Potemkin did not mention that, just a few months before, nearly 200 warships of Russia's Baltic fleet had been ambushed by the Duke of Jutland from Sweden.
The Swedes used a large number of gunboats, only the size of fishing boats—these small boats, although poorly seaworthy, were equipped with 24-pound and even 32-pound cannons—lying in wait in the Svensksund Fjord, they heavily damaged the Russian warships that entered the encirclement.
The Russian fleet was extremely unlucky; originally hoping to rely on their numerical superiority to fight to a mutual destruction, a sudden headwind ultimately resulted in the loss of 64 warships and thousands of soldiers, and they returned in defeat.
