Battle of Bomarsund The Battle of Bomarsund was fought by an Anglo - French task force against Russian defenses at Bomarsund during the Crimean War . Background . Bomarsund was a 19th - century fortress , the construction of which had started in 1832 by Russia in Sund , Åland Islands , in the Baltic Sea . Bomarsund had not been completed ( only two towers of the planned twelve subsidiary towers had been completed ) . When the war broke out the fortress remained vulnerable especially against forces attacking over land . Designers of the fortress had also assumed that narrow sea passages near the fortress would not be passable for large naval ships ; while this assumption had held true during the time of sailing ships , it was possible for steam powered ships to reach weakly defended sections of the fortress . First battle . On 21 June 1854 , three British ships bombarded the Bomarsund fortress . Artillery from the shore , however , responded and , while both sides suffered some damage , the casualties were light . The first battle was indecisive . During the battle , Charles Davis Lucas tossed overboard a shell which had landed on board . The shell exploded before it reached water . For saving his ship he was the first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross . Second battle . While the first battle had been a brief clash and artillery duel , the second battle was a different affair . By the end of July 1854 , a British fleet of 25 ships had surrounded the fortress and only waited for the French ground troops to arrive . Both defender and attacker had acknowledged that the fort could not be defeated by naval forces alone and made preparations accordingly , Russian forces destroyed the surrounding countryside in an effort to force British and French forces break away from the assumed siege . On 13 August 1854 , the attack began . While artillery suppressed the defenders of subsidiary tower of " Brännklint " , French infantry assaulted it . Defenders found their position to be hopeless and withdrew bulk of their forces to the main fort leaving only small detachment behind to supervise demolition of the tower . While French troops managed to capture the tower before it was demolished , it did not save the tower since the Russian artillery now opened fire at the captured tower and on 15 August 1854 scored a hit to the gunpowder magazines . The resulting explosion demolished the tower . The second tower , " Notvik " , was also lost on 15 August 1854 after British hauled heavy naval guns to a hill opposite to the tower . After eight hours of bombardment they managed to create a gaping hole to the fort . After most of the guns had been lost commandant of the tower surrendered to the British and French forces . The bombardment of the main fortress started late on 15 August 1854 . With only few guns capable of firing in the direction of the bombarding ships , the Russian forces hoped for the French and British forces to attack over land . However , after the bombardment continued into the 16 August without any indication of landings , it became apparent to the Russian commander that British and French intended to reduce the fortress with artillery fire . As the situation appeared hopeless , Bomarsund surrendered on 16 August 1854 . Aftermath . After the surrender French and British forces demolished the fortress . Three hundred Finnish grenadier s defending the fortress were captured and imprisoned in Lewes in the United Kingdom . They were later allowed to return to Finland , and they returned with a song telling about their battles and imprisonment , called the " War of Åland " ( " Finnish : " Oolannin sota " , Swedish : " Det Åländska kriget ) . The Russian Memorial was erected in Lewes in 1877 to honour those who died in captivity . In the Treaty of Paris 1856 , the entire Åland Islands were demilitarized , which is a status that has been preserved until this day . The Bomarsund Bridge connects Bomarsund to the Prästö island . Victoria Cross recipients . In addition to Charles Davis Lucas several other Victoria Cross es were awarded in the Baltic Theater during the Crimean War . Other VC recipients for action in the Baltic Sea :