A farkon watan Satumba 1917, bayan da Jamus ta mamaye tashar jiragen ruwa ta Riga, sojojin ruwa na Jamus sun yanke shawarar fitar da sojojin ruwan Rasha da ke rike da Gulf of Riga. Don wannan dalili, Admiralstab (High Command) ya fara shirin aiki don kama tsibirin Baltic na Ösel, musamman batirin bindigogin Rasha a kan Sworbe peninsula. A ranar 18 ga Satumba, an ba da umarni don aikin haɗin gwiwar Sojoji-Navy don kama Ösel da Moon Islands; babban bangaren na ruwa ya ƙunshi jirgin ruwa mai suna Moltke da III Battle Squadron na High Seas Fleet. A wannan lokacin, Rukunin V ya haɗa da Bayern da König-class guda huɗu. Rukunin na VI ya ƙunshi yaƙe-yaƙe na Kaiser-class guda biyar. tare da jiragen ruwa masu haske 9 tare da jiragen ruwa, 3 jirgin ruwa na jirgin ruwa, da kuma dozin da yawa na jiragen ruwa na jirgin ruwa, wasu jiragen ruwa na jirgin ruwa na jirgin ruwa sun shiga cikin Gulf na Riga.
26 da kuma