The ''Dannebroge'' was a

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian (Danish and no, dansk-norsk) was a koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536/1537–1814). It is from this ...

ship-of-the-line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...

that exploded and sank on 4 October 1710, during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

. Almost all of its crew of 600 were killed - one third of the victims were

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...

. Admiral

Iver Huitfeldt Iver Huitfeldt (5 December 1665 – 4 October 1710) was a Dano-Norwegian naval officer who was killed in action, when he commanded the ship ''Dannebroge'' during Great Northern War 1700–1721. Biography Iver Huitfeldt was born in the Norwegian ...

was among the casualties.

Construction

Konstruktionstegning til Dannebroge med Christian 5

''Dannebroge'' was built in 1692 and she was the largest ship-of-the-line in the

navy at that time with her 84 cannons placed on two decks and a crew of 600 men. She was also the first ship in Denmark that was built according to a plan drawing.

Career

The final battle

In 1710 Denmark–Norway was at war with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The Norwegian-born commander,

Ivar Huitfeldt Iver Huitfeldt (5 December 1665 – 4 October 1710) was a Dano-Norwegian naval officer who was killed in action, when he commanded the ship ''Dannebroge'' during Great Northern War 1700–1721. Biography Iver Huitfeldt was born in the Norwegian ...

, was in charge of ''Dannebroge'' on October 4, 1710. Along with a Dano-Norwegian fleet of 44 other ships he had set sail for Liepāja (in modern

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

). The mission was to escort 6,000 Russian troops to the Danish capital of

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 ...

, so they could support Denmark–Norway during the

against the Swedes. However, the fleet was intercepted by a Swedish fleet in the Battle of Køge Bay. According to the commander in chief of the Dano-Norwegian navy,

Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve Ulrik is a male name, a Scandinavian form of Ulrich. Ulrik may refer to: *Ulrik Frederik Christian Arneberg (1829–1911), Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party *Albert Ulrik Bååth (1853–1912), Swedish poet *Ulrik Balling (born 1975), ...

, the fire on ''Dannebroge'' was probably ignited by her own cannons. Gyldenløve mentions this in his letter to the king. Gyldenløve followed the battle from his ship '' Elephanten'' and wrote the letter at about 9 o'clock in the morning of October 5. It is unclear how many of the 600 men survived the explosion: some sources say three and others say nine.

Wreck and commemoration

Today ''Dannebroge'' is the only wreck within Danish sea territory, where it is forbidden to dive. The official Danish institution of cultural heritage, ''Kulturarvsstyrelsen'', considers it to be a cemetery. Some cannons were salvaged in 1714; others were salvaged in 1875 by the company Svitzer, which also searched for other objects that could be sold at an auction. Some of the cannon were later used by Danish architect

Vilhelm Dahlerup Jens Vilhelm Dahlerup (4 August 1836 – 24 January 1907) was a Danish architect who specialized in the Historicist style. One of the most productive and noted Danish architects of the 19th century, he is behind many of the most known buildings ...

in his design of the Ivar Huitfeldt Monument at Langelinie in Copenhagen. A 1:40 scale model of the ship was built by Orlogsmuseets Modelbyggerlaug ("The guild of model builders at the Naval Museum") in 2010. It was donated to the Royal Danish Navy in October 2010 as part of the celebrations of its 500 year Jubilee.

References

Citations

Royal Danish Naval Museum

- Record cards *Royal Danish Naval Museum

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dannebroge (1692) 1690s ships Ships of the line of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy Great Northern War Shipwrecks of Denmark