HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik

HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik was a ship of the line in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. The ship was built at Orlogsværftet on the islet of Nyholm off Copenhagen and was launched in October 1804.[1][2][3][Note 1]

HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik
HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik is in the middle.
(Motif from the Battle of Zealand Point)
History
Denmark-Norway
Name: HMS Prinds Christian Frederik
Namesake: Prince Christian Frederick
Builder: Hohlenberg, Orlogsværftet, Nyholm, Copenhagen
Launched: 6 October 1804
In service: 1806
Out of service: 21 March 1808
Fate: Captured by Royal Navy
History
UK
Acquired: 21 March 1808
Fate: Sunk in Action 23 March 1808 in the Battle of Zealand Point
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 74-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2.345 (bm)
Length: 53.6 m (176 ft)
Beam: 13.9 m (46 ft)
Depth of hold: 6.35 m (20.8 ft)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Crew: until 628
Armament:
  • Lower gundeck: 28 ×  24-pounder guns
  • Upper gundeck: 28 ×  18-pounder guns
  • QD: 18 ×  8-pounder guns


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

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 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, the attack was reversed.[4]

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)[5].

On March 21, the ship was captured by a major British naval force during the Battle of Zealand Point.

On March 23, the captured HMS Prinds Christian Frederik was still firmly aground and set on fire by the British. When the fire reached the powder magazine the explosion destroyed the ship. 64 people died and 126 were injured.[1][2]

A model of this ship hangs in Odden Church, near the scene of the Battle of Zealand Point

Notes
  1. five technical drawings of this ship are available on-line at the Danish Naval Museum website (click vis)

References
  1. Danish Third Rate ship of the line 'Prinds Christian Frederik' (1804) threedecks.org (in English)
  2. Orlogskibet Prinds Christian Frederik Dansk Militærhistorie (in Danish)
  3. Record card for Prinds Christian Frederik
  4. Kristiansands befestningers deltagelse i kamp under napoleonskrigene. Skrevet av oberst O. M. Calmeyer i 1925/1927 (in Norwegian)
  5. Odsherred (Zealand Point District) local Danish website
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