to the northwest at about 13:15. The Prussians continued on toward the island of
Rügen; off the
Jasmund peninsula, Jachmann's ships encountered Dockum's squadron. There, with
Arcona and
Nymphe in the lead, Jachmann turned to engage the Danes;
Loreley increased speed to join the two corvettes while Jachmann sent the gunboats to the coast of Rügen, where they could be used to cover his withdrawal. From further north, Dockum was awaiting the arrival of the steam frigate
Tordenskjold.
At 14:30,
Arcona opened fire, targeting the frigate
Sjælland; a few minutes later, after
Sjælland closed to 1,600 yards (1,500 m), Dockum turned his flagship to starboard and began firing broadsides at
Arcona. Jachmann turned
Arcona to starboard as well, having realized the strength of the Danish squadron. He failed to inform the captains of
Nymphe and
Loreley of his decision to withdraw, and they continued to steam east for several minutes before they conformed to his maneuver. At this time, Dockum shifted fire to
Nymphe and scored several hits, including damage to her
funnel that reduced her speed temporarily. Dockum attempted to overtake and cut off
Nymphe and
Loreley from
Arcona, but
Nymphe's crew was able to quickly repair the damage she had sustained, allowing her to increase speed, though she continued to take hits.
After 15:00,
Tordenskjold arrived from the north and, as she steamed south to join Dockum's squadron, she came under long-range fire from the Prussian gunboats at 15:40. As she continued south, she fired broadsides at the gunboats but otherwise ignored them, with neither side scoring any hits. The gunboats thereafter withdrew, although
Hay broke down and required a tow back to Stralsund. In the meantime,
Loreley and
Nymphe came under heavy fire from the pursuing Danish squadron; at 16:00
Loreley broke off to the west toward Stralsund and Dockum allowed her to leave, preferring to continue after Jachmann's corvettes. Both sides continue to score hits on each other until they checked fire at around 16:45 as the range grew too far. By 18:00, Dockum ended the chase and steamed off to the east, allowing Jachmann to return to Swinemünde.
Aftermath
Painting of the battle, depicting the Prussian squadron, by
Willy Stöwer
Danish losses were six killed and sixteen wounded, all on the frigate
Sjælland. The Prussian ships suffered lighter casualties; three men were killed aboard
Arcona, and three more were wounded. Two men were killed and four were injured aboard
Nymphe, and just a single man was wounded aboard
Loreley.
Nymphe was the most damaged vessel of either side, having been hit nineteen times in her
hull, four times on her
superstructure, and fifty times on her
masts and
rigging. On the night of 17 March, the screw frigate
Jylland joined the Danish blockade force, and she was fast enough to catch Jachmann's corvettes. Danish naval supremacy in the Baltic was further cemented with the arrival on 30 March of
Dannebrog, which was impervious to any weapon the Prussians then possessed. As a result, the Prussian fleet remained in port for the remainder of the war; Jasmund proved to be the only naval action of consequence in the Baltic.
Despite having been forced to flee, Jachmann was promoted to the rank of
rear admiral for his actions during the battle. The Prussians made several further patrols in the Baltic, but refused to seek a pitched engagement with the far superior Danish fleet. Instead, the Second Schleswig War was decided on land. Additionally, the arrival of an Austrian squadron in the
North Sea allowed the Austrians and Prussians to break the Danish blockade of the North Sea coastal ports at the
Battle of Heligoland on 9 May. The Austrians, fearing that a more aggressive operation to defeat the Danish fleet in the Baltic would provoke the British, kept their squadron in the North Sea for the remainder of the war. On 9 May, the two sides signed an
armistice in London that took effect three days later, temporarily ending the fighting. The armistice lasted until 26 June, when fighting broke out again on land. The Austrian and Prussian naval forces in the North Sea supported operations to capture the islands off the western Danish coast. These advances, coupled with the capture of the island of
Als in the Baltic Sea, forced the Danes to seek a second armistice on 29 June. Ultimately, Denmark sued for peace after it became clear that they had lost naval superiority and that Britain would not intervene in the conflict.
Order of battle
Rear Admiral Carl Edvard van Dockum, the Danish commander
Captain
Eduard von Jachmann, the Prussian commander
en.wikipedia.org
Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Line
