Peder Tordenskjold
Encyclopedia
Norwegians
Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...
nobleman and an eminent naval flag officer
Flag Officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in...
in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy
Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy
The Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy or The Common Fleet also known simply as the Danish Navy was the naval force of the united kingdoms Denmark and Norway from 1509 to 12 April 1814. The fleet was established when the Royal Danish Navy and the Royal Norwegian Navy was combined by King Hans, when he...
. He rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral for his services in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
. Born in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, Peter Wessel travelled to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1704, and was employed in the navy. He won a name for himself through audacity and courage, and was ennobled as Peter Tordenskiold by King Frederick IV
Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...
in 1716. His greatest exploit came later that year, as he destroyed the supply fleet of Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
at the Battle of Dynekilen
Battle of Dynekilen
The naval Battle of Dynekilen took place on 8 July 1716 during the Great Northern War.-Background:On 28 October 1709 Frederik IV of Denmark, the Danish-Norwegian king declared the war against Sweden...
. In 1720, he was killed in a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
. In Denmark as well as in Norway he is probably considered the most famous naval hero. His was an unusually successful rise in rank, considering he died when he was only 29 years old.
Name
His birth name was Peter Jansen Wessel. His name occurs with spellings as Peder and Pitter. Upon his ennoblement in 1716, he received the name Tordenskiold. This was also the ortographical form which he used. In newer times, the form Tordenskjold has become usual.Biography
Born in TrondheimTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
in Norway, he was the tenth child of alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
Jan Wessel, and the brother of later Rear-Admiral Caspar von Wessel. Peter Wessel was a wild, unruly lad who gave his pious parents much trouble, eventually stowing away on a ship heading for Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1704. In Copenhagen, he unsuccessfully sought to become a navy cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
. He befriended the king's chaplain Dr Peder Jespersen who sent Wessel on a voyage to the West Indies, and finally procured for him a vacant cadetship. After further voyages, this time to the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
, Wessel was appointed Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy on July 7, 1711, and went on to serve on the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Postillion. While on Postillion, he befriended Norwegian admiral baron Waldemar Løvendal, who was the first to recognize the young man's potential as a naval officer. Løvendal soon made Peter Wessel the captain of the 4-gun sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Ormen .
Early service time
Wessel started his navy service during the Great Northern WarGreat Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
against Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, cruising about the Swedish coast in Ormen picking up useful information about the enemy. In June 1712, Løvendal promoted him to the 18-gun frigate Løvendals Gallej, against the advice of the Danish admiralty, who considered Wessel unreliable. After officially complaining about his dreary commanding officer Daniel Jacob Wilster in Norway, Wessel was transferred to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
command of Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve, who appreciated and utilized Wessel's courage. Wessel was already renowned for two things: the audacity with which he attacked any Swedish vessels he came across regardless of the odds, and his unique seamanship, which always enabled him to evade capture.
The Great Northern War had now entered upon its later stage, when Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, beset on every side by foes, employed her fleet principally to transport troops and stores to the distressed Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts...
provinces. The audacity of Wessel impeded her at every point. He was continually snapping up transports, dashing into the fjords where her vessels lay concealed, and holding up her detached frigates. He was a part of Gyldenløve's fleet which succeeded in destroying a large number of Swedish transport ships at Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
on September 29, 1712, and was promoted from Second Lieutenant to Captain Lieutenant
Captain Lieutenant
Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary....
. His successes compelled the Swedes to post a reward
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
for his capture, while his free and easy ways also won him enemies in the Danish navy, who deplored his almost Privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
-like conduct.
Court-martial
In 1714, Wessel was court-martialCourt-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
led after an indecisive sea battle with a Swedish frigate. The account of the incident is verified by the legal proceedings from November 1714. On July 26, 1714, he encountered a frigate under English flag near Lindesnes
Lindesnes
Lindesnes is a municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. Lindesnes was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the older municipalities of Spangereid, Sør-Audnedal, and Vigmostad....
