Operation Albion: The German Conquest of the Baltic Islands (Twentieth-century Battles)

In October 1917, an invasion force of some 25,000 German soldiers, accompanied by a flotilla of 10 dreadnoughts, 350 other vessels, a half-dozenzeppelins, and 80 aircraft, attacked the Baltic islands of Dago, Osel, and Moon atthe head of the Gulf of Riga. It proved to be the most successful amphibiousoperation of World War I. The three islands fell, the Gulf was opened to Germanwarships and was now a threat to Russian naval bases in the Gulf of Finland, and20,000 Russians were captured. The invasion proved to be the last major operation inthe East. Although the invasion had achieved its objectives and placed the Germansin an excellent position for the resumption of warfare in the spring, within threeweeks of the operation, the Bolsheviks took power in Russia (November 7, 1917) andAlbion faded into obscurity as the war in the East came to a slow end.