"Vindictive" was dispatched to the Baltic with a dozen aircraft, a mix of Griffins, Sopwith 2F.1 fighters, Sopwith 1½ Strutter and Short Type 184 bombers, on 2 July 1919 to participate in the British campaign in the Baltic in support of the White Russians and the newly independent Baltic states. On 6 July she ran aground on a shoal near Reval at speed. Stuck hard in the tideless Baltic, all of her fuel was dumped overboard, and most of her ammunition as well. Some of stores were also off-loaded, but the ship could not be towed free by the combined efforts of the light cruisers and and three tugboats. Eight days after grounding a fortuitous westerly wind began that raised the water level by , just enough to pull the ship free. Unbeknownst to the British the entire operation had taken place in a minefield.