Kronan (ship) - Military Career

Military Career

After the Swedish loss at the battle of Fehrbellin on 18 June 1675 the fleet was required to support transports of reinforcements to the Swedish Pomerania. It had the potential for success as it was large with several large, well-armed ships: Svärdet ("the sword") of 1,800 tonnes, Äpplet ("the orb") and Nyckeln ("the key"), both 1,400 tonnes, and the enormous Kronan ("the crown"). Altogether there were 28 large and medium warships and almost the same number of smaller vessels. The supply organization, however, was lacking, there were few experienced high-ranking officers and internal cooperation was poor. Danish contemporaries also scornfully described the Swedish crews as consisting of "farmhands dunked in saltwater". The fleet went to sea under the leadership of Admiral Gustaf Otto Stenbock during the autumn of 1675, but got no farther than Stora Karlsö off Gotland. The weather was unusually cold and stormy and the ships could not be heated. The crew were poorly clothed and soon many of them fell ill. Supplies eventually dwindled and after Kronan lost a sorely needed bow anchor, Stenbock decided to turn back to the Dalarö anchorage north of Stockholm. Nothing came of the reinforcements of the North German provinces. King Charles was reacted with anger and held Stenbock personally responsible for the failed expedition, forcing him to pay over 100,000 dalers out of his own pocket.

The situation for the Swedish army in Pomerania deteriorated during the winter and the fleet, along with Kronan, was ordered out to sea once more in a desperate attempt to relieve the hard-pressed forces. The winter of 1675–76 was unusually cold and large parts of the Baltic was iced in. When the fleet, now under the command of the veteran sea officer Claes Uggla, reached Dalarö on 23 January, it was blocked by ice. The Privy Councilor Erik Lindschöld had been assigned to the navy by the King to assist with the winter expedition, and it was he who came up with the idea of literally cutting the fleet out of the ice to reach the open sea. Hundreds of local peasants were ordered out to saw and hack open a narrow channel through the ice to reach the anchorage at Älvsnabben, over 20 km (12 mi) away. Upon reaching the naval station on February 14, three weeks later, it turned out that most of the sea was frozen as well. A storm hit the tightly packed ships and the ensuing movement of the ice crushed the hull of the supply vessel Leoparden and sank it. A Danish force had also managed to reach the open waters farther off and observed the immobilized Swedish ships. When temperatures fell even further, the situation was declared hopeless and even the energetic Lindschöld gave up the attempt.

Early in March 1676 a Danish fleet of 20 ships under Admiral Niels Juel left Copenhagen. On April 29 it landed troops on Gotland, which soon surrendered. The Swedish fleet was ordered out on May 4, but experienced adverse winds and was delayed until 19 May. Juel had by then already left Visby, the principal port of Gotland with a garrison force. He headed for Bornholm to join with a small Danish-Dutch squadron to cruise between Scania and the island of Rügen to prevent any Swedish seaborne reinforcement from reaching Pomerania. On May 25–26 the two fleets encountered one another in the battle of Bornholm. Even though the Swedes had a considerable advantage in ships, men and guns, they were unable to inflict any losses on the allied force, and lost a fireship and two minor vessels. The battle revealed the serious lack of coherence and organization within the Swedish ranks and soured relations between the Admiral of the Realm Lorentz Creutz and his officers.

After the unsuccessful action, the Swedish fleet anchored off Trelleborg where King Charles was waiting with new orders to recapture Gotland. The fleet was to refuse combat with the allies at least until they reached the northern tip of Öland, where they could fight in friendly waters. When the Swedish fleet left Trelleborg on May 30, the allied fleet soon came in contact with it and began pursuing the Swedes. By this time the allies had been reinforced by a small squadron and now totalled 42 vessel, with 25 large or medium ships of the line. The reinforcements also brought with them a new commander, the Dutch Admiral General Cornelis Tromp, one of the ablest naval tacticians of his time. The two fleets sailed north and on June 1 they passed the northern tip of Öland in a strong gale. The rough winds were hard on the Swedish ships. Many lost masts and spars. The Swedes, formed in a battle line held together with great difficulty, tried to get ahead of Tromp's ships to get between them and the shore to get on their lee side, holding the weather gage, and thereby gaining an advantageous tactical position. The Dutch ships of the allied fleet, however, managed to sail closer into the wind faster than the rest of the force slipped between the Swedes and the coast, taking up the valuable weather gage. Later that morning the two fleets closed in on each other and were soon within firing range.