Anglo - Russian War ( 1807 – 12 ) During the Napoleonic Wars , the Anglo - Russian War ( 1807 – 1812 ) was the phase of hostilities between the United Kingdom and Russia after the latter signed the Treaty of Tilsit that ended its war with France . Anglo - Russian hostilities were limited primarily to minor naval actions in the Baltic and Barents Seas . Britain ' s Royal Navy prevailed in all the actions . Treaty of Tilsit . After Napoleon I defeated the Russians at the Battle of Friedland ( 14 June 1807 ) , Tsar Alexander I of Russia signed a disadvantageous peace treaty , known as the Treaty of Tilsit . Although the treaty was quite unpopular within the Russian court , Russia had no alternative as Napoleon could easily cross the Neman River ( then the Russian border ) and invade Russia . The terms of the treaty obliged Russia to cease her maritime trade with Great Britain . This closure was a part of Napoleon ' s continuing efforts to establish the Continental System , strengthening economic ties between the different countries in Europe under French domination . Napoleon ' s objective was to close one of Britain ' s most important markets and thus force it economically into submission . Military activities . On 26 October 1807 , Tsar Alexander formally declared war on the United Kingdom after the British attack on Copenhagen in September 1807 . He did not actively prosecute the war ; Alexander instead restricted Russia ' s contribution to the bare requirement to close off trade . Great Britain , understanding his position , limited its military response to the declaration . Still there were a few notable incidents . Detention of Russian vessels . The official news did not arrive in Britain until 2 December , at which time the British declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British ports . Some 70 vessels shared in the seizure of the 44 - gun Russian frigate " Speshnoy " ( " Speshnyy " ) , then in Portsmouth harbour . The British seized the Russian storeship " Wilhelmina " ( " Vilgemina " ) at the same time . " Speshnyy " had sailed from Kronstadt with the payroll for Vice - Admiral Dmitry Senyavin ’ s squadron in the Mediterranean , together with " Vilgemina " . " Vilgemina " was slower but caught up with " Speshnyy " at Portsmouth . The payroll consisted of 601 , 167 Spanish doubloon s and 140 , 197 Dutch ducats that the British expropriated . Consequently , an able seaman on any one of the 70 British vessels received 14s 7½d in prize money . Lisbon Incident . In August 1807 , Senyavin was ordered to bring his fleet from the Mediterranean to the Baltic , where the Finnish War with Sweden was already brewing . He set sail from Corfu on 19 September and although he planned to proceed directly to Saint Petersburg , stormy weather forced him to take refuge in the Tagus River and cast anchor in Lisbon on 30 October . Within days , John VI of Portugal had fled to Brazil and the Royal Navy blockaded Lisbon , intercepting a Russian sloop as an enemy vessel because the Anglo - Russian War had been declared . In November , French forces under the Duc d ' Abrantès overran the Portuguese capital . Senyavin , caught between two warring powers , proceeded to distinguish himself as a diplomat . He declared himself neutral and managed to save his ships from destruction . In August 1808 the Duke of Wellington defeated the French at Vimeiro , which forced them to leave Portugal . Senyavin ' s seven ships of the line and one frigate were left face to face with 15 British ships of the line and 10 frigates . Senyavin maintained his neutrality , threatening to blow up the ships and set Lisbon ablaze in case of attack . At last he signed a convention with Admiral Sir Charles Cotton , whereby the Royal Navy was to escort the Russian squadron to London , with the Russians still flying their flags . Moreover , Senyavin was to assume supreme command of the joint Anglo - Russian fleet ( as the senior officer of the two ) . Two Russian ships ( " Rafail " and " Yaroslav " ) were left in Lisbon for repairs . On 31 August Senyavin ' s squadron left Portugal for Portsmouth . On 27 September the Admiralty was informed that enemy vessels had cast anchor in the British harbour , with their flags streaming , as if in times of peace . The British detained the Russian fleet in Portsmouth under various pretexts until winter weather made their return to the Baltic impossible . The British insisted that Senyavin squadron should sail to Arkhangelsk , else they would be intercepted by the Swedish fleet . In 1809 , the departure was further delayed by the disastrous Walcheren Expedition . Finally , on 5 August the nearly - starved Russian fleet was allowed to leave Portsmouth for Riga , where they arrived on 9 September 1809 . Naval conflict in the Baltic . Russia also invaded Sweden , then a close ally to Great Britain , in 1808 . But it was unlikely related to Britain and the Treaty , as the two countries already were at odds at the time . British men - of - war supported the Swedish fleet during the Finnish War and had victories over the Russians in the Gulf of Finland in July 1808 and August 1809 . In May 1808 the British sent a fleet under Vice - Admiral Sir James Saumarez to the Baltic . The British 44 - gun frigate captured the Russian cutter " Opyt " on 1808 off Norgen island , which defends Revel ’ from the sea , after her captain and crew put up a heroic resistance . The Admiralty took " Opyt " into service as HMS " Baltic " . On 9 July , the Russian fleet , under Admiral Peter Khanykov , came out from Kronstadt . The Swedes massed a fleet under Swedish Admiral Cederstrom , consisting of 11 line - of - battle ships and 5 frigates at Örö and Jungfrusund