Raid on Kronstadt | |||||
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Part of British campaign in the Baltic (1918–1919) | |||||
![]() Aerial photograph of Kronstadt harbour taken on 26 July 1919. The positions of Soviet vessels did not change significantly before the raid. The depot ship Pamiat Azova is berthed at the end of the central pier (right of the middle 'x'), the battleships Petropavlovsk and Andrei Pervozvanny are moored at the end of the pier on the right. A guardship lies just outside the harbour. | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
Claude Congreve Dobson Grahame Donald | - | ||||
Strength | |||||
8 coastal motor boats 12 aircraft | - | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
3 coastal motor boats sunk 7-10 killed 9 captured | 1 battleship damaged 1 submarine depot ship sunk |
The raid on Kronstadt (also known as Operation RK or the Scooter Raid) was an attack by Royal Navy coastal motor boats (CMBs) and Royal Air Force aircraft on the Bolshevik Baltic Fleet at its home base on 18 August 1919. After the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, Allied naval units operated in the Baltic Sea to support the independence of Estonia and Latvia, which were threatened by Bolshevik movements. The raid followed a similar one carried out by a single motor torpedo boat outside the harbour on 17 June 1919, in which Lieutenant Augustus Agar's CMB-4 sank the Bolshevik cruiser Oleg.
The raid on 18 August 1919 was carried out by a newly arrived force of seven larger CMBs under Commander Claude Congreve Dobson, guided by Agar in CMB-4. One CMB broke down en route to the harbour but the remaining six penetrated the defences and scored hits on the submarine depot ship Pamiat Azova, which sank, and the battleship Andrei Pervozvanny, which was damaged. A simultaneous air raid by the Royal Air Force damaged a destroyer. Three of the British CMBs were sunk by Bolshevik fire or collision with each other and up to ten British personnel were killed and nine captured.
The raid was regarded as a British success, with the Baltic Fleet afterwards largely confined to the harbour for the rest of the campaign. Of the 55 British participants 48 received gallantry medals or were mentioned in despatches.
The Allies had intervened in the Russian Civil War since January 1918. The British campaign in the Baltic began on 26 November 1918, just 15 days after the end of the First World War, when a squadron under Rear Admiral Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair departed Britain. Alexander-Sinclair's force was meant as a show of strength against the Bolsheviks and in support of Estonian and Latvian independence, which was threatened following the withdrawal of German garrisons. [1] : 10 Alexander-Sinclair's ships delivered ammunition to the Estonians, bombarded Bolshevik positions and evacuated the Latvian government, ahead of advancing Bolshevik troops. The force also engaged the Bolshevik Baltic Fleet at Reval (now Tallinn) and captured two destroyers before the fleet withdrew into their icebound winter quarters at Kronstadt. Alexander-Sinclair was replaced by Rear Admiral Walter Cowan in January 1919. [1] : 11–12
Cowan was frustrated by his confusing orders from London and the complex political situation. He was reinforced with a French squadron, but the French made it clear that they were unwilling to engage in open hostilities against the Bolshevik forces. [1] : 12 In spring 1919 the Bolshevik Baltic fleet sortied and, though the conflict was inconclusive, it spurred Cowan to look for a forward base for his ships. [1] : 14–16 He received permission from the Finns to establish a position at the Bjorko islands (modern-day Beryozovye Islands, Russia). [2] [1] : 14–16 Cowan received reinforcements in early June in the form of two 40 ft (12 m) coastal motor boats (CMBs) - CMB-4 and CMB-7 - under the overall command of Lieutenant Augustus Agar. [1] : 14–16 These were small, fast - capable of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) - and lightly armed vessels; each carried a machine gun and one British 18-inch torpedo. [1] : 14–16, 46 Agar's instructions were to establish a ferry service for information and agents from Terijoki in Finland into Bolshevik-controlled territory, including Kronstadt. [2] [1] : 14–16
Cowan kept the CMBs in mind for an active combat role as they were capable of sailing through Bolshevik minefields without detonating them. [1] : 14–16 On 13 June the Bolshevik garrison at Krasnaya Gorka fort, guarding the seaward approach to Kronstadt, mutinied. The Baltic Fleet's battleships Petropavlovsk and Andrei Pervozvanny bombarded the fort on 15 June. Cowan seized the chance and despatched Agar against the vessels; the operation was called off when CMB-7 was damaged by debris. [1] : 17
