ILLUSTRATIONS
Vice Admiral Bakhirev’s flagship of the Naval Forces of the Riga Gulf was the armoured cruiser Bayan.
Vice Admiral M. K. Bakhirev (marked by the arrow) on the bridge of a battleship earlier in the war.
The armoured cruiser Admiral Makarov arrived to bolster the Russian defences on 14 October 1917.
The prototype of the Russian Borodino-class battleships was the French-built Tsarevitch, whose name was changed to Graschdanin (Citizen) after the first revolution.
Slava, the last ship of the Borodino class, seen from astern.
This fine stern view of the gunboat Grozyashchi shows three of her four 6-inch guns.
The gunboat Chrabry at Riga.
The Russian destroyer Grom. The V100 and other large German torpedoboats were direct copies of these large Russian boats.
The shallow-draught mine layer Pripyat.
SMS Kaiser.
Vizeadmiral Ehrhard Schmidt (centre, marked with an ‘x’) and his Staff aboard his flagship, Moltke.
The small cruisers Frankfurt and Augsburg in Libau prior to the beginning of the operation.
A minesweeper of II Minesweeper Flotilla. In the background the aircraft tender SMH Santa Elana.
A German A-type torpedoboat, used by the minesweeper flottillas.
A view of the damage caused when the minesweeper M75 struck a mine on 8 October, during preparatory mine sweeping for Operation Albion.
The sperrbrecher (barrier breaker) Rio Pardo.
The German torpedoboat V100.
The German net layer Eskimo, which began the war as an English merchant ship.
The minelayer Nautilus transfers mines to small minesweeper motorboats for laying in shallow waters.
The German battleship Grosser Kurfürst, just after completion in 1914.
The airship SL8 passes over Grosser Kurfürst. Operation Albion really was an all-arms affair; airships were used for long-range strategic bombing and reconnaissance; aircraft were used for bombing and reconnaissance; U-boats were used for mine laying, and the battleships, cruisers and torpedoboats used their guns to support the Army ashore and to do battle with the Russian naval forces.
A view of the damage caused when Grosser Kurfürst struck a mine at 0509hrs on 12 October.
SMS Bayern in Tagga Bay after suffering damage from a mine. The bows have sunk by approximately 1 metre. In the background, Rio Pardo and a torpedoboat.
The damage caused to Bayern by the Russian mine struck at 0507 on 12 October. The blast destroyed the forward broadside torpedo room.
The small cruiser SMS Emden II opens fire on the Russian battery at Cape Toffri on Dagö Island.
German troops board a transport steamer.
Troops disembarking from a transport steamer into boats for the landing in Tagga Bay.
A close-up of the troops ready to go ashore.
German minesweeping motor launches were pressed into service to take troops ashore.
The scene at the disembarkation beach in Tagga Bay. A Friedrichshafen FF33 floatplane has pulled up at the beach.
German ships in Tagga Bay. The battleship Bayern is on the right, Vizeadmiral Schmidt’s flagship, SMS Moltke, in the centre and the battleships Prinzregent Luitpold and Markgraf are further to the left.
The German torpedoboat B98 comes alongside the stricken Grom, which had to be abandoned after she was hit by the battleship Kaiser and torpedoboot V100.
The battleship König follows minesweepers and sperrbrecher vessels through the mine fields of the Irben Straits on 16 October.
On 16 October the minesweeper A62 captured a Russian barge with 300 men aboard that was adrift in the mined area of the Irben Straits. A62 is shown here with her prize under tow.
The battle in Moon Sound, 17 October. Russian shells fall near Kronprinz, whilst König is further ahead. At first the German battleships were unable to reply because the 12-inch guns of Slava outranged their own 30.5cm pieces.
As the range closes, Kronprinz fires a salvo.
A German shell lands near Slava.
A Russian salvo falls near German minesweepers at work in the Moon Sound on 17 October. These vessels were handicapped by towing their sweeper gear.
An aerial view of Slava, scuttled after being heavily damaged by multiple hits.