The battle was part of a larger Swedish military operation aiming to destroy the Russian Baltic Fleet, anchored deeper into the Vyborg Bay, at Vysotsk (north of the Uransari island).

For this task, Gustav III of Sweden ordered three divisions of the Swedish Navy and Archipelago fleet to penetrate the narrow passages, which were guarded by Russian coastal batteries.

William Sidney Smith, an Englishman, commanded the right Swedish division which encountered a battery at the edge of the Uransari island, called Kachis Capel.

After about an hour of artillery duel the Russian coastal battery exploded, by which time the Swedish guards landed on the island.

[2] The battle had no strategic effect as the other Swedish divisions had not sailed out accordingly due to bad weather, and Smith, being unsupported, was soon driven off the island by the Russians.