On the night of 16/17 June CMB-4 attacked alone. [1] : 17 Agar evaded the Bolshevik destroyer screen but CMB-4 suffered a mechanical failure. [2] [1] : 17 Agar moored to a breakwater for 20 minutes, in full view of the Bolshevik vessels, to carry out repairs before resuming his attack. [2] The battleships had returned to Kronstadt but Agar struck the cruiser Oleg with a torpedo. [1] : 17 Oleg sank and Agar successfully returned to base, winning the Victoria Cross for his actions and a £5,000 bounty on his head from the Bolsheviks. [2] [1] : 17 The action did not affect the battle for the fort, which had already surrendered. [1] : 17
Cowan was reinforced with the arrival of the aircraft carrier Vindictive in July carrying 12 aircraft, a mix of Sopwith Camels, Sopwith 1½ Strutters, Port Victoria Grain Griffins and Short Type 184s. The air component was commanded by Major Grahame Donald of the Royal Air Force. An air base was constructed at Koivisto, near Bjorko, with the aircraft operating in the meantime from the carrier. Donald carried out two air raids on Kronstadt on 30 July but heavy anti-aircraft fire was reported and no damage was inflicted. Later that day Cowan was reinforced again with a number of minelaying destroyers from the 20th Flotilla. These had towed seven larger 55 ft (17 m) CMBs from Britain, under the command of Commander Claude Congreve Dobson. [1] : 17 These larger vessels - of 11 long tons (11 t) displacement compared to the 40 ft (12 m) CMBs 5 long tons (5.1 t) - were capable of speeds of 35–40 knots (65–74 km/h; 40–46 mph) and carried up to two torpedoes. [1] : 18, 46 Cowan had requested the vessels following the success of Agar's raid. [3]
During the next few weeks Cowan carried out bombardments of Ingermanland and patrolled Koporye Bay and Seiskari Island in case the Baltic Fleet put to sea. The Bolsheviks remained in harbour at Kronstadt, apart from occasional submarine patrols, so Cowan decided to use his new resources to attack the fleet there. [1] : 17
The raid, known as Operation RK, was planned on board Vindictive. The operation was originally planned to take place on the night of 15/16 August but was postponed due to heavy rain. [1] : 18 The raid began at 1 am on 18 August as Dobson led seven CMBs from Bjorko. [4] Agar, commanding an eighth vessel, CMB-4, served as a guide through the minefields around Kotlin Island, which the boats passed to the north of. [1] : 18 As the CMBs passed the island an air raid on Kronstadt, intended as a diversion, was launched by Donald's 12 aircraft. [4]
One vessel, CMB-86, was lost to mechanical failure en route and the attack was carried out by two waves of three boats. The first wave consisted of CMB-31 under Dobson, CMB-79 under Lieutenant Bremner and CMB-88 under Lieutenant Dayrell-Reed. The second wave consisted of CMB-24 under Lieutenant Napier, CMB-62 under Lieutenant Commander Brade and CMB-72 under Sub-Lieutenant Bodley. All of these vessels carried two torpedoes, except CMB-79 which carried one. [1] : 18 As well as a three-man crew (two officers and an enlisted engineer) each boat carried a Finnish smuggler as a guide. [4] The night was dark and sea conditions were flat and calm. [5]
Just after 1.00 am Dobson led the first wave through the harbour entrance, speeding past the guardship, the destroyer Gavriil. The submarine depot ship Pamiat Azova was moored directly opposite the entrance and was hit amidships by a torpedo fired by CMB-79, sinking her. This alerted the Bolsheviks who opened a heavy fire on CMB-31 and CMB-88. [1] : 18 The defenders were hindered by the loss of many of the 11.9 inches (300 mm) and 6 inches (150 mm) guns from the coastal forts to help equip the army and by the fact that many of the remaining guns in the forts and on vessels could not depress low enough to engage the CMBs or else could not fire without risking friendly fire. [4]
CMB-31, piloted by Lieutenant Russell Hamilton McBean (as Dobson was in overall command), and CMB-88 moved eastwards to the battleships moorings. [1] : 18 From around 100 yd/m range CMB-31 launched two torpedoes at the Andrei Pervozvanny, one of which struck her bow and caused flooding. CMB-88 was illuminated by a Bolshevik searchlight which concentrated the defenders fire upon it. The light was destroyed by a British aircraft strafing attack but not before CMB-88 had been hit, killing Dayrell-Reed. His second-in-command Lieutenant Gordon Charles Steele, moved his body out of the helmsman's seat and took control. [6] [1] : 18 Steele launched two torpedoes at the Bolshevik battleship Petropavlovsk but these both missed, striking the harbour wall. [1] : 18
The first wave was leaving the harbour as the second wave arrived. CMB-72 was hit when entering the harbour, rendering her torpedo launch system inoperative, and circled to starboard to leave again. [1] : 18 As CMB-62 entered the harbour she collided with CMB-79, causing her to sink. CMB-62 slowed down to pick up the survivors. [1] : 19 CMB-24 launched a torpedo, and was destroyed by return fire; her torpedo missed its nominated target, Gavriil. Napier on CMB-62 saw this and launched his two torpedoes at Gavriil but these also missed. CMB-62 was also struck by fire from Gavriil and sank just outside the harbour. Her crew were rescued by the Bolsheviks and taken prisoner. [1] : 19
