HDMS Christianus Sixtus (1733) was a three-deck 90-gun ship-of-the-line designed to be the flagship of the Danish fleet, and named after the monarch of the time, King Christian VI

The ship's history

Designed by K N Benstrup in his role as senior ''fabrikmester'', and built and launched in Copenhagen, the ship was immediately a source of contention as she drew a greater depth (by some six inches) than planned.Topsøe-Jensen This was due to the use of poorly seasoned timber which was thus heavier than calculated. As much of Danish naval strategy was planned around the relatively shallower waters of the Kattegat and Great Belt, compared with the deeper North Sea and Baltic, this could be a problem.
The controversy grew as blame was cast on Benstrup, and other senior officers played out their animosities and conspired to court martial the designerSee

Knud Nielsen Benstrup Knud Nielsen Benstrup (1692 26 February 1742) was a Danish naval officer and the senior officer, ''overfabrikmester'', at the Royal Danish naval shipyards, until his career was blighted by court martial and imprisonment. Personal Benstrup was bor ...

for the commission of inquiry and court martial.
As an expensive capital ship ''Christian Sextus'' appears never to have actually left harbour, and was fully commissioned only once in her 35 years of life. This was in 1743 when there was a question over succession to the Swedish throne.

Notes

References

Citations

*Nielsen E. - Danish Military History website
Major Danish Warships Built at the Holmen Shipyard 1692-1744
*Royal Danish Naval Museum -
Christianus Sixtus
''- for original plans click "vis" on this link. *Royal Danish Naval Museum

*Topsøe-Jensen Th.
Knud Benstrup
in Danish Biographical Leksikon, 3. edition, Gyldendal 1979-84. accessed 27 August 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Christianus Sixtus (1733) Ships of the line of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy Ships built in Copenhagen Christian VI of Denmark