Gustaf von Psilander

Psilander was the son of a clerk in the Royal Wardrobe, who died when Psilander was eleven years old. Raised by a friend of the father, the Stockholm Alderman Johan Hagemeister, he joined the Swedish Navy as a clerk in 1687. Two years later Psilander was promoted to gunner's mate, and the following year to gunner. To gain experience, and achieve promotion, Psilander joined the Dutch States Navy during the Nine Years' War, serving as a naval rating and petty officer, fighting in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head. Promoted to sub-lieutenant in the Swedish navy in his absence, he returned to Sweden in 1695.^[1]

At the outbreak of the Great Northern War, Psilander served as Admiral Cornelius Anckarstjerna's flag captain, escorting Charles XII of Sweden and the Swedish Army to Pärnu. After serving as a frigate captain in the Bay of Finland, he became captain of the 56-gun ship of the line Öland and charged with convoying Swedish merchantmen during the Great Northern War. During one of these expeditions, Psilander encountered a Royal Navy squadron of eight ships of the line and one frigate under Rear-admiral William Whetstone on 7 August 1704. Whetstone demanded the Swedish salute his ships as they were in English waters, though Psilander refused as he was under strict orders by Charles XII to not salute foreign ships first. This led to a four-hour battle, during which the English captured Öland along with the merchantmen she was convoying, though they were soon released and returned home.^[1][2]

Psilander commanded a ship of the line in the 1710 Battle of Køge Bay, and became deputy superintendent of the Swedish naval shipyard in Karlskrona in the same year. Promoted to Schoutbynacht and Admiralty commissioner in 1712, he was also ennobled the same year. Patronised by Charles XII since his defeat at Orford Ness, Psilander was promoted to vice admiral and appointed superintendent of the Karlskrona shipyard in 1714 before becoming a full admiral in 1715.

In 1716, he was appointed as the governor of Gotland, which was repeatedly raided by the Imperial Russian Navy. Psilander's mission was to organise the local population in a homeland defence, but this proved unfeasible when the Russian galley fleet under Admiral Fyodor Apraksin^[3] carried out a week-long raid on parts of the island in July 1717 . Psilander then had to devote himself to recruiting personnel and obtaining supplies and tax funds for the King's last military operations.^[1]