The distraction caused by the first wave allowed CMB-31 and CMB-88 to escape to open sea, covered by Agar in CMB-4, who launched his torpedo into the harbour entrance to deter any pursuit. [1] : 19 The action was over by 2.00 am. During the return to base CMB-86 was found and successfully towed back to Bjorko. [1] : 19
The action saw three CMBs sunk and two damaged with only CMB-31 unharmed. [1] : 19 Between seven and ten men were killed in the action (the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists eight Royal Navy dead: three each from CMB-79 and CMB-62, plus Brade and Dayrell-Reed). [7] [8] [1] : 19 Dayrell-Reed's body remained on board CMB-88 and he was buried at Koivisto. [1] : 19 One man later died of wounds sustained on the raid and nine were taken prisoner. [8] Of the 55 British participants 48 were awarded a gallantry medal or mentioned in despatches. [8] This included two Victoria Crosses (to Steele and Dobson), six Distinguished Service Orders, eight Distinguished Service Medals and three posthumous mentions in despatches to Royal Navy personnel and six Distinguished Flying Crosses, a bar to the same medal and six mentions in despatches to RAF personnel. [8] [3] Dobson rose to eventually become a rear admiral, he donated a safety pin from one of the torpedoes fired from CMB-31 to the collection of the Imperial War Museum. [9]
On the Bolshevik side the Pamiat Azova was sunk and never returned to service. The Andrei Pervozvanny suffered critical damage and remained out of action for the rest of the Baltic campaign. [1] : 20 A destroyer was also damaged by the RAF aircraft. [8] The dry dock, which had been assigned as Brade's original target, escaped damage. [1] : 20
The raid became known by the British military as the "Scooter Raid". [4] Although the damage inflicted was relatively light the raid demoralised the Bolshevik naval command; the Baltic Fleet, with the exception of its submarines, scarcely left the harbour for the rest of the campaign and the action effectively ended any threat to the Allied forces from a fleet action. Cowan said "after this, nothing bigger than destroyer moved again". Though the submarines continued to operate they had lost much of their spare equipment and torpedoes in the wreck of the Pamiat Azova. [1] : 20 The raid served to galvanise the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in their support of the Bolsheviks, as it united disparate factions against a foreign enemy. [10]
After the raid Cowan continued to blockade Kronstadt and lay minefields on its approaches and Agar continued to run agents into the area. [1] : 20 On 31 August the British destroyer Vittoria was sunk by the Bolshevik submarine Pantera. This was the last engagement between Bolshevik and Allied vessels in the Baltic, though losses of vessels of both sides to mines and British air raids on Kronstadt continued. An attempt in late October to bombard Krasnaya Gorka by a monitor, Erebus, failed due to lack of ammunition and the loss of her spotting aircraft. [1] : 22
In November Cowan's ships drove back attacks on Riga and Libau (modern-day Liepāja) by the German-supported West Russian Volunteer Army. By this point the Bolsheviks had grown weary of war and peace talks began, these led to an armistice. [1] : 24 The Treaty of Tartu saw Russian recognition of the independence of Estonia on 2 February 1920, the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty accomplished the same for Lithuania on 12 July and the Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty for Latvia on 11 August. [11]
Kronstadt is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, 30 km (19 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, near the head of the Gulf of Finland. It is linked to the former Russian capital by a combination levee-causeway-seagate, the St Petersburg Dam, part of the city's flood defences, which also acts as road access to Kotlin island from the mainland.
Augustus Willington Shelton Agar, was a Royal Navy officer in both the First and the Second World Wars. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for sinking a Soviet cruiser during the Russian Civil War.
Captain Gordon Charles Steele VC was an English Naval officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Rear-Admiral Claude Congreve Dobson VC, DSO was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
HM Coastal Motor Boat 4 is the torpedo boat used when Lieutenant Augustus Agar earned a Victoria Cross for carrying out a raid on Soviet warships in Kronstadt and sinking the cruiser Oleg.
Admiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan, 1st Baronet,, known as Tich Cowan, was a Royal Navy officer who saw service in both the First and Second World Wars; in the latter he was one of the oldest British servicemen on active duty.
