Arrival At Hanko
When the 80 ship strong Russian galley fleet arrived near the peninsula on 29 June 1714 they were met by a strong Swedish naval fleet consisting of 16 ships of the line and 7 smaller ships under the command of Admiral Wattrang. Apraksin decided to withdraw his ships farther away to the eastern side of the peninsula and call for reinforcements while he waited for the further 20 galleys to arrive from Helsingfors where they had been over the winter. The majority of the troops in Turku were moved according to his request to the peninsula.
A plea for help was also sent to the Tsar, who was with the rest of the Baltic Fleet in Reval (now Tallinn). Admiral Apraksin specifically let the tsar know that he should come personally to lead the attack. Russian battlefleet of 10 ships of the line and 6 frigates was originally intended to participate to the breakthrough attempt at Hangö but upon inspecting the fleet Tsar found it ill prepared for battle and abandoned the use of the battlefleet. Further he ordered that fleet should not engage unless it would have clear superiority in artillery (3 : 2). Peter I reached the Russian coastal fleet on 20 July.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Gangut
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“For the poet the credo or doctrine is not the point of arrival but is, on the contrary, the point of departure for the metaphysical journey.”
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