to oppose them . On 16 August , Saumarez then sent 74 - guns and to join the Swedish fleet . They chased two Russian frigates on the 19th and joined the Swedes the following day . On 22 August , the Russian fleet , consisting of nine ships of the line , five large frigates and six smaller ones , moved from Hanko to threaten the Swedes . The Swedes , with the two British ships , grouped at Örö , and three days later sailed to meet the Russians . The Russians and the Anglo - Swedish force were fairly evenly matched , but the Russians retreated and the Allied ships followed them . " Centaur " and " Implacable " were better vessels than the Swedish ships and slowly pulled ahead , with " Implacable " catching up with a Russian straggler , the 74 - gun " Vsevolod " ( also " Sewolod " ) , under Captain Rudnew ( or Roodneff ) . Eventually , and after heavy casualties , " Vsevolod " struck . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasps " Implacable 26 Augt . 1808 " and " Centaur 26 Augt . 1808 " to the surviving claimants ( 41 per vessel ) from the action . Vice - Admiral Saumerez with his entire squadron joined the Anglo - Swedish squadron the next day . They then blockaded Khanykov ' s squadron for some months . After the British and the Swedes abandoned the blockade , the Russian fleet was able to return to Kronstadt . On 7 and 8 July 1809 , the boats of , , and captured or destroyed gunboat s and a convoy off Hango Head ( Hangöudde ) in the Baltic . Among the captured vessels were Russian gun boats No . 5 , No . 10 , No . 13 , and No . 15 . In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " 7 July Boat Service 1809 " to 33 surviving claimants from the action . Then on 25 July seventeen boats from a British squadron consisting of , , and , attacked a flotilla of four enemy gunboats and a brig off Aspö Head near Fredrikshamn in Finland then still part of Sweden ( present – day Hamina , Finland ) . Captain Forrest of " Prometheus " commanded the boats and succeeded in capturing gunboats Nos . 62 , 65 , and 66 , and the transport brig No . 11 . The action was sanguinary in that the British lost 19 men killed and 51 wounded , and the Russians lost 28 men killed and 59 wounded . In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " 25 July Boat Service 1809 " to 35 surviving claimants from the action . However the successes of the Russian army on land forced Sweden to sign a peace treaty with Russia in 1809 whereby , " inter alia " , Sweden ceded the Grand Duchy of Finland to Russia . Sweden sued for peace with France in 1810 and then formally joined the blockade against Britain as required by the Continental System . Sweden kept trading with Britain and the Royal Navy kept using Swedish ports . Naval raids in the Barents Sea . The war overlapped , in time , the Gunboat War against Denmark - Norway , leading the British to expand their trade embargo to Russian waters and to forays by the British navy northwards into the Barents Sea . The navy conducted raids on Hasvik and Hammerfest and disrupted the Pomor trade , the Norwegian trade with Russia . In June 1809 HMS " Nyaden " participated in at least one and possibly two actions . First , her boats conducted a night raid on Kildin Island that wiped out a Russian garrison . Boats from the " Nyaden " also captured some 22 - 3 coastal trading vessels in the Kola River , many upriver from the present city of Murmansk . " Nyaden " also took several other Russian vessels at sea as prizes . " Nyaden " was probably the vessel whose boats in July took possession of Catherine Harbour , in the " ostrog " or fortified settlement of Kola . The British also commandeered all the stores belonging to the White Sea Company ( est . 1803 at Archangel ) . " The Times " reported that this was the first attack of the English upon Russian territory , news of the attack on Kildin Island either being subsumed or overlooked . British naval involvement in the region continued into 1811 . On 3 August 1810 , the brig captured the " St . Peder " . Next year , on 2 January , " Gallant " captured the Danish privateer " Restorateur " off the Norwegian coast . " Restorateur " was armed with six 12 - pounder guns and had a crew of 19 men . Four months later , on 5 April , " Gallant " captured the " Victoria " . Then on 1 August 1811 , the frigate , which was operating out of the Lieth station , captured the Russian vessels " Michael " , " Ivan Isasima " , and " St . Oluff " , and their cargoes . Outcome . Alexander kept Russia as neutral as possible in the ongoing French war with Britain , and allowed Russians to continue secretly to trade with Britain and did not enforce the blockade required by Continental System . In 1810 he withdrew Russia from the Continental System and trade between Britain and Russia grew . Franco - Russian relations became progressively worse after 1810 . By 1811 , it became clear that Napoleon was not keeping to his side of the terms of the Treaty of Tilsit . He had promised assistance to Russia in its war against the Ottoman Empire , but as the campaign went on , France offered no support at all . With war imminent between France and Russia , Alexander started to prepare the ground diplomatically . In April 1812 Russia and Sweden signed an agreement for mutual defence . A month later Alexander secured his southern flank by Treaty of Bucharest ( 1812 ) which formally ended the war against Turkey . After Napoleon invaded Russia in June , the British and the Russians signed one Treaty of Orebro on 18 July 1812 ; on that same day and in the same place the British and Swedes signed another Treaty of Orebro ending the Anglo - Swedish War ( 1810 – 1812 ) , which had had no casualties .