Battle of the Gulf of Riga

Battle of the Gulf of Riga
Part of World War I
Date August 8-19, 1915 Location Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea Result Russian Defensive Victory
Belligerents
Imperial German Navy	Russian Navy
Commanders and leaders
Vizeadmiral Ehrhard Schmidt	Vice-Admiral Viktor Kanin

The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of German High Seas Fleet against Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915.

The operation's objective was to destroy Russian naval forces in the Gulf and facilitate fall of Riga to German army in the later stages of 1915 Central Powers offensive on the Eastern Front. German fleet, however, failed to achieve its objective and was forced to return to its bases; Riga remained in Russian hands until eventually falling to the Germans on September 1, 1917.

Order of battle

Russia

• Battleships: Slava
• Gunboats: Grozyashiy, Kharbry, Sivuch
• Minelayer: Amur
• Flotilla of 16 destroyers

Germany

• Battleships: Nassau, Posen, Braunschweig, Elsaß
• Battlecruisers: Moltke
• Cruisers: Augsburg, Bremen, Graudenz, Pillau
• Flotilla of 56 destroyers

References

• Account of Russian WWI naval operations in the Baltic Sea