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The Battle of Heligoland (or Helgoland) was fought on 9 May 1864, during the Second War of Schleswig between the navy of Denmark and the allied navies of Austria and Prussia south of the then-British North Sea island of Heligoland where the Battle of Heligoland (1849) had taken place. When the Danish forces had caused the flagship of the Austrian commander, Freiherr von Tegetthoff, to burst into flames, he withdrew his squadron to neutral waters around Heligoland. It was the last significant naval battle fought by squadrons of wooden ships and also the last one involving Denmark. Although the battle ended with a tactical victory for Denmark, it had no impact on the outcome of the war. A general armistice came into effect on 12 May, and Denmark had lost the war. ==The battle== As the Danish squadron approached from the north, it sighted the British frigate at about 10 a.m. and soon afterwards five more ships to the Southwest. The two squadrons approached each other, and ''Schwarzenberg'' opened fire at 13.15 p.m. The Danes closed and returned fire when the distance had much shortened. When Tegetthoff altered course to the West in an effort to "cross the T", Suenson turned to port. With the Prussian gunboats unable to keep pace and far behind, the Austrian and Danish squadrons passed each other at a distance of about , exchanging furious fire. Tegetthoff turned about so as to prevent the gunboats being cut off, and both flotillas then sailed on a parallel course southwest, continuing to battle each other. ''Niels Juel'' duelled ''Schwarzenberg'', while ''Jylland'' and ''Hejmdal'' concentrated on ''Radetzky''. The Prussian gunboats were too far away to play a role. At about 15.30 p.m., ''Schwarzenberg'' caught fire and was unable to continue. Tegetthoff broke off the encounter and took his ships into the neutral waters near Heligoland. ''Aurora'' had observed the action and stood ready to protect the neutrality of the British Heligoland waters, so that Suenson had to abandon his pursuit at about 16.30 p.m. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Heligoland (1864)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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