Battle of Öland The Battle of Öland was a naval battle between an allied Dano - Norwegian - Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea , off the east coast of the island of Öland on 1 June 1676 . The battle was a part of the Scanian War ( 1675 – 79 ) fought for supremacy over the southern Baltic . Sweden was in urgent need of transferring reinforcements to its north German possessions while Denmark sought to ferry an army to Scania in southern Sweden to open a front on Swedish soil . Just as the battle began the Swedish flagship " Kronan " foundered and sank with the loss of almost its entire crew , including the Admiral of the Realm and commander of the Swedish Navy , Lorentz Creutz . The allied force under the leadership of the Dutch admiral Cornelis Tromp took full advantage of the ensuing disorder on the Swedish side . The acting commander after Creutz ' sudden demise , Admiral Claes Uggla , was surrounded and his flagship " Svärdet " battered in a drawn - out artillery duel , eventually being set ablaze by a fireship . Uggla himself drowned while escaping the burning ship , and after the loss of a second admiral , the rest of the Swedish fleet fled in disorder . The battle resulted in Dano - Norwegian naval supremacy , which was upheld throughout the war . King Christian V of Denmark and Norway was able to ship troops over to Swedish soil , and on 29 June 14 , 500 men landed at Råå , just south of Helsingborg . Scania became the main battleground of the war , culminating with the bloody battles of Lund , Halmstad and Landskrona . Dano - Norwegian and Dutch naval forces were left free to raze Öland and the Swedish east coast all the way up to Stockholm . The Swedish failure at Öland led to the creation of a commission to investigate the fiasco ; it ultimately found no - one guilty . Background . Sweden had attacked the German state of Brandenburg in the summer of 1675 at the insistence of its ally France , at that time the most powerful nation in Europe . The Dutch Republic was at war with France in the Franco - Dutch War , and soon declared war on Sweden . A Swedish defeat by Brandenburger forces at the battle of Fehrbellin on 18 June 1675 , though of comparatively minor tactical consequence , was a heavy blow to the high reputation of the Swedish army . A number of German states , as well as the Holy Roman Empire , saw the defeat as a sign of vulnerability , and joined the war against Sweden . Denmark saw a chance to regain Scania , Blekinge and Halland , which had been lost to Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde in 1660 , and declared war on 2 September . The southern Baltic became a strategically important scene for both Denmark and Sweden . Denmark needed the sea lanes to invade Scania , while Sweden needed to reinforce its holdings in Pomerania ; both stood to gain by taking control of the Baltic trade routes . In late Fall of 1675 the Swedish fleet under Gustaf Otto Stenbock put to sea , but only got as far as Stora Karlsö off Gotland before it had to turn back to Stockholm , beset by cold and stormy weather , disease , and loss of vital equipment . Stenbock , held personally responsible for the failure by King Charles XI , was forced to pay for the campaign out of his own pocket . During the winter of 1675 - 76 the Swedish fleet was placed under the command of Lorentz Creutz , but was iced in by exceptionally harsh weather . Prelude . A Danish fleet of 20 ships under admiral Niels Juel put to sea in March 1676 , and on April 29 his forces landed on Gotland , which promptly surrendered . The Swedish fleet was ordered out on May 4 , but encountered adverse winds and was delayed until May 19 . Juel had by then left Visby , the main port on Gotland , to join up with a smaller Danish - Dutch force at Bornholm , between the southern tip of Sweden and the northern coast of Germany . Together they intended to cruise between Scania and the island of Rügen to stop Swedish troops from landing on Rügen and reinforcing Swedish Pomerania . On May 25 – 26 the two fleets fought a largely indecisive battle at Bornholm . The Swedish force was superior in numbers , but was unable to inflict any serious losses and instead lost a fireship and one smaller vessel . Several Swedish accounts say that Creutz was in conflict with his officers after Bornholm . Major Taube of the " Mars " testified that after the battle , the officers had been " scolded like boys " and that Creutz , " without regard for guilt or innocence , accused them almost all alike " . The army captain Rosenberg told a later inquiry that Creutz " almost had a