The Action of 13 October 1644 took place north-west of the island of Fehmarn

Fehmarn

Fehmarn is an island and - since 2003 - a town on this island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and ca. 18 kilometers south of the Danish island of Lolland...

, now part of Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, in the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. A combined Swedish fleet, with a large element of hired Dutch ships, defeated a Danish fleet and took 1000 prisoners, including Ulfeldt

Corfits Ulfeldt (naval officer)

Corfits Mogensen Ulfeldt was a Danish naval officer, a cousin of the much more famous traitor Corfitz Ulfeldt . He is known in the annals of whaling as the man who drove the French out of Spitsbergen...

, Grabov and von Jasmund. The Danish admiral Pros Mund

Pros Mund

-Early life:Pros Mund was the son of Niels Mund of Bjerkevoldand Ingeborg Prosdatter Hørb. He became naval lieutenant in 1624 and was promoted to captain in 1628...

 was killed in the battle.

The Swedes had 16 ships with 392 guns, and the Dutch element had 21 ships with 483 guns (making a total of 37 ships with 875 guns). The Danes had 17 ships with 448 guns. The Swedes expended two fireships and the Dutch lost one ship. The Danes lost 10 ships captured, including their largest three, and two wrecked.

The battle

On the morning of October 13 the Swedish-Dutch fleet weighed anchor and prepared for battle by dividing into two Swedish and three Dutch squadrons. One of the Swedish squadrons was led by Wrangel on Smålands Lejon and the other under vice admiral Peter Blum on Draken. The Dutch squadrons were commanded by Thijssen onboard Jupiter, vice admiral Henrik Gerretsen on Groote Dolphijn and Schoutbynacht  Pieter Marcussen on Groot Vliessingen.

The Danish fleet was divided in two squadrons under admiral Pros Mund

Pros Mund

-Early life:Pros Mund was the son of Niels Mund of Bjerkevoldand Ingeborg Prosdatter Hørb. He became naval lieutenant in 1624 and was promoted to captain in 1628...

 on Patentia and Joachim Grabow on Lindormen. Around 10 am the larger ships in both fleets were within firing range of each other and started firing. The smaller Danish ships retreated from the battle, but were pursued by the Dutch ships.

Early in the battle the Swedish flag ship Smålands Lejon was so damaged in her rigging and hull that she had to pull out. The Swedish ships Regina och Göteborg attacked and boarded the Danish flag ship Patentia. The Danish admiral Pros Mund was killed during the fighting.

The Swedish fire ship

Fire ship

A fire ship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were usually old and worn out or...

 Meerman was sent against the Danish Lindormen, which quickly caught fire and exploded. Swedish Nya Fortuna captured the Danish man-of-war Oldenborg by boarding. The last man-of-war Tre Løver veered off, but was pursued by Anckarhjelm's Dutch Jupiter, Patentia and Swarte Arent. Tre Løver managed to sink Swarte Arent before the two other Dutch ships boarded her.

The smaller Danish vessels Tu Løver, Havhesten, and Fides were captured by Dutch Jupiter and Groote Dolphijn. A cluster of Danish ships were forced against the shore of Lolland, among them Neptunus, Nellebladet, Stormarn, and Kronet Fisk. These were later towed by the Dutch. Danish Delmenhorst went aground and exploded after being set on fire by the Swedish fire ship Delfin. Danish Markatten, Højenhald and a galleot also went aground, but cannon fire from land protected them from the Dutch. Only Pelikanen and Lammet managed to escape and sail to Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 on October 17.

Consequences

The Danes lost twelve ships, of which ten were captured. A hundred men perished and about 1,000 were captured. The ship Swarte Arent was the only loss on the Swedish side; its crew was rescued. In total, the Swedish side suffered only 59 deaths.

The victory was one of the greatest in the history of the Swedish Fleet. Even if transshipping Torstensson's soldiers to the Danish islands was no longer a threat, since these were now intent on meeting general Gallas

Matthias Gallas

Matthias Gallas, Graf von Campo und Herzog von Lucera , was an Austrian soldier, who first saw service in Flanders, then in Savoy with the Spaniards, and subsequently joined the forces of the Catholic League as captain during the Thirty Years' War.On the general outbreak of hostilities in Germany,...

' Imperial

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 troops approaching from the south, the Danes realized that Sweden had total naval dominance after the battle. This paved the way for negotiations and eventually the treaty of Brömsebro on August 13, 1645.

Sweden

• Drake 40
• Smålands Lejon 32 (flag)
• Göteborg 36
• Leopard 36
• Regina 34
• Tre Kroner 32
• Jägare 26
• Vesterviks Fortuna 24
• Akilles 22
• Svan 22
• Gamla Fortuna 18
• Lam 12 (galley)
• Fenix 10 (galley)
• Postpferd 2 (galley/galliot)
• Lilla Delfin (fireship) - Burnt
• Meerman (fireship) - Burnt
• ? (merchantman)

Dutch element of Swedish fleet

• Delphin 38
• Jupiter 34
• Engel 34
• Gekroende Liefde 31
• Coninchva Sweden 28
• Campen 26
• Den Swarten Raven 26
• Vlissingen 24
• Nieuw Vlissingen 24
• St Matthuis 24
• Patientia 24
• Arent/Adelaar 22 - Sunk by Tre Løver
• Nieuw Gottenburg 22
• Liefde van Hoorn 20
• Prins 20
• Wapen van Medenblik 20
• Posthorn 20
• Brouwer 20
• St Marten 20
• Harderinne 8
• ? 2 (galliot)

Denmark

• Patienta 48 (flag, Pros Mund
  Pros Mund
  -Early life:Pros Mund was the son of Niels Mund of Bjerkevoldand Ingeborg Prosdatter Hørb. He became naval lieutenant in 1624 and was promoted to captain in 1628...
  
  ) - Captured
• Tre Løver 46 - Captured
• Oldenborg 42 - Captured
• Lindorm 38 (Henrik Mund)
• Pelican 36
• Stormar 32 (Corfits Ulfeldt)
  Corfits Ulfeldt (naval officer)
  Corfits Mogensen Ulfeldt was a Danish naval officer, a cousin of the much more famous traitor Corfitz Ulfeldt . He is known in the annals of whaling as the man who drove the French out of Spitsbergen...
  
  - Captured
• Delmenhorst 28 (Hans Knudsen) - Captured
• Fides 28 - Captured
• Neptunus 28 - Captured
• Nelleblad 24 - Captured
• To Løver 22 - Captured
• Kronet Fisk 20 - Aground and captured
• Lam 16
• Markat 16
• Havhest 14
• Højenhald 8 - Wrecked
• ? 2 (galley/galliot) - Wrecked