As in other coastal towns, preparations were made in Raahe for possible attacks by the English by putting out the fires of lighthouses, clearing the pilot stations of workers and removing seamarks or making them point in the wrong direction.

At the end of May, the lookouts in Raahe could see the Englishmen’s ships with their binoculars: the paddlewheel steam frigates Leopard, Vulture and Odin had arrived. The big ships could not reach the shore, so 14 smaller boats with about 300 men and six cannons went ashore.

When they saw the English rowing towards the wharves, the townspeople went there too. They wanted to make it clear that the town was unarmed.  The English, however, had orders to destroy the ships and other materials needed for shipbuilding. Thus, two completed ships on the shipyard, the pitch shed, the tar stores and about 9,000 barrels of tar were set on fire. The fire spread in an instant, and a black cloud of smoke rose to the heights and was said to have been visible as far as Oulu. When the fire was well lit, the Englishmen went back to their boats and set fire to the 13 ships and boats in the harbour.

Then the English set off for the town and the warehouses on the shore. The Raahe residents were horrified because there was a lot of equipment for ships in the warehouses: sails, ropes, blocks and other materials. It is said that the English also intended to burn the wooden granary next to the current Crown Granary. However, they left the warehouses alone.

The damage caused to Raahe by the Åland War was enormous. After the war, there were hundreds of Raahe residents out of work. The economic losses were huge after the English had destroyed thousands of barrels of tar, 1,500 barrels of pitch, planks, logs and firewood, as well as grain and salt.

After the war, the English had a guilty conscience about the suffering brought upon the common people. The Quakers raised money among themselves and sent it to Raahe with an apology. The money was used to employ Raahe residents in relief work and to restore and extend the road north of the town.

In their anger, the Englishmen also burned their own possessions: some of the timber on the wharf had already been sold to England, and even the money had been received. So the English had to wait for the people of Raahe to build new ships and cut down wood to finally get the paid goods delivered to their destination.