Battle of Køge Bay The Battle of Køge Bay was a naval battle between Denmark - Norway and Sweden that took place in the bay of Køge 1 – 2 July 1677 , during the Scanian War , while Christian V was king of Denmark . It resulted in what may be Denmark ' s greatest naval victory . Prelude . After losing control of the Baltic Sea in the Battle of Öland the year before , the Swedish navy wanted it back . The Danish fleet , commanded by Niels Juel , had 1 , 354 cannons and 6 , 700 men , while the Swedish fleet , commanded by Henrik Horn , had + 1 , 792 cannons and 9 , 200 men . On 20 May , Sjöblad ' s squadron from Göteborg had already left , before the rest of the fleet from Stockholm had set sail . This led to the catastrophic defeat at the battle of Möen where Sjöblad ' s squadron of two ships of the line , six armed merchant ships ( classed as frigates ) and a few smaller ships ( ca 400 cannons in total ) fought against the superior firepower of the Danish fleet , which had about : nine ships of the line , four frigates ( ca 670 cannons ) . In the following battle , Sjöblad ' s own flagship Amarant was captured and the outcome destroyed the initial Swedish plan and eventually lead to the future defeat at Koge Bay . The remaining Swedish fleet had left Dalarö , near Stockholm , on 9 June 1677 . On 13 June it was joined by " Kalmar " , off Öland , and by " Andromeda " and " Gustavus " , survivors of Sjöblad ' s squadron . The Danish fleet had left Copenhagen on 24 June 1677 . Lack of wind forced it to anchor off Stevn ' s Point . At daybreak on 19 June the two fleets sighted each other . The battle . At about 8am on 30 June , Horn weighed anchor with a SSW wind and sailed toward the Danish fleet , sending two ships to try to draw Juel out ; he in turn sent two ships to attack them . Both sides kept their distance , the Swedes forming a line , followed by the Danes . Juel tried in vain all night to get the weather gauge . On 1 July at daybreak , despite some of his ships having fallen behind , Juel closed , as did the Swedes , and fighting began at about 5am . Horn sent in fireship s but the Danes towed them aside . As the fleets approached the coast near Stevn ' s Point , Juel bore away a little in the hope that the Swedes would try to stay to windward and run aground . In the early afternoon the wind changed , as Juel had anticipated , and utilising this , the Danish fleet broke the Swedish line by crossing the T , thus isolating several major warships . This was the turning point of the battle , which soon turned into a complete rout . The Swedes lost eight war ships , several smaller ships and about 3 , 000 men . The Danish fleet did not lose any ships , only damages on the ships and approximately 100 men were killed and 275 wounded . Aftermath . This battle is recognized as Denmark - Norway ' s greatest naval victory , and according to 19th century Danish and Norwegian marine officers , Juel invented the " break - through " tactic , more than hundred years before the British admiral George Rodney broke the French line in the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean sea 1782 . The defeat of the Swedish fleet also gave Denmark - Norway control of the Baltic sea , and thereby the inner supply lines of the Swedish Empire . Admiral Tromp ' s fleet was ordered to " burn and defile , plunder , kill or abduct the people " , with the intention of luring Swedish troops away from Scania and thus relieve the land - bound operations . Although Öland and parts of the coast of Småland were devastated , king Charles XI didn ' t move any forces from main front in Scania . During the remainder of the war , Denmark completely dominated at sea , even after the Netherlands made peace with Sweden in 1678 . The Swedish fleet avoided further confrontations and could no longer maintain the line of communication with Swedish Pomerania ; the last Swedish troops , on Rügen capitulated to Brandenburg in December 1678 .