Battle of Rezekniai

The Battle of Rezekniai was a naval battle between the coastal forces of the Royal Liotainian Navy and the Armada de Antargentina, occuring off Rezekniai on November 17th, 1804 during the War of the Fourth Coalition.

### Planning

In retaliation for the Liotainian raid on San Lucanio in late September, the new Antargentine commander, Rear Admiral Luis-Antello Murguia ordered the Antargentine coastal fleet stationed in Bascanet, under the command of Commodore Roberto Fierro to raid the prestigious target of Sventoji. Fierro protested, noting that Sventoji had notoriously strong seaward defenses, and served as one of the main bases for the Royal Liotainian Navy. Admiral de la Torre, the Armada's overall commander and a trusted subbordinate of Bonaventura, ordered Murguia to test the city's defenses but gave him permission to attack the nearby coastal city of Rezekniai if Sventoji itself proved too secure.

### Order of Battle

#### Liotain

Flotillieadmiral Antanas Reinys

* 5x 32-gun perlinés (*Karaliene Elzbieta*, *Vilmante*, *Perlas*, *Deimantas*, *Barsukas*)
* 1x 12-gun littoria (*Girkalnis*)
* 11x galleys
* 12x barcaccias and kanonjolas

#### Antargentina

Commodore Roberto Fierro

* 2x 28-gun perlinés (*Reina Claudia*, *León Real*)
* 5x 14-gun littorias (*Tiburón*, *Temeridad*, *Pulpo*, *Delfin*, *Morsa*)
* 18x galleys
* 6 troopships with 1800 troops

### Synopsis

In early November, Fierro conducted an initial reconnaissance of Sventoji using his flagship, the 28-gun perlinés (littoral frigate) *Reina Claudia*. He spotted signs of considerable activity ashore, and several Liotainian galleys immediately left their anchorage to challenge the *Reina Claudia*. Murguia immediately decided he lacked the forces necessary to raid Sventoji, and returned to Bascanet to plan a raid on Rezekniai.

Meanwhile, the Liotainian fleet under Flotillieadmiral Reinys had been conducting repairs at Eletrinai. Upon receiving word of *Reina Claudia'*s reconnaissance, Reinys prepared his fleet for departure. Due to the state of repairs and low manpower in some of his ships, he chose to leave twelve galleys behind, reinforcing his more seaworthy ships with their crews. He shifted the fleet's anchorage to Sventoji, and sent one of his perlinés, the *Vilmante*, to watch for approaching Antargentine ships.

#### Initial Movements

Late on the evening of November 16th, the *Vilmante* spotted multiple ships on the horizon, heading further north. She raised signals to alert Reinys, in Sventoji harbour, who immediately weighed anchor. However, the *Vilmante'*s signals indicating the direction of the Antargentine fleet were not seen due to the darkness, and Reinys waited offshore for much of the night, expecting to find the Antargentine fleet close at hand when the sun rose.

However, at dawn, Reinys was surprised to find his fleet still alone, although *Vilmante* quickly came into view to the north, still flying the signal "Enemy in Sight." Reinys immediately realized that the Antargentines had chosen to attack Rezekniai instead, and set off to the northeast, aided by a gentle southwesterly wind that allowed the ships to proceed under sail only, saving the rowers' strength.

Meanwhile, the Antargentine force approached Rezekniai, and discovered that two new Martello Towers had been constructed over the course of the summer of 1804. The cannons on these small fortifications sank a longboat attempting to land troops, causing Fierro to withdraw, and move his fleet down the coast, out of the range of the martellos.

At this point, the Antargentines spotted the *Vilmante* on the southern horizon, shadowing their movements and making signals to unseen enemies. Fierro began to suspect that the Liotainian fleet was in pursuit, and he canceled the attack on Rezekniai and ordered the troop transport ships to sail to the northwest, while he remained anchored in the shallows just to the northwest of Rezekniai.

#### Battle

The Liotainians spent most of the morning approaching the anchored Antargentines. Reinys had misgivings about approaching the shore, where he knew there were a number of shallow sandbars and rocky underwater outcroppings. Although the Liotainians had excellent charts of this area, navigation needed to be fairly precise in order to avoid disaster.

