Battle of Dynekilen

The naval Battle of Dynekilen took place on 8 July 1716 during the Great Northern War, when a light Dano-Norwegian force under Tordenskjold trapped and defeated a similar Swedish force in Dynekilen fjord (just north of Strömstad), on the west coast of Sweden. 80 percent of the sailors and 90 percent of the soldiers in Tordenskjolds force were Norwegian. The Swedes had been escorting troops from Göteborg (Gothenburg) to Fredrikstad.

The Dano-Norwegian flotilla defeated the Swedes, who had arranged their ships and boats defensively, and destroyed a small island fort equipped with six 12-pounder guns. The largest Swedish ship, Stenbock, was surrendered, after which the lighter vessels were run aground and abandoned. A Swedish land force then arrived, forcing Tordenskjold to quickly leave, taking with him some of the captured Swedish ships. The rest were destroyed. The Dano-Norwegian force suffered 76 casualties.

Ships involved

Denmark-Norway (Tordenskjold)

Hjælper 47 (pram)
Hvide Ørn 30 (frigate)
Vindhund 16 (frigate)
Charlotte Amalia 7 (galley)
Louisa 7 (galley)
Prinds Christian 7 (galley)

Sweden

Stenbock 24 (pram) - Surrendered
Proserpina 14 (galley) - Captured
Ulysses 6 (galley) - Captured
Lucretia 13 (galley) - Captured
Hecla 13 (galley) - Captured and destroyed
Achilles 5 (half-galley) - Captured
Pollux 5 (half-galley) - Captured
Hector 5 (half-galley) - Captured, destroyed soon after
Castor 5 (half-galley) - Captured
? (half-galley/"double-sloop") - Captured and destroyed
? (half-galley/"double-sloop") - Captured and destroyed
? ("double-sloop") - Captured
? ("double-sloop") - Captured
? ("double-sloop") - Captured and destroyed
? ("double-sloop") - Captured and destroyed
transports - 19 captured, 10 destroyed (numbers not totally certain)
a few armed boats - 2 captured

Sources

• Naval Wars in the Baltic 1553-1850 (1910) - R. C. Anderson
• Royal Norwegian Navy

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