, while flying a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
flag on the Løvendals Gallej himself. The other frigate was De Olbing Galley carrying 28 guns, which had been equipped in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the Swedes and was on its way to Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
under the command of an English captain named Bactmann. De Olbing Galley signalled for Løvendals Gallej to come closer, and as Wessel raised the Danish flag, Bactmann fired a broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
at him. In the English captain, Wessel met a tough match. The combat lasted all day, and when De Olbing Galley tried to escape in the evening, Wessel set more sails and continued the duel. The fight was interrupted by nightfall, and renewed again indecisively the following morning. Both ships were badly damaged after around 14 hours of fighting, when Wessel was running out of ammunition. He then sent an envoy to the English ship, cordially thanking the English for a good duel, and asked if he could borrow some of their ammunitions in order to continue the fight. His request was denied, and the captains drank to each other's health, before the ships dispersed.
When he heard about the incident, king Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV of Denmark
Frederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...
asked for the admiralty to court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
Wessel. He stood trial in November 1714, accused of disclosing vital military information about his lack of ammunition to the enemy, as well as endangering the ship of king Frederick IV by fighting a superior enemy force. The spirit with which he defended himself and the contempt he poured on his less courageous comrades took the fancy of Frederick IV. He successfully argued a section of the Danish naval code which mandated attacking fleeing enemy ships no matter the size, and was acquitted on December 15, 1714. He then went to the king asking for a promotion, and was raised to the rank of Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
on December 28, 1714.
Greatest exploits
When, in 1715, the return of King Charles XII of SwedenCharles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
to Stralsund
Stralsund
- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
put new life into the dispirited Swedish forces, Wessel distinguished himself in numerous engagements off the coast of Swedish Pomerania, under the command of Admiral Christian Carl Gabel. He did the enemy considerable damage by cutting out his frigates and destroying his transports. During a battle at Kolberg on April 24, 1715, Wessel captured the Swedish Rear-Admiral Hans Wachtmeister
Hans Wachtmeister
Count Hans Wachtmeister af Johannishus was admiral general of the Swedish Navy and advisor to King Charles XI of Sweden and King Charles XII of Sweden. He served in the Scanian War of 1675–1679 and during the following twenty years of peace worked to build up the Swedish Navy...
, as well as the frigate Vita Örn (White Eagle), which he was granted as his new flagship under the name Hvide Ørn. He then transferred to the main fleet under the command of Peter Raben.
On returning to Denmark in the beginning of 1716 he was ennobled by Frederick IV under the name of Tordenskiold. When in the course of 1716, Charles XII invaded Norway and laid siege to the fortress of Fredrikshald
Fredrikshald
Fredrikshald may refer to:* Fredrikshald Bay, Nunavut, Canada* Fredrikshald, Norway, former name of the town of Halden...
, Tordenskiold compelled him to raise the siege and retire to Sweden. He did so by pouncing upon the Swedish transport fleet, laden with ammunition and other military stores, which rode at anchor in the narrow and dangerous Dynekil Fjord. With two frigates and five smaller ships, he conquered or destroyed around 30 Swedish ships, with little damage to himself during the Battle of Dynekilen
Battle of Dynekilen
The naval Battle of Dynekilen took place on 8 July 1716 during the Great Northern War.-Background:On 28 October 1709 Frederik IV of Denmark, the Danish-Norwegian king declared the war against Sweden...
on July 8, 1716.
For this his greatest exploit, he was promoted to the rank of Post-Captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
, commanding the Kattegat
Kattegat
The Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by the Jutland peninsula and the Straits islands of Denmark on the west and south, and the provinces of Västergötland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän in Sweden on the east. The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Øresund and the Danish...
squadron - but at the same time incurred the enmity of Christian Carl Gabel, whom he had failed to take into his confidence. Tordenskiold's first important command was the squadron with which he was entrusted in the beginning of 1717 for the purpose of destroying the Swedish Gothenburg squadron, which interrupted the communications between Denmark and Norway. Owing to the disloyalty of certain of his officers who resented serving under the young adventurer, Tordenskjold failed to do all that was expected of him. His enemies were not slow to take advantage of his partial failure. The old charge of criminal recklessness was revived against him at a second court-martial before which he was summoned in 1718, but his old patron Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve intervened energetically on his behalf, and the charge was quashed.
