Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet was an operation which transferred the ships of the Baltic Fleet

Baltic Fleet

The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

 of the Imperial Russian Navy

Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

 from their bases at Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

 and Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 to Kronstadt

Kronstadt

Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...

 in 1918, caused by the possible threat to those bases from the final German offensives against Russia during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

When on 25 February 1918 the German troops entered Revel, a significant part of the ships escorted by the icebreaker

Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...

s had already been moved. On 5 March, all ships except one submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

—crushed by ice—reached Helsinki. The Baltic fleet was commanded by Alexei Schastnyy.

On 12 March, another group of ships with the icebreakers and had done 330 km (178.2 nmi; 205.1 mi) through the heavy ice, and after five days reached Kronstadt. In all, six battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s, five cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s, 59 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s and torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

s, 12 submarines and several other ships were moved to Kronstadt.

In Finland, Russian sailors scuttled four submarines in the harbor of Hanko on 3 April, just before the 10,000-strong German Baltic Sea Division

Baltic Sea Division

The Baltic Sea Division was a 10,000 man German military unit commanded by Rüdiger von der Goltz. During the Finnish Civil War, in April 1918, it landed at Hanko and moved towards Helsinki and Lahti. The Baltic Sea Division quickly took back Helsinki from the Social Democrats of Finland, who had...

 landed in support of the White side in the Finnish Civil War

Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...

. The 335 t (329.7 LT) submarines—AG 11, , AG 15 and —were made by Electric Boat Co. in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

In Russian

• Н. С. Кровяков. "Ледовый поход" Балтийского флота в 1918. Moscow, 1955.
• В. И. Сапожников. Подвиг балтийцев в 1918. Moscow, 1954.