Battle of Zealand Point
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Zealand Point was a naval battle of the English Wars
and the Gunboat War
. It was fought off Zealand Point by ships of the Danish and British navies on 22 March 1808 and was a British victory.
ship of the line
Prins Christian Frederik was stationed in Kristiansand
, Norway
from 7 August 1807, patrolling waters between Norway and Denmark where Britain had imposed a blockade. In February 1808, the Prins Christian Frederik pursued the British ship into hiding. Having learned of the Danish ship, the British admiralty sent a squadron consisting of HMS Nassau
(the former Danish ship-of-the-line Holsteen, taken during the Battle of Copenhagen), , , and two brigs, and , to secure the waters. While this was going on Prins Christian Frederik became frozen in near Kristiansand. She therefore did not set sail for Denmark until March 4.
By the time Prins Christian Frederik reached Denmark, epidemic typhus had broken out among her crew. Ice in the Danish harbours prevented her from docking, and crew were replaced over the ice. On 17 March morale deteriorated further when news arrived that King Christian
had died. She was ordered into the Great Belt
(Storebælt) strait to provide cover for a crossing of a French
army
corps consisting of Spanish
soldiers ordered by Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (later King of Sweden) to attack Skåne. Having been alerted to the Danish plan, the British ships give chase. The British ships intended to outmanoeuvre, corner and overpower the Prins Christian Frederik; Captain Jessen
, after conferring with his officers, decided to take a stand in order to gain enough of a tactical advantage to move into familiar waters and within the protective range of the cannon at Kronborg.
. At 2 [pm] they were joined by the sloop, Falcon
, who recorded the signal from Quebec ”Danish Line-of-battle-ship to windward”, and cleared for action. Shortly after 4 [pm] Stately and Nassau were sighted to the North East, and the signal, "inforced with a (signal) gun", of the presence of the enemy led to all ships making ”all sail, in chace”. Falcon recorded in her logbook, from a safe distance of five miles, that the battle opened at 7:50 [pm].
At about 7 pm, Stately and Nassau flanked the Prins Christian Frederik, which opened fire on Stately. The two British ships returned fire. The initial engagement lasted for two hours, and resulted in the death of one of the Danish officers, Peter Willemoes
. After a brief pause, the British ships attacked again and succeeded in driving the Prins Christian Frederik onto the sandbar.
The Danish officers surrendered and prisoners were transferred to the British ships. The dead were dumped overboard; the transfer of wounded took until the next morning. After failing in their attempts to tow the Prins Christian Frederik off the sand, the British set her on fire; she exploded in the evening of March 23.
Stately had four men killed, and 31 officers and men wounded. Nassau lost one man killed, 17 officers and men wounded, and one man missing. Prins Christian Frederik lost 55 men killed and 88 men wounded. The British had evacuated all the Danish prisoners and wounded before they set fire to her. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasps "Stately 22 March 1808" and "Nassau 22 March 1808" to any still surviving crew members of those vessels that chose to claim them.
English Wars (Scandinavia)
The English Wars were a series of conflicts between Sweden and Denmark-Norway as part of the Napoleonic Wars. It is named after the most prominent region of its other main participant, the United Kingdom, which declared war on Denmark-Norway due to disagreements over the neutrality of Danish trade...
and the Gunboat War
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War was the naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the conventional Royal Navy...
. It was fought off Zealand Point by ships of the Danish and British navies on 22 March 1808 and was a British victory.
Prelude
The DanishRoyal Danish Navy
The Royal Danish Navy is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese territorial waters...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
Prins Christian Frederik was stationed in Kristiansand
Kristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
from 7 August 1807, patrolling waters between Norway and Denmark where Britain had imposed a blockade. In February 1808, the Prins Christian Frederik pursued the British ship into hiding. Having learned of the Danish ship, the British admiralty sent a squadron consisting of HMS Nassau
HDMS Holsteen
HolsteenThis ship's name appears as Holsteen or Holsten in Danish records, and as Holstein in English. She was renamed Nassau in 1805 was a 60-gun ship of the line in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. She was commissioned in 1775 and the British Royal Navy captured her in the Battle at Copenhagen...
