avoid getting encircled. Legacy Russians later embellished the description of the battle of Gangut by reclassifying the oared flat-bottomed gun pram Elefanten into a full sailing frigate. The battle was the first major victory of the Russian galley fleet, and is occasionally as such compared by Russians with the Battle of Poltava. The victory is even nowadays celebrated by the Russian Navy; Russia's Navy Day holiday takes place on the last Sunday of July in commemoration of the battle. The Imperial Navy traditionally had one vessel named Gangut, with its first series of Dreadnought battleships named the Gangut class. The first monument to commemorate the Russian Navy, a wooden cross, was erected on the site in 1869 by Rear Admiral Rimsky-Korsakov, brother of the famous composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The wooden cross was replaced by a more permanent stone cross in 1870 by the order of Tsar Alexander II. The memorial is at Riilahti manor in Bromarv, Raseborg, Finland, which is owned by the Aminoff family. Related battles Battle of Grengam (1720) — was fought on the same day six years later and marked the end of Swedish supremacy in the Baltic waters; Battle of Svensksund (1790) — Sweden's most ambitious attempt to regain supremacy in the Baltic. References Bibliography External links Vyborg and Gangut in History of Russian Navy History of the Russian Navy Article 'Slaget vid Rilax' in magazine 'Fanbäraren' Nordisk familjebok, Volume 7 (1907), Column 17, Nils Ehrenschiöld Gangut Gangut 1714 in Europe Hanko