HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik

{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik}}

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image=A.G. Gross - Battle of Zealand Point.jpg

| Ship image size=300px

| Ship caption=HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik is in the middle.

(Motif from the Battle of Zealand Point)

}}

{{Infobox ship career

|Hide header=HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik

|Ship country=Denmark-Norway

|Ship flag=File:Naval Ensign of Denmark.svg

|Ship name=HMS Prinds Christian Frederik

|Ship namesake=Prince Christian Frederick

|Ship ordered=

|Ship builder=Hohlenberg, Orlogsværftet, Nyholm, Copenhagen

|Ship laid down=

|Ship launched=6 October 1804

|Ship acquired=

|Ship commissioned=

|Ship decommissioned=

|Ship in service=1806

|Ship out of service=21 March 1808

|Ship renamed=

|Ship struck=

|Ship reinstated=

|Ship honours=

|Ship captured=

|Ship fate=Captured and destroyed by the Royal Navy

|Ship notes=

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=[https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=705 Danish Third Rate ship of the line 'Prinds Christian Frederik' (1804)] threedecks.org {{in lang|en}}

|Ship class=74-gun third-rate ship of the line

|Ship tons burthen=2.345 (bm)

|Ship length={{convert|53.6|m|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam= {{convert|13.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship draught=

|Ship hold depth={{convert|6.35|m|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship

|Ship complement=

|Ship armament=*Lower gundeck: 28 × 24-pounder guns

Upper gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
QD: 18 × 8-pounder guns

|Ship crew =until 628

|Ship notes=

}}

HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik was a ship of the line in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy.

Construction

File:Linieskibet Prinds Kristian Frederik løber af Stabelen.jpg: HDMN Prinds Christian Frederik is launched from Oræosværftet in Copenhagen, 1804.]]

The ship was built at Orlogsværftet on the islet of Nyholm off Copenhagen. It was designed by Frantz Hohlenberg. 1,600 oak trees were used in the construction of the ship.{{cite web|url=https://sn.dk/Odsherred/Gammelt-anker-skal-ikke-bare-gemmes-vaek/artikel/1412293|title=Gammelt anker skal ikke bare gemmes væk|language=Danish|website=sn.dk|date=18 February 2021 |accessdate=8 March 2021}} It was launched on 6 October 1804.[http://milhist.dk/vabnet/orlogskibet-prinds-christian-frederik/ Orlogskibet Prinds Christian Frederik] Dansk Militærhistorie {{in lang|da}}Record card for [https://web.archive.org/web/20120318003925/http://www.orlogsmuseet.dk/P/pages/Prins%20Christian%20Frederik(1804).htm Prinds Christian Frederik]five technical drawings of this ship are available on-line at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20101127084543/http://orlogsbasen.dk/visskib.asp?skib=Prinds%20Christian%20Frederik&la=1 Danish Naval Museum website] (click vis) The construction cost was approximately 12,000 rigsdaler.{{cite web|url=https://milhist.dk/orlogskibet-prinds-christian-frederik/|title=Orlogskibet Prinds Christian Frederik|language=Danish|website=milhist.dk|date=4 December 2013 |accessdate=8 March 2021}}

Service

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 Royal Navy squadron under Robert Stopford approached Kristiansand's eastern harbour intending on capturing Prinds Christian Fredrik, which was anchored there. After receiving fire from the Christiansholm Fortress, Stopford's squadron instead sailed to the disused Fredriksholm Fortress and slighted the fortress by blowing it up.[http://www.laug1788.no/index.php/historiske-installasjoner/kristiansands-befestningers-deltagelse-i-kamp-under-napoleonskrigene.html Kristiansands befestningers deltagelse i kamp under napoleonskrigene. Skrevet av oberst O. M. Calmeyer i 1925/1927] {{in lang|no}}

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).{{Cite web |url=http://www.ellingelyng.dk/Slaget%20om%20sj%20odde.htm |title=Odsherred (Zealand Point District) local Danish website |access-date=2019-03-23 |archive-date=2018-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706105536/http://www.ellingelyng.dk/Slaget%20om%20sj%20odde.htm |url-status=dead }}

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

Commemoration

File:Odden Kirke indre kirkeskib Prinds Christian Frederik.jpg

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.

From 2023 to 2024, Odsherred Museum held a special exhibition about Willemoes and the Wreck.{{cite web|url=https://www.sn.dk/odsherred-kommune/ny-udstilling-soehelt-med-superkraefter-og-laekkert-haar/|title=Ny udstilling: Søhelt med superkræfter – og lækkert hår|language=Danish|website=sn.dk|access-date=16 June 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://vestmuseum.dk/oplevelser/willemoes-og-vraget/?occurrence=2023-02-11|title=Willemoes og Vraget|website=Odsherreds Museum|access-date=29 April 2025}}

HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik

Construction

Service

Commemoration

Notes

References

Further reading