Operation Albion

Operation Albion
Operation Albion
Part of World War I
Operation Albion Map.jpg
Operation Albion amphibious operations 10–20 October
Date September–October 1917
Location Baltic Sea
Result German victory
Belligerents
Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire Flag of Russia.svg Russian Republic
Commanders and leaders
German Empire Ludwig von Estorff
German Empire Ehrhard Schmidt
Russia Mikhail Bakhirev
Strength
23,000 men,
5,000 horses,
1,400 vehicles,
150 machine guns,
54 guns,
12 mortars and munitions
Casualties and losses
Battleship Slava lost

Operation Albion was the German land and naval operation in September-October 1917 to invade and occupy the Estonian islands of Saaremaa (Ösel), Hiiumaa (Dagö) and Muhu (Moon), then part of the Russian Republic. The land campaign opened with landings at Tagalaht Bay, Saaremaa, on 11 October 1917, after extensive naval activity to clear mines and subdue coastal artillery batteries, and the island was secured by 16 October. The Russian Army evacuated Muhu on 18 October.

After two failed attempts, the Germans managed to land on Hiiumaa on the 19th and captured the island on the following day. The Russian Baltic Fleet had to withdraw from Muhu Sound after major losses (see Battle of Moon Sound). The Germans claimed 20,000 prisoners and 100 guns captured during Operation Albion from 12 October.

Contents

Strategic significance

At the beginning of World War I the islands were of little importance to either Imperial Russia or Germany. However after the revolutionary turmoil in Russia during 1917, the German high command believed capturing the islands would outflank Russian defences and lay St Petersburg vulnerable to attack.[1]

Order of battle

German units

  • 42nd Division
  • 2nd Infanterie Cyclist Brigade
  • Special Unit
    • Flagship: Moltke
    • Squadron III
    • Squadron IV. Vizeadmiral Wilhelm Souchon
    • II Aufklarungsgruppe
    • VI Aufklarungsgruppe
    • Flagship: Emden
    • II Flottille (10 boats)
    • VIII Flottille (11 boats)
    • VI Flottille (11 boats)
    • X Flottille (11 boats)
    • 7th Half-Flottille (7 boats)
    • U-Flottille Kurland (6 boats)
    • Sperrbrechergruppe.
    • II Minesweeper Flottille.
    • 3rd Half-Flottille
    • 4th Half-Flottille
    • 8th Half-Flottille
    • 3rd S-Half-Flottille
    • S-Flottille of the Baltic.
    • Netbarrier Unit of the Baltic.
  • Battleship Kaiser

Russian units[2]

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Operation Albion — Teil von: Erster Weltkrieg Das russische Schlachtschiff Slawa sinkt nach schweren Treffern …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Albion (disambiguation) — Albion is an alternative and archaic name for Great Britain or England. Albion may also refer to:PlacesAustralia*Albion, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Albion Park, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Albion, Victoria, a suburb of… …   Wikipedia

  • Albion (Wisconsin) — Albion Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Albion est un nom alternatif à connotation poétique de la Grande Bretagne ou de l Angleterre. C est une hellénisation renaissante du nom antique de …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Operation Beowulf — refers to two German plans to occupy the islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and Muhu, off the Estonian west coast. Both plans had the same objectives but assumed differing start points. The attack, using Beowulf II, started on 8 September 1941 and had… …   Wikipedia

  • Albion (homonymie) — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Albion est l ancien nom de la Grande Bretagne. Voici d autres significations ou emprunts : Sommaire 1 Littérature 2 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Albion, California — Albion is an unincorporated town in Mendocino County, California, USA with a population of 1,035.GeographyAlbion lies directly on California s State Route 1 north of Elk, and south of Mendocino and Little River. It lies just north of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Cunningham — was a naval operation in April 2010 by units of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom to ship British military personnel and air passengers stranded in continental Europe by the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Unified Protector — Part of 2011 military intervention in Libya NATO Unified Protector logo …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Phillis — was the British service assisted evacuation operation for British citizens in Côte d Ivoire in November 2004. It was put into effect on 11 November of that year in response to the Civil war in Côte d Ivoire. A company of the Royal Gurkha Rifles… …   Wikipedia

  • Albion (Gundam) — In the fictional Gundam universe, Universal Century continuity, Albion (MSC 07) is the seventh Pegasus class assault carrier, and the first of the Albion subclass. The carrier was first designed by Shoji Kawamori and was eventually refined by… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”