This indecisive battle took place on 4 October 1710, during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...

, in Køge Bay, just south of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

. Denmark had 26 ships of the line and 5 frigates with 1808 guns, and Sweden had 21 ships of the line and several frigates with 1512 guns. The Danish ship '' Dannebroge'' exploded and of the 550-man crew only 9 survived. The Swedish ships ''Tre Kronor'' and ''Prinsessan Ulrika Eleonora'' ran aground. Because of the weather the battle could not continue. However, the Swedish fleet managed to sink and capture a Danish convoy of transport ships that were supposed to embark a Russian invasion force in Danzig. The action in Køge Bugt checked those Russian invasion plans of Sweden.

Ships involved

Denmark ( Gyldenløve)

Elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

'' 90 (flag)
''Fredericus IV'' 110
''Christianus V'' 100
'' Dannebroge'' 94 - Blew up
''Justitia'' 90
''Norske Løve'' 84
''Mars'' 80
''Tre Løver'' 78
''Prinds Christian'' 76
''Sophia Hedvig'' 76
''Wenden'' 72
''Dronning Louisa'' 70
''Haffru'' 70
''Beskjermer'' 64
''Ebenetzer'' 64
''Charlotte Amalia'' 60
''Svan'' 60
''Anna Sophia'' 60
''Fredericus III'' 56
''Oldenborg'' 52
''Sværdfisk'' 52
''Tomler'' 52
''Nelleblad'' 52
''Fyen'' 50
''Delmenhorst'' 50
''Island'' 50

Sweden ( Wachtmeister)

''Göta Lejon'' 90 (flag)
''Enigheten'' 94
''Tre Kronor'' 86 - Aground, scuttled next day
''Wenden'' 82
''Sverige'' 82
''Prinsessan Hedvig'' 80
''Prinsessan Ulrika'' 80 - Aground, scuttled next day
''Gota'' 76
''Nordstjernan'' 76
''Prins Carl'' 76
''Prins Carl Fredrik'' 72
''Småland'' 70
''Karlskrona'' 70
''Skåne'' 68
''Bremen'' 64
''Fredrika Amalia'' 62
''Westmanland'' 62
''Pommern'' 56
''Södermanland'' 56
''Wachtmeister'' 56
''Werden'' 54
Several fireships - Burnt? 2 days later

Sources

* Lars Ericson Wolke (2011), Sjöslag och Rysshärjningar s. 130-133 *Tor Jørgen Melien (2010), Iver Huitfeldt og slaget i Køge bugt 1710, Bergen: John Grieg AS: C. Huitfeldt forlag * Gunnar Unger (1923). Illustrerad Svensk Sjökrigshistoria omfattande tiden intill 1680–1814. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag * Lars Ericson Wolke, Martin Hårdstedt (2009), Svenska sjöslag * R.C. Anderson (1910), Naval Wars in the Baltic during the Sailing Ship Epoch 1522–1850. London: C. Gilbert-Wood *''For Kongen og Flåten. Matros Trosners dagbok 1710-1714'' (1 ed.). Bergen: Fagbokforlaget. 2017. The diary is published by Hans Christian Bjerg and Tor Jørgen Melien. Conflicts in 1710 Køge Bay 1710 in Denmark {{Denmark-battle-stub