HMS Vindictive was a warship built during the First World War for the Royal Navy (RN). Originally designed as a Hawkins-class heavy cruiser and laid down under the name Cavendish, she was converted into an aircraft carrier while still being built. Renamed in 1918, she was completed a few weeks before the end of the war and saw no active service with the Grand Fleet. The following year she participated in the British campaign in the Baltic against the Bolsheviks, during which her aircraft made numerous attacks against the naval base at Kronstadt. Vindictive returned home at the end of the year and was placed in reserve for several years before her flight decks were removed and she was reconverted back into a cruiser. The ship retained her aircraft hangar and conducted trials with an aircraft catapult before she was sent to the China Station in 1926. A year after her return in 1928, she was again placed in reserve.
The Baltic Sea campaigns were conducted by Axis and Allied naval forces in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the connected lakes Ladoga and Onega on the Eastern Front of World War II. After early fighting between Polish and German forces, the main combatants were the Kriegsmarine and the Soviet Navy, with Finland supporting the Germans until 1944 and the Soviets thereafter. The Swedish Navy and merchant fleet played important roles, and the British Royal Navy planned Operation Catherine for control of the Baltic Sea and its exit choke point into the North Sea.
Petropavlovsk was the third of the four Gangut-class dreadnoughts built before World War I for the Imperial Russian Navy, the first Russian class of dreadnoughts. She was named after the Russian victory in the siege of Petropavlovsk during the Crimean War. The ship was completed during the winter of 1914–1915, but was not ready for combat until mid-1915. Her role was to defend the mouth of the Gulf of Finland against the Germans, who never tried to enter, so she spent her time training and providing cover for minelaying operations. Her crew joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet after the February Revolution of 1917 and she was the only dreadnought available to the Bolsheviks for several years after the October Revolution of 1917. She bombarded the mutinous garrison of Fort Krasnaya Gorka and supported Bolshevik light forces operating against British ships supporting the White Russians in the Gulf of Finland in 1918–1919. Later, her crew joined the Kronstadt Rebellion of 1921 and she was renamed Marat after the rebellion was crushed.
The Andrei Pervozvanny class were a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships built in the first decade of the twentieth century for the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. They were conceived by the Naval Technical Committee in 1903 as an incremental development of the Borodino-class battleships with increased displacement and heavier secondary armament. The disastrous experiences of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and the unrest resulting from the 1905 Russian Revolution led to countless redesigns, change orders and delays in construction. Despite the designers' repeated attempts to modernize the ships while under construction, they were obsolete in concept from the beginning, and even more so when they entered service in 1911.
The British campaign in the Baltic 1918–1919 was a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The codename of the Royal Navy campaign was Operation Red Trek. The intervention played a key role in enabling the establishment of the independent states of Estonia and Latvia. It failed to secure the control of Petrograd by White Russian forces, which was one of the main goals of the campaign.
Pamiat Azova was a unique armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1880s. She was decommissioned from front line service in 1909, converted into a depot ship and sunk by British torpedo boats during the Baltic Naval War, part of the Russian Civil War.
Coastal Motor Boat was a small high-speed British torpedo boat used by the Royal Navy in the First World War and up to end of the Second World War.
Andrei Pervozvanny was an Andrei Pervozvanny-class predreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the early-1900s. The ship's construction was greatly delayed by design changes as a result of the Russo-Japanese War and labor unrest after the 1905 Revolution, and she took nearly six years to build. Andrei Pervozvanny was not very active during World War I and her bored sailors joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet in early 1917. She was used by the Bolsheviks to bombard the rebellious garrison of Fort Krasnaya Gorka in 1919 during the Russian Civil War and was torpedoed by British Coastal Motor Boats shortly afterwards, as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The ship was never fully repaired and was scrapped in 1923.
Flight Lieutenant Arthur Clunie Randall was a Scottish World War I flying ace credited with 10 aerial victories. After earning a Distinguished Flying Cross during the war, he remained in military service until 1926.
HMS Abdiel was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the Royal Navy, built by Cammell Laird during the First World War. She was converted to a minelayer during construction, commissioning during 1916, and served at the Battle of Jutland. Following the end of the war, Abdiel served in the Baltic during the Russian Civil War. She was sold for scrap in 1936.
Captain Russell Hamilton McBean DSO DSC was an officer in the Royal Navy and was one of the men who took part in the Raid on Kronstadt in August 1919.
Gavriil was an Orfey-class destroyer of the Russian Imperial Navy. The destroyer was built by the Russo-Baltic Yard at Reval, launching on 5 January 1915 and completing in October 1916. She served with the Baltic Fleet during the remainder of the First World War, and after the October Revolution joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic, and was sunk by a mine on 21 October 1919.
HMS Spenser was a Thornycroft type flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. She was built by J I Thornycroft from 1916 to 1917 as the lead ship of her class, launching in September 1917 and completing in December that year.
Azard was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Zinoviev in 1922 and Artem in 1928. She remained in service with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and was sunk by a mine on 28 August.