paroxysm in the night " over the conduct of Johan Bär ( one of his flag officers ) at Bornholm , and that he swore " never to go to serve at sea with such rascals " . Maritime archaeologist Lars Einarsson has concluded that the relationship between Creutz and his subordinates before the battle had hit rock bottom . After the unsuccessful action the Swedish fleet anchored off Trelleborg , where King Charles was waiting with new orders to recapture Gotland . The fleet was to refuse combat with the allies at least until they reached the northern tip of Öland , where they could fight in friendly waters . After the Swedish fleet left Trelleborg on May 30 , the allied fleet soon came in contact with it and began pursuing the Swedes . By this time the allies had been reinforced by a small squadron and now totaled 42 vessels , with 25 large or medium ships of the line . The reinforcements also brought with them a new commander , the Dutch Admiral General Cornelis Tromp , one of the ablest naval tacticians of his time . The two fleets sailed north and on June 1 passed the northern tip of Öland in a strong gale . The rough winds were hard on the Swedish ships . Many lost masts and spars . The Swedes , forming a barely cohesive battle line , tried to sail ahead of Tromp ' s ships , hoping to get between them and the shore , thus putting themselves on the allied fleet ' s lee side and gaining the tactical advantage of holding the weather gage . The Dutch ships of the allied fleet , however , managed to sail closer to the wind and faster than the rest of the force , and slipped between the Swedes and the coast , snatching the weather gage . Later that morning the two fleets closed on each other , and were soon within firing range . Battle . Around noon , as a result of poor communication and signaling , the Swedish line unexpectedly turned toward the allied fleet . When the flagship " Kronan " came about in the maneuver it suddenly heeled over and began to take on water . According to master gunner Anders Gyllenspak , the sails were not reefed and the ship leaned over so hard that water flooded in through the lower gunports . While the ship was leaning over , a gust of wind pushed the ship on her side , laying her masts and sails down in line with the surface of the sea . A short while later the gunpowder store in the front part of the ship exploded and ripped the forward part of the starboard side apart . " Kronan " quickly lost buoyancy and sank , taking most of her 850 - man crew with her . The sudden loss of the flagship and the fleet admiral threw the already scattered Swedish line into confusion and sapped morale . Four ships from Creutz ' and Uggla ' s squadrons immediately fled when they saw that the flagship was lost . Claes Uggla was next in command after Creutz and became the acting commander of the Swedish fleet . When the line came about , Uggla and his ship " Svärdet " came on a collision course with the still floating wreckage of " Kronan " , and were forced to jibe ( turn the stern into the wind direction ) to avoid it . " Svärdet " ' s second turn was interpreted by many ships as a signal to turn again while others interpreted it as the beginning of a general retreat , leading to major disorder . Uggla reduced speed in an attempt to gather his forces , but instead was separated from his subordinates . Tromp on " Christianus Quintus " , Vice Admiral Jens Rodsten on " Tre Løver " and Niels Juel on " Churprindsen " took advantage of the chaos . They quickly surrounded " Svärdet " and began to hammer it into submission . Several Swedish ships attempted to assist Uggla , but they were in a lee position and could not provide effective support . After about an hour - and - a - half to two hours of hard fighting " Svärdet " ' s mainmast went overboard and Uggla had to strike his colors ( surrender ) to Tromp . Despite this , " Svärdet " was ignited by accident or misunderstanding by the Dutch fireship " t ' Hoen " . The second largest Swedish ship after " Kronan " sank in the blaze and took with it 600 out of a crew of 650 , including Admiral Uggla himself . Only " Hieronymus " , " Neptunus " and " Järnvågen " , an armed merchantman , had tried to support Uggla . Of these only " Hieronymus " escaped the attempt , though badly damaged , while the others were captured by Juel and his subordinate on " Anna Sophia " . By six o ' clock in the evening the Swedes had lost two flagships along with two fleet admirals , and the entire force now began a disorderly retreat . Some of the smaller ships were caught up with and captured while the rest of the ships sought