The Danish ironclad ''Dannebrog'' was an

armored frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). O ...

that was originally built as an 80-gun ship-of-the-line by Andreas Schifter was launched in 1850Design plans and models of this ship can be viewed by clicking "vis" at this reference. but was reconstructed into a steam-powered ironclad in the early 1860s. She had an uneventful career before the ship was stricken from the

navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

in 1875. The ship was converted into an

accommodation ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...

that same year and served until she became a

target ship A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...

in 1896. ''Dannebrog'' was

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...

in 1897.

Description after conversion

''Dannebrog'' was long between perpendiculars, had a beam of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The ship displaced . She had a single steam engine that drove her propeller. The engine, built by Baumgarten & Burmeister, produced a total of which gave the ship a speed of . For long-distance travel, ''Dannebrog'' retained her three masts and was

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

rigged. Her crew numbered 350 officers and crewmen.Silverstone, p. 55 Sources disagree about the ship's armament; naval historians Paul Silverstone and Robert Gardiner say that she had sixteen 60-pounder guns,Gardiner, p. 364 but Johnny E. Balsved shows her with a dozen 60-pounder, 88-cwt.,"Cwt" is the abbreviation for

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...

, 88 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. guns, two 60-pounder, 150-cwt. guns, and three 18-pounder guns immediately after her conversion. All of these were rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns. Balsved then shows that she was rearmed with six 60-pounder, 150-cwt. and eight 24-pounder guns, all RMLs, after 1865Balsved while Silverstone gives her a later armament of six and ten RML guns. ''Dannebrog'' had a

wrought-iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" t ...

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating ...

thick and her

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

was protected by armor plates of the same thickness.

Construction and career

''Dannebrog'', named after the Danish national flag, was built by the Royal shipyard in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

as a 72-gun sail ship of the line. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 28 April 1848, launched on 25 September 1850, and commissioned on 17 May 1856. The ship began conversion into an armored frigate on 21 May 1862 and the conversion was completed on 30 March 1864. On 14 July 1864, she ran aground off Aarhus. She was refloated the next day. ''Dannebrog'' had an uneventful career before the ship was stricken from the Navy List on 15 February 1875. The ship was converted into an

that same year and served until she became a

on 30 May 1896. ''Dannebrog'' was broken up in 1897.

Commemoration

The

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...

of HDMS ''Dannebrog'' is now on display at the entrance to Marinestation København on Nyholm in Copenhagen. It has previously been on display in another location on the adjacent isle of Frederiksholm.

Notes

References

Citations

* * *
Royal Danish Naval Museum
Database

Dannebrog

External links

Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dannebrog 1850 ships Ships designed by Andreas Schifter Frigates of the Royal Danish Navy Ships built in Copenhagen Ironclad warships of the Royal Danish Navy Maritime incidents in July 1864