Battle of Moon Sound

The Battle of Moon Sound was a naval battle fought between the forces of the German Empire, and the then Russian Republic in the Baltic Sea from 16 October 1917 until 3 November 1917 during World War I. The German intention was to destroy the Russian forces and occupy the West Estonian Archipelago. The Imperial German Navy had 1 battlecruiser, 10 battleships, 9 light cruisers, 1 mine cruiser, 50 destroyers and 6 submarines while the Russians had only 2 pre-dreadnoughts, 3 cruisers, 3 gunboats, 21 destroyers, plus 3 British submarines.
It was the Germans' intention to destroy the Russian Army and occupy the West Estonian Archipelago . The Germans captured the archipelago, with its main islands of Saaremaa , Hiiumaa , and Muhu during Operation Albion in September 1917. This left a Russian squadron consisting of the old Russo-Japanese War-era pre-dreadnought battleships Grazhdanin , and Slava, together with cruisers and destroyers, stranded in the Gulf of Riga. The Russian fleet escaped on 17 October 1917 by way of the Suur Strait separating the island of Muhu from the Estonian mainland. It was thought in the west at the time that the Russian naval force could have been stronger if newer and larger ships had been sent from Petrograd and that indiscipline in the Navy had prevented this. This was reported in the London newspaper "The Times" soon afterwards"

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