(the former Danish ship-of-the-line Holsteen, taken during the Battle of Copenhagen), , , and two brigs, and , to secure the waters. While this was going on Prins Christian Frederik became frozen in near Kristiansand. She therefore did not set sail for Denmark until March 4.
By the time Prins Christian Frederik reached Denmark, epidemic typhus had broken out among her crew. Ice in the Danish harbours prevented her from docking, and crew were replaced over the ice. On 17 March morale deteriorated further when news arrived that King Christian
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. He was the son of Danish King Frederick V and his first consort Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain....
had died. She was ordered into the Great Belt
Great Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen . Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98.-Geography:The Great Belt is the...
(Storebælt) strait to provide cover for a crossing of a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
corps consisting of Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
soldiers ordered by Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (later King of Sweden) to attack Skåne. Having been alerted to the Danish plan, the British ships give chase. The British ships intended to outmanoeuvre, corner and overpower the Prins Christian Frederik; Captain Jessen
Carl Wilhelm Jessen
This article contains material translated from the Danish article: Carl Wilhelm JessenCarl Wilhelm Jessen was a Danish naval officer and Governor of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies.-Career:...
, after conferring with his officers, decided to take a stand in order to gain enough of a tactical advantage to move into familiar waters and within the protective range of the cannon at Kronborg.
Course
In the hours before the battle the Danish ship-of-the-line was within sight of two British warships – the frigate Quebec and the sloop LynxHMS Lynx (1794)
HMS Lynx was a 16-gun ship-rigged sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Gravesend. In 1795 she was the cause of an international incident when she fired on the USRC Eagle...
. At 2 [pm] they were joined by the sloop, Falcon
HMS FALCON (1802)
Launched in 1801 as Diadem, the Whitby-built vessel was renamed HMS Falcon on purchase in 1802 to avoid confusion with the pre-existing third rate . Falcon was a sloop with an armament of fourteen 24-pounders on her main gundeck and two 18-pounders on the quarterdeck, a crew of 75, and a burthen ...
, who recorded the signal from Quebec ”Danish Line-of-battle-ship to windward”, and cleared for action. Shortly after 4 [pm] Stately and Nassau were sighted to the North East, and the signal, "inforced with a (signal) gun", of the presence of the enemy led to all ships making ”all sail, in chace”. Falcon recorded in her logbook, from a safe distance of five miles, that the battle opened at 7:50 [pm].
At about 7 pm, Stately and Nassau flanked the Prins Christian Frederik, which opened fire on Stately. The two British ships returned fire. The initial engagement lasted for two hours, and resulted in the death of one of the Danish officers, Peter Willemoes
Peter Willemoes
-Biography:Willemoes was born on 11 May 1783 in Assens on the island of Funen, where his father was a public servant. At the age of twelve he was sent to the Naval Academy in Copenhagen, where he was a mediocre student who chafed under and rebelled against the harsh discipline. He became a cadet in...
. After a brief pause, the British ships attacked again and succeeded in driving the Prins Christian Frederik onto the sandbar.
The Danish officers surrendered and prisoners were transferred to the British ships. The dead were dumped overboard; the transfer of wounded took until the next morning. After failing in their attempts to tow the Prins Christian Frederik off the sand, the British set her on fire; she exploded in the evening of March 23.
Stately had four men killed, and 31 officers and men wounded. Nassau lost one man killed, 17 officers and men wounded, and one man missing. Prins Christian Frederik lost 55 men killed and 88 men wounded. The British had evacuated all the Danish prisoners and wounded before they set fire to her. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasps "Stately 22 March 1808" and "Nassau 22 March 1808" to any still surviving crew members of those vessels that chose to claim them.