In November 1658 Vice-Admiral
William Goodsonn was appointed to command the English Baltic Fleet of twenty ships – he was transporting
General at sea Sir
George Ayscue, who was being loaned to Sweden to assist in their naval operations against Denmark and the Dutch during the
Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660). In 1715 Sir
John Norris was sent with a fleet to the Baltic Sea to support a coalition of naval forces from Russia, Denmark and
Hanover taking part in the Great Northern War of 1700–1721 against Sweden.
Tsar Peter of Russia took personal command of the coalition fleet and appointed Norris as his deputy in 1716: together they protected British and other allied merchant vessels from attack by warships of the
Swedish Empire. In 1717 the Baltic fleet formed again – this time under the command of Sir
George Byng. It set out for the Baltic following information received by the Admiralty that
Charles XII of Sweden was meditating a new movement
in support of the exiled Stuarts. The Danish admiral Peter Raben in his flagship
Printz Christian received orders from the Danish admiralty in June 1717 to work fully with the British admiral. Following the death of Charles XII of Sweden on 30 November 1718
O.S., Admiral Sir John Norris returned to the region as Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet to protect British merchant shipping from attack by Russian raiders. In 1726 Sir
Charles Wager was appointed to take command of a large battle fleet sent to the Baltic to protect Sweden and Denmark from the threat of a recently mobilized Russian fleet. Stopping first at Copenhagen, he met with the court and completed arrangements for co-operation with the Danish navy. Wager took his twenty ships of the line to
Reval (in present-day Estonia). He had orders to engage and destroy the
Russian fleet if it came out. To reassure Sweden, the combined fleet stayed at Reval all summer. The British fleet arrived back in Britain on 1 November 1726. but actually lifted the blockade on 1 October In 1801 Sir
Hyde Parker was appointed to command the Baltic Fleet destined to break up the
northern armed neutrality (
Denmark–Norway,
Prussia, Sweden, and Russia), with Vice-Admiral
Horatio Nelson as his second-in-command. Copenhagen, the first objective of the expedition, fell in the
Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. In 1808 Rear-Admiral Sir
James Saumarez was given command of the British Baltic fleet with his flag in
HMS Victory. His mission involved protecting the British trade interests that were of vital importance for Royal Navy supplies (
naval stores and timber), in addition to blockading enemy ports such as those under French control in northern Germany. The Russian fleet was also kept under blockade until Alexander I reopened Russian ports. In 1812
Napoleon invaded Russia – the Baltic fleet succeeded in obstructing French operations. In February 1854 Rear-Admiral Sir
Charles Napier was appointed to command the Baltic Fleet. It sailed on 11 March for an expedition to the Baltic to attack the fortresses at
Kronstadt and
Sveaborg. Napier reported back to the Admiralty that despite his attempts the fortresses were impregnable – he was relieved of his command in December 1854. On 20 March 1854, Vice-Admiral
James Dundas taking command of the fleet stationed at Spithead, Hampshire, it proceeded to the Baltic Sea where it was employed on blockading duties to prevent Russia from receiving supplies at its Baltic ports until 13 August 1854. On 27 June 1855 the fleet was stationed at Spithead under the command of Rear-Admiral Richard Dundas. The very large force consisted of some 93 naval units in total, as reported in the
Melbourne Argus newspaper at the time. ==In command==