Henrik Gerner (1742–1787) was a Danish naval officer who specialised in shipbuilding and naval architecture. His interests as an entrepreneurial engineer led to unsinkable gun platforms, horse-driven dredging machines, and desalination equipment for Orient-bound trading ships.

Early life and naval career

The greatgrandson of the bishop of the same name, Henrik Gerner was born on 5 July 1742 in Copenhagen and baptised in

Holmen Church The Holmen Church ( da, Holmens Kirke) is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having ...

This same reference notes that the epitaph and gravestone have misreported his year of birth! and married in the same church on Christmas Eve 1773, Henrik Gerner became a volunteer cadet at the naval academy in 1755, sailing to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in the frigate ''Christianborg'' before becoming a full cadet the next year. Gerner graduated from the Naval Cadet Academy 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 ...

as a junior lieutenant in 1763, where he was already interested in the art and science of

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

, and in 1764 sailed with the frigate ''Falster'' to Russia and Sweden, receiving expenses for the studies of ships, ships' carpentry, and the ironworkings for anchors and cannon. In 1765 he was promoted to senior lieutenant and joined ''Prins Friderich'' in 1766. He was a close colleague of

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 ...

and they obtained junior positions in the Construction CommissionThe Construction Commission, first formed in 1739, had a remit to examine all technical drawings and associated documents of the fleet's ships., and to act as forum for the development of young naval officers, thus ensuring a certain continuity and training for future chief designers
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They were in England together studying ship building from 1768, and promotion for Gerner to ''Kaptain Lieutenant'' came in 1770. After a shorter spell in France, continuing his studies, Gerner was recalled to Denmark in 1772 and given the post of ''fabrikmester'' at Holmen and full membership of the Construction Commission. After further promotion he became a member, in 1776, of the Commission on Naval Defence and that same year was instrumental in founding the Ship Construction School.

Ship building

Some 117 ships of a variety of types and sizes are recorded To access the list click
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then>database>AVANCEREDE> set Konstruktør to Henrik Gerner >Søg! as designed and built by Gerner, including 18 ships-of-the-line and 11 frigates. Of these, the following are notable * ''Ditmarsken'', lost to the British at the

Battle of Copenhagen (1807) 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 ...

* , captured August 1807 before the Battle of Copenhagen. See

Gunboat War The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Na ...

* ''

Justitia Lady Justice ( la, Iustitia) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia. Lady Justice originates from the ...

'', lost to the British at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) * ''Kronprinds Frederik'', lost to the British at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) * ''Mars'', lost to the British at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) * ''Neptunus'' (1789), lost to the British at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) * ''Skiold'', lost to the British at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) * ''Tre Kroner'', lost to the British at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807) * (1783) * ''Den Gode Hensigt'', was a merchant ship built for the East India trade, and chartered by British merchants.

Defence works

Floating Battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

No.1, (1787), an unsinkable platform heavily armed with 24-pound cannon survived the Battle of Copenhagen (1801) but was decommissioned the following year.

Other engineering achievements

* Dredging machine. In 1783 a novel machine for dredging the harbours and creeks excited public imagination. Prior to Gerner's new invention powered by horses, the clearing of mud and silt from the channels was a very labour-intensive project in order to allow ships to be hauled up and their bottoms scraped and cleaned. * Desalination

Commemoration

The Gerner Medal "for the naval cadet who showed the best insight and understanding of the science of seafaring, especially mathematics" was first presented in 1792. Its history was later associated with the sword of honour. Both honours are still available today - see :da: Gerners Medalje. One hundred years after Henrik Gerner's death, a 72-page appreciation of his works and character was published in memoriam. The street Gernersgade in Copenhagen was named for Gerner in 1869.Henrik Gerners Vej in Birkerød is on the other hand name for his great-grandfather. Two ships of the twentieth century Danish navy have borne his name * Submarine depot ship ''Henrik Gerner'' (1928–1943)

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

, with another 31 vessels, in August 1943 in Copenhagen harbour to prevent being forcibly taken by German forces. * Submarine depot ship ''Henrik Gerner'' (1964–1975)HDMS Henrik Gerner (1964) in English
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Gallery

File:Holmens Kirke Copenhagen epitaph s07.jpg, Epitaph in Holmen Church Image:Kastrup Kirke, Vordingborg 'Enigheden' 2009-10-13 001.jpg, Model of the Gerner-designed ship ''Emigheden''

Notes

References

Bibliography and external links

* Balsved's Danish Naval Histor

(more complete than the English version) * Christensen, Benny:
Den Gode Hensigt
' * Giødese
Mindeskrift om Henrik Gerner
Flaadens Fabrikmester by P. F. Giødesen, commander of the Naval Lieutenants Association * Royal Danish Naval Museu

*
Royal Danish Naval Museum
*

Both Gerners appear on the same page! * T. A. Topsøe-Jensen og Emil Marquard (1935) “Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og den danske Søetat 1814-1932“. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerner, Henrik 18th-century Danish naval officers 18th-century Danish shipbuilders Royal Danish Naval Academy alumni People from Copenhagen 1742 births 1787 deaths