Battle in the Baltic: The Royal Navy and the Fight to Save Estonia and Latvia 1918–20
by Steve R. Dunn
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For most participants, the First World War ended on 11 November 1918, but the Royal Navy found itself, despite four years of slaughter and war weariness, were fighting a fierce and brutal battle in the Baltic Sea against Bolshevik Russia in an attempt to protect the fragile independence of the newly liberated states of Estonia and Latvia.This new book by Steve R Dunn describes the events of those two years when RN ships and men, under the command of Rear Admiral Walter Cowan, found show more themselves in a maelstrom of chaos and conflicting loyalties, and facing multiple opponents - the communist forces of the Red Army and Navy, led by Leon Trotsky; the gangs of freebooting German soldiers, the Freikorps, intent on keeping the Baltic states under German domination; and the White Russian forces, bent on retaking Petrograd and rebuilding the Russian Empire. During this hard-fought campaign there were successes on both sides. For example, the Royal Navy captured two destroyers that were given to the Estonians; but the submarine L-55 was sunk by Russian warships, lost with all hands. Seeking revenge in a daring sequence of attacks and using small coastal motor boats, the RN sank the cruiser Oleg and badly damaged two Russian battleships.Today few people are aware of this exhausting campaign and the sacrifices made by Royal Navy sailors (three VCs were won), but the pages of this book retell their exciting but forgotten stories and, using much first-hand testimony, bring back to life the critical naval operations that prevented the retaking of the new Baltic countries that Churchill saw as an essential shield against the encroachment of the Bolsheviks into Europe. An uneasy peace prevailed until 1939."This is a well-written and very readable account of an important but little-known campaign that still has relevance today...I recommend it highly" - Australian Naval Review show lessTags
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Over the years, I've seen more than a few references to the participation of the Royal Navy in the Russian Civil War, so I was interested to trip over a systematic examination of this adventure. Keeping in mind that period main-stream thought was that the Baltic States to be were inherently part of Russia, it took a lot of twists and turn in policy for London to find itself defending and arming the Estonians and Latvians, with the Royal Navy being the main instrument of this policy. There were some high points, but it also came close to breaking the service, as crews turned mutinous over a deployment that seemed confused and unappreciated. Of course, with the defense of the Baltic States from Russia being a hot issue again, this becomes show more a valuable work, as Dunn does as well with policy and strategy as he does with operations. In the end, he finds this episode to mostly be a monument to "...the bloody-minded resolve of the Royal Navy." show less
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- Genres
- History, Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 947.0841 — History & geography History of Europe Eastern European Counties and Russia Russian & Slavic History by Period 1855- 1917-1953 ; Communist period 1917-1924 (Kerensky, Lenin)
- LCC
- DK265.4 .D86 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics – Poland History of Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics History Revolution, 1917-1921
- BISAC
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- Languages
- English
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
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