The Antargentines, respectful of this necessity, spent two hours sending out small boats to take soundings of the waters close to their anchorage. Fierro repositioned his ships to cover one of their flanks with an offshore sand-bar, and set out spring anchors on his larger warships. He developed a battle plan and informed his commanders of his intentions.

The seven large warships of the Antargentine flotilla arranged themselves in a staggered double line-of-battle behind the *Reina Claudia*, while the eighteen galleys, organized into three divisions, organized behind the larger craft. Fierro instructed the galley commanders to wait until the Liotainians were closely engaged, and then dash around the flanks of the formation. The small barcaccias and kanonjolas accompanying the Liotainian fleet were not expected to put up a stiff fight, as they were open-decked boats

At 12:48, the Liotainians finally edged into range, cautiously moving toward the Antargentine line, still at anchor. The *Reina Claudia* fired several ranging shots at the leading Liotainian ship, the perlinés *Karaliene Elzbieta*.

The Liotainians, trusting to their heavier artillery advantage, began turning to port and slowing, not closing the distance as Fierro expected. The Antargentine galleys, waiting for this event, did not begin their attack immediately; the two sides thus exchanged desultory long-range fire for nearly an hour.

The heavier Liotainian guns slowly began inflicting a toll on the Antargentine ships, although the range was long enough that both sides took relatively few major hits. However, at 1:31, a roundshot, probably fired by one of the Antargentine galleys, hit te *Karaliene Elzbieta* and mortally wounded Flotillieadmiral Reinys. Command passed to Lignecapitaine Sirvydas of the *Vilmante*.

By 1:45, Fierro realized his force was getting the worst of the exchange, and decided to modify his plan. He ordered his anchor lines cut and sent the crew to the sweeps, planning to row upwind to close the Liotainians and attack them in a boarding action. The Antargentine line slowly began to move forward, with the Antargentine galleys deploying in a line abreast to the southeast, and pushing quickly toward their Liotainian counterparts.

Both sides closed to pistol-shot at around 1:55, and were now fully engaged, with the numerically superior Antargentine galleys slowly making headway against their eleven Liotainian counterparts. The Liotainian barcaccias, however, left the rear of the column where they sheltered, and swarmed through the gaps in the line, taking advantage of the distraction to take up flanking fire on the galleys.

At 2:05, the harrassed Antargentine galley *Chica de Bascanet* attempted to board their nearest opponent, the Liotainian *Sventa Jurate Skaistybe*. The Liotainian crew repelled the assault with heavy casualties and counterattacked, taking the *Chica de Bascanet*, hauling down its colours and turning the galley's guns on its division-mate *San Remeo*. *San Remeo'*s flag was shot away by the first gun, and the crew believed their captain had struck their colours. This started a chain reaction as more Antargentine ships surrendered.

Several Antargentine captains attempted to disengage and run, with the littorias *Tiburón* and *Delfin* successfully breaking out of the line. The *Reina Claudia* briefly disengaged, but the *Karaliene Elzbieta* followed her out of the melee, overtook her at 2:30, and forced her to strike after two broadsides.

The Liotainian fleet was too disorganized to continue, and acting-commodore Sirvydas declined to pursue.

### Results

The Liotainian fleet counted 84 killed and 157 wounded, with all of the ships involved being damaged to some degree; two galleys and four barcaccias would eventually be written off, despite being towed home. Admiral Reinys died the following day in Sventoji.

The Antargentine fleet suffered 89 killed and 180 injured. Only *Tiburón* and *Delfin* escaped the battle, with a total of two perlinéai, three littorias, and eighteen galleys striking to the Liotainians. However, the Liotainians commissioned only *Reina Claudia* and five of the galleys in their own fleet, with the remaining ships given to the Firoccan Navy, which put them to minimal use during 1805.

The Antargentine coastal fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Luis-Antello Murguia, would avenge the defeat at Rezekniai in October of 1805 at the Battle of Arzon.