The Fredensborg was a

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 ...

built 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 ...

in 1753. She was originally named ''Cron Prindz Christian'' after the crown prince, the future king

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae''" ...

of Denmark and Norway, and was fitted out as a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

. Following an initially unsuccessful stint in the

triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset t ...

, her operational area was limited to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, where she sailed as a trader until 1756. The ship was then purchased by another Danish company, which renamed her ''Fredensborg'' after Fort Fredensborg, one of the Dano-Norwegian trading stations on the

Danish Gold Coast The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was coloni ...

. Her owners put her under the command of Captain Espen Kiønigs. She embarked from Copenhagen on 24 June 1767 and arrived off the West African coast on 1 October. A cargo of slaves was collected at

Fort Christiansborg Osu Castle (also known as Fort Christiansborg or the Castle) is a castle located in Osu, Ghana on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Africa. A substantial fort was built by Denmark-Norway in the 1660s, thereafter the fort changed ownership ...

and Fort Fredensborg, and the ship set sail for the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

on 21 April 1768. She arrived at

St Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...

on 9 July, where the cargo of slaves were unloaded. She had embarked 265 slaves, and she disembarked 235, for a loss rate of 11%. Of the crew of 40, 12 had died en route. At some point Johan Frantzen Ferentz replaced Kiønigs as captain. She then sailed for home on 14 September.

Fate

On 1 December 1768, the ''Fredensborg'' sank in a storm off

Tromøya Tromøya () or Tromøy () (historic: ''Tromø'') is the largest island in Southern Norway. The island is entirely located in the municipality of Arendal in Agder county, Norway. The island has about 5,300 residents (in 2015) which gives it a p ...

island near

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The wreck was discovered by three divers in September 1974, Leif Svalesen, Tore Svalesen and Odd Keilon Ommundsen. Leif Svalesen later worked extensively to document the ship and its history.På jakt etter slaveskipet Fredensborg
''Avtrykk.no", 22.06.2017

Literature

* Leif Svalesen: Slave Ship ''Fredensborg''. Indiana University Press. 2000.

References

External links

Source
{{Coord, 58.5119, 8.9484, region:NO-42, format=dms, display=title 1753 ships Sailing ships of Denmark Ships built in Copenhagen Slave ships Maritime incidents in Norway Shipwrecks in the North Sea Arendal 1753 in Denmark Maritime incidents in 1768

Fate

See also

Literature

References

External links