Panorama of the Tagalaht Bay, Saaremaa, Estonia. This was the location of the German landing on 12 October 1917.German battleship Grosser Kurfürst photographed during Operation Albion in October 1917. Above is the Schütte-Lanz company naval airship S.L.20 (Type 'f').
Operation Albion was a World War IGerman air, land and naval operation against the Russian forces in October 1917 to occupy the West Estonian Archipelago. The campaign aimed to occupy the Baltic islands of Saaremaa(Ösel), Hiiumaa (Dagö) and Muhu (Moon). The three islands were part of the Russian Empire and strategically dominated the central and northern Baltic Sea. The land campaign opened with German landings at the Tagalaht (Tagga) bay on the island of Saaremaa (Ösel), on 12 October, after extensive naval operations to clear mines and subdue coastal artillery batteries. German forces secured the island by 16 October and the Russian army evacuated Muhu (Moon) on 20 October.
After two failed attempts, the German army landed on Hiiumaa (Dagö) on 12 October, capturing the island the following day. The Russian Baltic Fleet had to withdraw from the Suur Strait after its losses at the Battle of Moon Sound. The Germans claimed 20,000 prisoners and 100 guns captured during Operation Albion from 12 to 20 October 1917.
Strategic significance
At the beginning of World War I, the islands were of little importance to the Russian Empire or Germany. After the revolutionary turmoil in Russia during the early part of 1917, the German high command believed capturing the islands would outflank Russian defences and lay Petrograd (St. Petersburg) vulnerable to attack.[1][2]
II Minesweeper Flotilla: A 62; 3rd Half-Flotilla: T 136, M 67, M 68, M 75, M 76, M 77, T 59, T 65, T 68, T 82, T 85; 4th Half-Flotilla: T 104, T 53, T 54, T 55, T 56, T 60, T 61, T 62, T 66, T 67, T 69; 8th Half-Flotilla: M 64, M 11, M 31, M 32, M 39, A 35
III Half-Flotilla of the Search Flotilla: T 141, 15 motor-boats
Mine-Searcher Group of the Outpost Half-Flotilla East: 6 fishing vessels
I Minesweeper Division (Riga): 11 motor-boats
II Minesweeper Division: 12 motor-boats
III Minesweeper Division: 12 motor-boats
IV Minesweeper Division: 10 motor-boats; outpost boat O 2
Mine-barrage Breaker group (Sperrbrechergruppe): Rio Parbo, Lothar, Schwaben, Elass
Anti-Submarine Forces (U-Bootsabwehr)
Baltic Search Flotilla: T 144; 1st half-flotilla: T 142, A 32, A 28, A 30, 32 fishing vessels; 2nd half-flotilla: T 130, A 31, A 27, A 29, 24 fishing vessels
^Buttar, Prit (2017). Russia's Last Gasp: The Eastern Front 1916–17. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 217–225. ISBN 9781472824899.
^Ernst Freiherr von Gagern, Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918: Der Krieg in der Ostsee Bd.3 (Frankfurt: Mittler & Sohn, 1964), Beilage 3.
^Operation Albion: The Attack On The Baltic Islands
Cited sources
Barrett, M. B. (2008). Operation Albion: The German Conquest of the Baltic Islands. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34969-9. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Operation Albion.
1 October entries on this site summarise Operation Albion
Detailed account of Operation Albion
"Oesel Genommen", film footage of the invasion in 1917 from the German Federal Archives
Gregory Thiele "Operation Albion and Joint Amphibious Doctrine" Joint Forces Quarterly October 2010
