The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-05 00:00:00

THE BALTIC FLEET.

'VI,

Admiralty, September 4, 1855.
Despatches, of which the following are copies,
have been received at the Admiralty' from Rear-
Admiral the Hon. R. S. Dundis, Commander-in-
Chief of her Majesty's ships and vessels in the
Baltic :

Duke of Wellington, in Nargen,
August 27, 1855.
Sir,—l have the honour to transmit,,for the in-
formation of the Lords Commissioners of the Admi-
ralty, a•letter from Capt. Warden, of her Majesty's
ship)Ajax, enc!osing, a report, 'detailing' the pro-
ceedlngs lof Capt.llepry:c. Otter, in her Majesty's
shipiFirefly, before Brandon, the.sea-port of 'Vasa,
in the Gulf of Bothnia, which are highly creditable
to that officer, and to the officers and crew under
his 'comma crew;
and I beg leave to recommend to
the favourable notice of their lordships the gallant
conduct of Lieutenants Edward Burstal and John
Waikl, as well as that of Mr. John A. Bull, second
master, and Mr. James W. Salter,' the gunner, • on
the maser,
have, Lc.

(Signed) It. S. DUNDAS,
I Rear-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
The Secretary of the Admiralty.

,
1 Ajax, in Fogle Fiord, August 22, 1855.
Si ,—I have the honour to lay before you the
acconpanyiug report of Capt. Otter, of the Firefly,
la c h's proceedings between the 2itli July and 11th
[st nt, at Brandon, in the neighbourhood of
Ta , whilst temporarily occupying that part of the
at on, together with a list of vessels taken,, and
ro erty and vessels otherwise destroyed ' • and I
lsi e to draw your favourable notice tothis re-
m as it bears' witness to the zeal and energy of
tp aiu Otter in the performance of this service..
I have, arc.,
(Signed) ' ' FRED. WARDEN.
lar•Admiral the Hon. R. S. Dundas, -
C.8.,'&c., ku., d;(3.•

Her Majesty's ship Firefly, Kersoren
Beacon, August 11, 1855.
S t r,—l beg to acquaint you that after, leaving
s,
ogle Fiord on the 27th ult., I communicated with
er lajesty's ship Harrier, and his Imperial Ma-
,st/'s corvette D'Assa.s, on their stations, and on
ie evening of the 31st despatched her, Majesty's
lid Driver to you from Noorskas Light. At ten
.4 on August 1, I anchored her Majesty's ship
irelfly half-a-mile outside of Korsoren Beacon, and
rith the two paddle-box boats and the gig, accom-
auled by Lieut. Ward and Mr. Bull, pushed on
o t e south-east ; on our way we got information
f a large barque,_ at anchor to the eastward of
ii
Vasklot, and also that there was a military force
ti the neighbourhood.
arriving within two miles from Brandon, a
21e Tani). was observed on a small island in Kor-
aai Fiord, signalising with three large balls, and
nbulling in towards it two men in a boat 'pushed
ft tom the land with a flag of truce ; fortunately
did not fire, for the flag was so large I mistook it
m the boat's mainsail, and concluded they were
.yibg to escape.
T is very improper opportunity of using a flag
t uce could not be recognised, and I ordered the
degraph to be cut down, but released the men and
le*. boat.
No time was now to be lost as the signal bad
cia answered from the main ;- I therefore pushed.
t with all expedition,' aud. on rounding the east
writ of Wasklot, observed the object of our search
the mud, which with little difficulty was got off,
.aditowed out of range ,of any guns that could be
brought to bear. The prize proved to be the Vides,
of 300 tons, with from 200 to 300 casks of tar on
board.
At midnight two Russian deserters came onboard,
and :stated the troops had moved off to Wasa, on
seeing the boats approaching, thinking an attack
was 'contemplated on that place. -
At 8.30 a.m., 2d August, I returned to the Fire-
fly, and immediately got wider weigh for Korsoren
Fiord, but the navigation was so difficult that it
was ,not until 5.30 p.m. I came alongside the prize.
At 3.30 p.m. I weighed, and proceeded towards
Brandon, the seaport of Wasa, and a great ship-
building place ; it had immense magazines on an
island, separated by a very narrow deep water
channel from the town, with a custom-house and
barracks.
At midnight, anchored within 400 yards of the
town, and sprung the broadside to enfilade the
channel and protect the boats, which were s'nt
under Lieutenant Ward to examine the magazines.
Some of them were opened, and found to be emp y;
others contained coal, tar, resin, salt,.spars, anchor
and cables, boats, salt fish, hawsers, and numerous
piles of 3-inch deals, but no sails or rigging, as we
were led to expect. On a few of the principal in-
habitants joining us on the island, they were told
that the sails of the barque must be given up, and'
they immediately sent to Wasa to Mr. Wolf, a
wealthy merchant and shipowner, but he refused.
I therefore determined to burn the magazines;; but: I
as the wind 'was blowing directly on the town
agreed to wait a reasonable time until a ehaFgae,
took place, and gave the inhabitants notfieemt.n
the
they were at liberty to remove any
island that. belonged to them, ship'sslves very
For this forbearance they expressedtheip .
grateful. , • ' e Burstal'brou,ght
Towards the afternoon, Lieu •
0. discovered tiva
exceptthirestores.
in a schooner, and reported-ha
: I:i.eek a mile and a
fine barques and two
.brige in
half distant.
still en the shore, and the de-
As the iffind wias,, .
struction of the town ,
inert - t
table bad the maga.
to be
ziees been fired, I: .
directed the schooner
island, and a working, party
deals '
to put some casks etar and into her. Every-
thinghauled close into
of
of security 1 • had' the appearance_ , y ; aches were
walking about the beach, parties of pleasure sailing
round the ship, and the people employed taking
their property from the island.
At 8 p.m. I landed to communicate with the first
lieutenant, and had just visited the 'sentry placed
on a building Platform, when a heavy fire of mus-
ketry, from different parts of the town; was,opened
upon the working party and the ship, and was im-
mediately replied to by the latter with shot and
which appears to have done great execution.
Me deck of the schooner was so enfiladed that it
was iwposale to get ou board for the mut, gad