Battle of Bornholm (1456)

Battle of Bornholm (1456)
Part of Thirteen Years' War
Date1456
LocationBornholm island, south of modern Sweden
Result Victory for the Gdańsk flotilla
Belligerents
Privateers from the city of Gdańsk  Denmark
Livonian Brothers of the Sword
Strength
3 ships 16 ships
Casualties and losses
unknown unknown

The Battle of Bornholm was a naval battle which took place near the Danish island of Bornholm, between privateers from the city of Gdańsk (Danzig) and a transport convoy of Danish and Livonian ships which were attempting to bring supplies and reinforcements to the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) between the Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian Confederation on one hand, and the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights on the other. The battle took place on the night of 14 August 1457.

The Gdańsk flotilla, composed of only 3 ships compared to the Danish and Livonian 16, was victorious; the outcome demonstrated the importance of light, fast ships which could attack quickly and with the element of surprise. The battle helped to establish a naval blockade of the Teutonic state in Prussia, and together with the subsequent and more significant Polish-Prussian naval victory in the Battle of Vistula Lagoon contributed to the overall victory of Poland in the Thirteen Years' War.

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.