shelter in friendly harbors . Most set course for Dalarö , north of Stockholm , while others tried for Kalmar Strait , between Öland and the Swedish mainland . Aftermath . The Swedish fleet had suffered a stinging blow by losing its two largest ships , its commander - in - chief and one of its most experienced admirals . Even after the battle , the misfortunes continued . " Äpplet " came off its moorings at Dalarö , went aground and sank . Around fifty survivors were picked up by pursuing Danish ships and taken as prisoners to Copenhagen . The battle gave Denmark undisputed naval supremacy and the Swedish fleet did not dare to venture out for the rest of the year . The army that had been amassed in Denmark could now be shipped to Scania to take the war to Swedish soil and on June 29 , 1676 , 14 , 500 troops were landed at Råå south of Helsingborg . The Swedish commission . Within a week , the news of the failure at Bornholm and the complete fiasco at Öland reached King Charles , who immediately ordered that a commission be set up to investigate what had happened . Charles wanted to see if Bär and other officers were guilty of cowardice or incompetence . On June 13 the King wrote " some of our sea officers have shown such cowardly and careless behavior " that they have " placed the safety , welfare and defense of the kingdom at great peril " , and that " such a serious crime should be severely punished " . The commission began its work on June 7 , 1676 . At the hearings , strong criticism surfaced and was directed against individual officers as well as Swedish conduct in general . Anders Homman , one of the officers on board " Svärdet " , was among those who chastised his colleagues the hardest . In his testimony he said that that Admiral Uggla had exclaimed " look how those dog cunts run " when he was surrounded , fighting the allied flagships . Homman himself described the actions of his colleagues as those of " chickens running about the yard , each in his own direction " , and added that he " had been in seven battles , but had never seen our people fight so poorly " . The commission did not find anyone guilty of negligence or misconduct , but Bär of " Nyckeln " and Lieutenant Admiral Christer Boije , who had run aground with " Äpplet " , were never again given a command in the navy . Hans Clerck of " Solen " went through the process unscathed , and was promoted by the King before the commission even presented its verdict . Creutz has quite consistently been blamed for the loss of his ship by historians , and has been described as an incompetent sea officer and sailor who more or less single - handedly brought about the sinking through lack of naval experience . Military historians Lars Ericson Wolke and Olof Sjöblom have attempted to nuance the picture by pointing out that Creutz ' task was akin to that of an administrator rather than a military commander . The practical issues of ship maneuvering should therefore have been the responsibility of his subordinates , who had experience in naval matters . Disputes among the allied officers . Despite the astounding success , several allied officers were unhappy with the conduct of their forces . Naval historian Jørgen Barfod explains that the battle was fought " in a disorganized manner from beginning to end " since Tromp had given the order for each commander to attack the enemy ship closest to him . Since most of the Danes were unable to keep pace with the faster Dutch ships , the race for advantageous position along the coast had also contributed to the scattering of the allied fleet . Juel later complained in a letter to the Danish Admiral of the Realm that the Dutch had not assisted him in pursuing the fleeing Swedes . He claimed that if he had gotten proper support , they could have " brought [ the Swedes ] such a fever on their throats that it would take years for all the doctors in Stockholm to cure it " . When Tromp sent a report of the battle to the Danish King he reproached his subordinates , but not by name , and asked that no punishment be dealt out . The captain of " t ' Hoen " , the fireship that had set " Svärdet " ablaze after she had surrendered , was arrested and incarcerated directly after the battle , and was subjected to such harsh treatment that he died within a few days . Tromp later reported that his ship " Delft " , which had seen some of the roughest fighting , had lost around 100 men and that most of its officers were wounded . Forces . Allied fleet . First squadron Second squadron Third squadron Swedish fleet . First squadron Second squadron Third squadron Fourth squadron