The Battle of Oliwa, also known as the Battle of Oliva or the Battle of Gdańsk Roadstead, was a naval battle that took place on 28 November, 1627, slightly north of the port of Danzig off of the coast of the village of

Oliva Oliva () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of La Safor in the Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting the Mediterranean Sea, and eight kilometres to the north is Gandia. The ''Passeig'' (promenade) run ...

during the Polish–Swedish War. It was the largest naval engagement to be fought by the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy was the navy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Early history The Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively minor role in the history of the Commonwealth. Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodor ...

and resulted in defeating a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

squadron led by Niels Stiernsköld that conducted a blockade of the harbour of Danzig. The Poles sailed out of the Danzig harbour and engaged the Swedish squadron capturing the Swedish

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

and sinking another Swedish

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

.Frost, R.I., 2000, ''The Northern Wars, 1558–1721'', Harlow: Pearson Education Limited,

Background

The Swedes had a long tradition of seamanship and maintained a strong navy, and were able to land troops from the Swedish mainland at will along the southern Baltic shore. They were also able to blockade the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's ports (most important being Danzig) maintaining a stranglehold on Polish-Lithuanian

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. On 28 November, a small, newly-formed Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth fleet, using purchased German ships and foreign (mainly Dutch) sailors, emerged from Danzig to defeat the Swedish blockading squadron. The admiral of the Polish fleet( at the time) was Wilhelm Appelmann, but due to illness, he could not take part in the battle and the royal commissioners appointed a new admiral of the Polish fleet before.

Arend Dickmann Arend Dickmann, (1572 – 28 November 1627) also originally spelled as Dijckman, was an Admiral of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy, that commanded the fleet in the Battle of Oliwa in 1627, during the Polish–Swedish War. History ...

made himself the

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

of the fleet, Jan Storch made himself the commander of the Polish marines and Herman Witte made himself the vice admiral. These three commanders formed a council of war in which they jointly developed a battle plan and decided on the attack. The galleon ''Ritter Sankt Georg'' were the Polish-Lithuanian flagship.

Battle

The Polish–Lithuanian fleet outnumbered the blockading Swedish squadron; the two Polish-Lithuanian squadrons numbered ten ships in all, but most were of small size, and only four Polish-Lithuanian ships were at full combat strength. The Polish–Lithuanian ships were commanded by Admiral

in the ''Ritter Sankt Georg''. The Swedish squadron numbered six vessels under Admiral Nils Stiernsköld in his flagship, ''Tigern''. The Polish–Lithuanian ships had a larger complement of

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

on board than the Swedish ships, and this in large part determined the tactics employed in the battle. The Polish–Lithuanian fleet anchored off the Danzig roadstead, while the Swedish squadron sailed southwards from the

Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is loc ...

. The Polish–Lithuanian squadrons weighed anchor and suddenly rushed towards the Swedish squadron, much to the surprise of the Swedes. The battle split into two main encounters. The Polish–Lithuanian flagship ''Ritter Sankt Georg'', supported by the ''Meerweib'', engaged the Swedish flagship ''Tigern''. More Polish–Lithuanian ships came alongside the ''Tigern'' and Polish–Lithuanian marines boarded, overwhelmed the Swedes and captured the vessel. Meanwhile, the Polish–Lithuanian vice-admiral's galleon, ''Meerman'', attacked the larger Swedish galleon, '' Solen''. The captain of the ''Solen'', a Scotsman named Alexander Forath who served as the vice admiral of the fleet, seeing that his ship was about to be captured, detonated the powder magazine and blew his ship up rather than capture it. The four surviving Swedish ships realized their situation, quickly headed towards the open sea and managed to escape the pursuit. Both admirals were killed. After the conclusion of the battle, Arend Dickmann (known to the Poles as the Polish '' Nelson'') died from a cannon shot that smashed his legs and appeared to be fired from the retreating Swedish ships, while the Swedish admiral Nils Stiernsköld soon died of injuries and sustained during the fighting. Both admirals were buried with the highest honors in the St. Mary's Basilica in Danzig.

