Svensksund validates the archipelago fleet concept

Only days after Vyborg Bay, Gustav III deployed about 275 vessels and 14,000 men in a defensible position at Svensksund. A Swedish reinforcement and counterattack helped unhinge the Russian line; part of the Russian center became surrounded and fired on from three sides. Russia lost roughly 10,000 killed, wounded, or captured and between fifty and eighty vessels, against about 600 to 700 Swedish casualties and six vessels. The disparity shows what happened when Russian mass attacked a prepared coastal position under decisive command. Archipelago fleets treated vessels as mobile fighting platforms, moving guns ashore when a temporary land position offered greater strength and retaining the craft for maneuver and transport.