HDMS ''Sarpen'' was a brig of 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 ...

, in which she served from 1791 until the British seized her in 1807. While in Dano-Norwegian service she participated in an indecisive action at

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, North Africa. She served the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as HMS ''Sarpen'' from 1808 until 1811 when she was broken up. During her brief British service she participated in the

Walcheren Expedition The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham ...

. Her name is that of a waterfall on the Norwegian river

Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

Design

''Sarpen'' was one nine ''Lougen''-class brigs designed by the naval architect

Ernst Wilhelm Stibolt Ernst Wilhelm Stibolt (born 14 February 1741 29 February 1796) was a Danish naval officer and ship builder, who served in the French navy for four years.Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 pp 554 – 557 and became a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Scienc ...

. The British captured six in 1807.

Dano-Norwegian service

In the

action of 16 May 1797 The action of 16 May 1797 was a naval battle that took place near Tripoli in Ottoman Tripolitania (present-day Libya). The Danish squadron was victorious over a Tripolitan squadron that outnumbered them in terms of the number of vessels. The resu ...

, ''Sarpen'', under Captain Charles Christian De Holck, with Captain

Steen Andersen Bille The name of Steen Andersen Bille is closely associated with one extended family of Danish naval officers over several generations. In a direct line from one Vice-Commandant of the City of Copenhagen in the later 17th century, a long list of disting ...

in overall command in the

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 ...

, participated in a punitive attack at Tripoli. The battle lasted for about two hours before the Tripolitans retreated. The Danes suffered one man killed and one wounded. As a result of the Danish victory, the Bey of Tripoli signed a peace treaty with Denmark on 25 May. On his return to Malta from Tripoli, De Holck, performed his quarantine of 38 days at the

Lazzaretto A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. ...

in Marsamuscietto, together with Lieut. John Munk, Lieut. Emanuel Krieger, Lieut. Wolfgang Kaas, Commissar Gabriel Hetting and Doctor Mark Klausen. In acknowledgement of the kind treatment they had received, De Holck set up a commemorative marble tablet on 10 October 1797. During the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, ''Sarpen'' was under the command of Captain Lieutenant Carl Farbriuis de Tengnagel. Prior to the battle the Danes had sent her to

The Skaw Skagen Odde, also Skagens Odde, sometimes known in English as the Scaw Spit or The Skaw, is a sandy peninsula which stretches some northeast and comprises the northernmost area of Vendsyssel in Jutland, Denmark.Olfert Fischer Johan Olfert Fischer (4 August 1747 – 18 February 1829) was a Danish officer in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He commanded the Dano-Norwegian fleet against British forces under Lord Nelson during the Danish defeat at Copenhagen on 2 April 1801 ...

's division in the Inner Run under Chamberlain Steen Bille and did not engage in any actual fighting.

British service

The British took possession of ''Sarpen'' under the terms of capitulation following the

second battle of Copenhagen The Second Battle of Copenhagen (or the Bombardment of Copenhagen) (16 August – 7 September 1807) was a British bombardment of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, in order to capture or destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet during the Napoleonic War ...

on 7 September 1807. ''Sarpen'' arrived on 7 November at Chatham where she was fitted out from November to August 1808. She was to be renamed ''Voltiguer'' but the Admiralty canceled the name change. After refit she joined the British Navy as HMS ''Sarpen''. Commander James Gifford took command of ''Sarpen'' on 16 May 1808 for the North Sea and Baltic. In 1809 she came under the command of Commander John Sanderson Gibson and participated in the

. She took up station off Blackenbeg (probably

Blankenberge Blankenberge (; french: Blankenberghe; vls, Blanknberge) is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke. On 1 December 2014, Bla ...

). In early May Gibson boarded a vessel with an English license and found out from the Master information about the size and status of the French fleet at

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentione ...

. Gibson passed the information up the chain of command to Admiral Sir Richard J. Strachan. Similarly, on 29 June, boats from ''Sarpen'' captured a boat and took five prisoners. Gibson interrogated the prisoners from whom he learned that the French were stringing a chain across the river at Antwerp to prevent an attack by

fire ship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

s.''Papers relating to the Expedition to the Scheldt.'' (London, 1810), p.48. By October 1809, however, ''Sarpen'' was at Anholt, to which she had escorted four supply ships.

Fate

''Sarpen'' was paid off on 22 December 1809 and laid up at Sheerness. She was broken up there in August 1811.

Citations

References