Battle of Lake Baikal

The Battle of Lake Baikal was a naval battle undertaken by Czechoslovak forces. Background In August 1918, the Czechoslovak legion, under the leadership of Gajda, fought the Red Army for control of the mountain passes around Lake Baikal which were well defended. Gajda was troubled by the fact that Baikal was completely under the control of the Red Army's ships, which threatened the Czechoslovak units with landing units to the legion's rear. While occupying various ports on the shores of the Baikal, the Czechoslovak legionaries managed to capture two enemy steamships, the "Sibirjak" and the "Fedosia". These were later refitted with a pair of howitzers each. Battle On August 15, the Czechoslovak fleet sailed out of Listvyanka. By noon on August 16, the ships were about 8 km from the port in Mysovsk in heavy fog. After a few minutes, the fog started dissipating and the ships spotted Babushkin...