HDMS ''Prinds Christian Frederik'' was a

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 colu ...

in the

Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when King John appointed his vassal Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and head of all our captains, men and servants whom we now h ...

Construction

Linieskibet Prinds Kristian Frederik løber af Stabelen

The ship was built at Orlogsværftet on the islet of Nyholm off

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 ...

. It was designed by

Frantz Hohlenberg Frantz Christopher Henrik HohlenbergDansk Militærhistorie �Eric Nielsen/ref>Dansk Biografisk Lexico/ref> (17 February 1764 9 January 1804) was a Danish naval officer who specialised in ship design and had little seagoing experience. He succeede ...

. 1,600 oak trees were used in the construction of the ship. It was launched on 6 October 1804.Orlogskibet Prinds Christian Frederik
Dansk Militærhistorie five technical drawings of this ship are available on-line at th
Danish Naval Museum website
(click vis) The construction cost was approximately 12,000 rigsdaler.

Service

In 1806 and parts of the following year, the ship operated as a training vessel in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. In the second half of 1807 the HDMS ''Prinds Christian Frederik'' was patrolling in Danish-Norwegian waters alongside the ship of the line HDMS ''Lovise Augusta''. On September 18, a British naval force attacked the Eastern Port of

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

where one of the intentions was to embark and capture the HDMS ''Prinds Christian Fredrik'' that was anchored there. After massive firefighting from the

Christiansholm Fortress Christiansholm Fortress (''Christiansholm festning'') was a Norwegian fortress built to defend the city of Kristiansand. Background The fortress was finished in 1672 and formed a part of King Christian IV's plan for defense of Kristiansand when ...

, the attack was reversed. At the beginning of 1808, HDMS ''Prinds Christian Frederik'' was in Norway to carry supplies to the Royal Dano-Norwegian Army. Despite illness aboard, and with a large part of the crew newly replaced, the ship was ordered in March to protect the transfer of troops over the Great Belt (Storebælt). On March 21, the ship was captured by a major British naval force during the

Battle of Zealand Point The Battle of Zealand Point was a naval battle of the English Wars and the Gunboat War. Ships of the Danish and British navies fought off Zealand Point on 22 March 1808; the battle was a British victory. Peter Willemoes was among the Danish ca ...

, where she suffered 64 killed and 126 wounded in action; during the battle, she ran aground. On March 23, the captured HMS ''Prinds Christian Frederik'' remained firmly aground despite British efforts to refloat it. After they had removed all the dead and wounded aboard the ship, the British decided to set fire to the immobile hulk instead upon realizing they were unable to move it. It blew up when the fire reached the ship's powder magazine, destroying the last Danish-Norwegian ship of the line in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Commemoration

Odden Kirke indre kirkeskib Prinds Christian Frederik

The anchor was for many years placed outside Stenstrup Museum. It was in 2002 moved to a new location in front of Annebjerggård. In 2021, it was moved to a barn where it will be restored. The anchor, a canon and a number of other artefacts from the ship will later be part of a new display about the Battle of Zealand in Odsherred Museum. A model of this ship hangs in Odden Church, near the scene of the Battle of Zealand Point.

Construction

Service

Commemoration

Notes

References

Further reading