The Estonian Navy assists Latvian forces during the War of Independence

The advance of the Iron Division and the Baltic German Landeswehr towards Cēsis, with a possible further movement in a northeasterly direction, was seen by the Estonians as a real threat to Estonia. Therefore, the commander-in-chief of the Estonian army, Johan Laidoner, sent significant forces towards Cēsis, reinforcing them with armored trains. It should also be taken into account that the British naval base was located in Tallinn, and one of the German goals was to weaken the presence of the British fleet in the Baltic Sea or even achieve its complete withdrawal from the previously German-controlled territories.

The commander-in-chief of the Estonian armed forces, Johan Laidoner, and the commander of the naval forces, Johan Pitka, decided to attack the German forces near Riga from the sea without delay, thus supporting and assisting the Estonian and Latvian land forces. When the Estonians informed the British Allied representative, who was in Tallinn, about this plan, they received a response that it could be a big mistake, which would be difficult to correct later. With political intrigues brewing behind the scenes, the British at that time apparently hoped to further direct von der Goltz's military force and use it in their interests to destroy the Bolshevik forces in Russia. However, in the difficult political situation, the Estonians nevertheless decided to implement this plan and prepared a military operation to attack Daugavgrīva.

On June 26, 1919, the Estonian squadron set sail. It consisted of the destroyer Lennuk, the gunboat Lembit, the minesweepers Olev and Kalev, the gun-armed icebreaker Tasuja, to which was attached a barge with ammunition and fuel. It was planned that the destroyer Vambola would also join this naval force. On June 28, the squadron reached the Pärnu River and dropped anchor there, Vambola approached the barge and replenished its fuel supplies. Continuing to stay close to the coast to camouflage its movement, the Estonian squadron approached the mouth of the Gauja River and dropped anchor there to prepare for the attack.

Early in the morning of July 2, when the ground forces were already attacking the suburbs of Riga, the gunboat Lembit was ordered to enter the mouth of the Daugava River and silence the German shore batteries, as it was known at that time that the Estonian ground units had already reached Mīlgrāvi. Lembit was chosen because it had a shallow draft and was able to maneuver well. When Lembit had destroyed the German shore batteries with accurate fire, the destroyer Vambola entered the battle, approaching the Daugavgrīva fortress and silencing its German guns. At that time, two German aircraft tried to attack the Estonian ships, but both were shot down by anti-aircraft weapons. The Germans fled and left the Daugavgrīva fortress, and the German-formed river flotilla, armed and intended for battles on the Daugava, fell into Estonian hands. These are small river boats armed with machine guns and even small cannons. Transferring part of their crews to these boats, the Estonian sailors go up the Daugava to Bolderāja and, opening fire, capture the German shore battery there. The Germans resist and are destroyed, but some of the captured and wounded are taken to large ships at the mouth of the Daugava. For the German forces, these unexpected attacks from the sea significantly reduced their combat capabilities and threatened the supply of their army across the Daugava, they demoralized their fighting spirit and took away the desire to continue the fight.

Later, the commander of the Estonian Navy, Johan Pitka, acknowledged that this naval combat operation was one of the most successful and significant during the entire war of the Estonian Landeswehr. Miraculously, the Estonians themselves admit, this significant combat operation at the mouth of the Daugava River took place without losses for the Estonians.

It is also interesting that the Estonians also landed on Mangalsala, whose inhabitants watched the fighting on the other bank of the Daugava from a distance of about 2 kilometers. Before the war, Estonian fishermen from their coast in Pärnu to Narva often traveled to this Latvian coast for profit during the salmon fishing season, which lasted from Midsummer to Michaelmas. And it turned out that among the Estonian soldiers there were such salmon fishermen, and they met familiar Latvian fishermen on Mangalsala, with whom they had been on fishing trips before the World War. They met again as good and old friends. And how could they not – when the war had come to an end.