Aftermath

The after action report on the battle for Sigismund III Vasa was prepared by Wolfgang von der Oelsnitz from the Royal Ship Commission, who also presented the king with the captured Swedish flags and the personal sword of Nils Stiernsköld. James Murray was dismissed from duty after the conclusion of the battle after allegations of cowardice surfaced from the other captains of the Polish–Lithuanian fleet over the refusal of Murray to pursue the fleeing of the Swedish ships. The immediate effect of the battle was the temporary removal of the Swedish blockade of Danzig. The court of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth used the victory to the maximum advantage in their

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. A popular Polish saying states that on that day "the sun went down at noon", referring to the destruction of one of the Swedish ships, the ''Solen''. Gustavus received the news of this battle with some mark of impatience, and apparently little awareness of the difference between naval and land operations – he could not help expressing his surprise that a "city of merchants" (referring to the city of Danzig) should be able to dispute the sea with a professional navy.J. F. Hollings: ''The Life of Gustavus Adolphus'', Thomas Tegg and Son, 1838, p. 103.

Order of battle

Ships of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy

*1st Squadron **'' Ritter Sankt Georg'' (''Rycerz Święty Jerzy'') ("Knight St George") – flagship,

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...

, 31 guns, 400 tons, under the command of

**''Fliegender Hirsch'' (''Latający Jeleń'') ("Flying Deer") – galleon, 20 guns, 300 tons, under the command of Ellert Appelman **''Meerweib'' (''Panna Wodna'') ("Sea Virgo") – full-rigged pinnace, 12 guns, 160 tons, under the command of Adolf von Arzen **''Schwarzer Rabe'' (''Czarny Kruk'') ("Black Raven") – fluyt, 16 guns, 260 tons, under the command of Alexander Bley **''Gelber Löwe'' (''Żółty Lew'') ("Yellow Lion") – full-rigged pinnace, 10 guns, 120 tons, under the command of Hans Kizer *2nd Squadron **''Meermann'' (''Wodnik'') ("Aquarius") – galleon, 17 guns, 200 tons, under the command of Hermann Witte **''König David'' ('' Król Dawid'') ("King David") – galleon, 31 guns, 400 tons, under James Murray **''Arche Noah'' (''Arka Noego'') ("Noah's Ark") – full-rigged pinnace, 16 guns, 180 tons, under the command of Magnus Wesman **''Weißer Löwe'' (''Biały Lew'') ("White Lion") – fluyt, 8 guns, 200 tons, under the command of Peter Böse **''Feuerblase'' (''Płomień'') ("Fireblaze") – fluyt, 18 guns, 240 tons In total, the fleet consisted of 10 ships, 179 cannons and 1,160 soldiers and sailors.

Ships of the Swedish Navy

*''Tigern'' ("Tiger") – flagship, galleon, 22 guns, 320 tons, under the command of Nils Stiernsköld – captured by the Polish-Lithuanians *''Solen'' ("Sun") – galleon, 38 guns, 300 tons – under the command of Alexander Forath – blown up *''Pelikanen'' ("Pelican") – galleon, 20 guns, 200 tons – escaped *''Månen'' ("Moon") – galleon, 26 guns, 300 tons – escaped *''Enhörningen'' ("Unicorn") – galleon, 18 guns, 240 tons – escaped *''Papegojan'' ("Parrot") – full-rigged pinnace, 16 guns, 180 tons – escaped In total, the fleet consisted of 6 ships, 140 cannons and 700 soldiers and sailors.

Commemoration

*The Battle of Oliwa was commemorated in 1990 on the

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ( pl, Grób Nieznanego Żołnierza) is a monument in Warsaw, Poland, dedicated to the unknown soldiers who have given their lives for Poland. It is one of many such national Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, tombs of u ...

, by an inscription on one of the boards that states "OLIWA 28 XI 1627". *In Danzig, there are streets named after the battle and Arend Dickmann himself, in recognition of his naval victory. *A

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

was constructed in Oliwa to celebrate the battle. *Another monument to celebrate the battle was constructed in Gdynia, but it was destroyed in 1939 by the Germans after they captured Gdynia during the German invasion of Poland. *On 28 November, 1918 (which was also the anniversary of the Battle of Oliwa), the Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski ordered the creation of the Polish Navy.

References

Bibliography

*Anderson, R. C., ''Naval Wars in the Levant 1559–1853'', (2006), *Podhorodecki L., ''Rapiers and Horsemen'', (1985), *''The Little Military Encyclopedia'', Edition I, (1967) *Eugeniusz Koczorowski, ''The Battle of Oliwa'', Gdańsk Sea Publishing House, Edition II, (1976)