Battle of Åland Islands
The Battle of Åland Islands, or the Battle of Gotland, which occurred in July 1915, was a naval battle of World War I between the German Empire and the Russian Empire, assisted by a submarine of the British Baltic Flotilla. It took place in the Baltic Sea off the shores of Gotland, Sweden, a country neutral in World War I. The battle. On , a squadron consisting of the armoured cruisers , , , , and , under Rear Admiral Mikhail Bakhirev in "Oleg" left their harbours in order to bombard Klaipeda (Memel). While sailing through thick fog "Rurik" and "Novik" separated  from the main group and later acted independently. On the same day the German mine-laying cruiser , screened by the armoured cruiser , the light cruisers and , and seven destroyers, under Kommodore Johannes von Karpf, was laying mines off the Åland Islands. After completing his mission, Karpf reported back through the radio. Karpf's message was intercepted and decoded. When Bakhirev became aware of the German squadron's whereabouts, the bombardment of Klaipeda was canceled. The squadron then focused on intercepting the German minelayers with the constant assistance of the naval staff. In the early morning of , the Russian squadron spotted  and immediately opened fire on "Augsburg", "Albatross" and three torpedo boats. Karpf commanded "Roon" and "Lübeck", which at the time were heading towards Liepāja (Libau), to return to Gotland. At the same time he ordered "Albatross" to find shelter in Swedish territorial waters. "Bogatyr" and "Oleg" managed to catch up with "Albatross" and opened fire. The flaming "Albatross" ran aground near Östergarn. "Bayan", "Oleg" and "Rurik" then attempted to return to their base. A couple of hours later they encountered "Roon" and "Lübeck". A short artillery duel followed. A shortage of shells forced the Russian cruisers to retreat. Fearing a  possible arrival of enemy reinforcements the damaged German ships also retreated. As the German armoured cruisers and sailed to reinforce the German squadron, "Prinz Adalbert" was torpedoed by the British submarine and limped to shore. Legacy. The battle is regarded as the first instance of Russian signals intelligence.