In December 1718, Tordenskiold brought to Frederick IV the welcome news of the death of Charles XII and was in turn made Rear-Admiral. Tordenskiold captured the Swedish fortress of Carlsten
Carlsten
Carlsten is a stone fortress located at Marstrand, on the western coast of Sweden. The fortress was built on the orders of King Carl X of Sweden following the Treaty of Roskilde, 1658 to protect the newly acquired province of Bohuslän from hostile attacks....
at Marstrand
Marstrand
Marstrand is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,432 inhabitants in 2005. It has held city privileges since 1200. The most striking feature about Marstrand is the 17th century fortress Carlsten, named after King Carl X Gustav of Sweden. The...
in 1719. The last feat of arms during the Great Northern War was Tordenskiold's partial destruction and partial capture of the Gothenburg squadron which had so long eluded him, on September 26, 1719. He was rewarded with the rank of Vice-Admiral.
Death by duelling
Tordenskiold did not long survive the termination of the war. On November 12, 1720, at the age of 29, he was killed in a duel by LivoniaLivonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
n colonel Jakob Axel Staël von Holstein. During a trip to Hannover, Tordenskiold got in a fight with von Holstein, who had been in Swedish military service. The confrontation ended in a duel near Hildesheim
Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
, in which Tordenskiold was run through by the sword of von Holstein. The circumstances around the death of Tordenskiold was set in a conspirational light, as summed up in the contemporary three volume Tordenskiold biography (1747–1750) by C. P. Rothe.
The duel was encouraged by a dispute with von Holstein, whom Tordenskiold offended by labeling him as a cheater at gambling. At a dinner party, Tordenskiold told of a friend who had been cheated while gambling with a man who claimed to own a Hydra
Lernaean Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...
, to which von Holstein announced he was the owner of the said creature and took offence at being called a cheater. This dispute turned into a fight, in which von Holstein unsuccessfully tried to pull a sword, after which Tordenskiold used the pommel of his own sword to beat him up. von Holstein demanded satisfaction through a duel, and it was agreed that it was to be fought with pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s, a weapon that Tordenskiold was very skilled with. On the day of the duel, Tordenskiold's assigned second tricked him into thinking von Holstein had forfeited and left town, and convinced him to leave his firearms at home. When he arrived at the duelling field to win by default, von Holstein was waiting for him, and the duel would have to be fought with swords. Tordenskiold refused to back out, even though his sword was inferior. Tordenskiold only had his ceremonial dress sword, whereas von Holstein was armed with a Swedish cut-and-thrust military rapier
Rapier
A rapier is a slender, sharply pointed sword, ideally used for thrusting attacks, used mainly in Early Modern Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.-Description:...
(called a "karolinerverge", a "Carolean sword"). Tordenskiold was run through by his adversary, the blow slicing two arteries wide open. He stumbled a couple of steps backwards, and died in the arms of his servant Kold.
His corpse was brought to Copenhagen to the Church of Holmen
Church of Holmen
The Church of Holmen is a 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 hosted the wedding between Margrethe II of Denmark, current queen of Denmark,...
without much ceremony, as duelling was not allowed according to Danish law of the time. In 1819, he was a buried in a sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
.
Legacy
Although - Dynekilen excepted - Tordenskiold's individual victories were of less importance than Christen Thomesen SehestedChristen Thomesen Sehested
Christen Thomesen Sehested , born in Copenhagen, was son of a lieutenant-colonel, Axel Sehested, and grandson of the King's chancellor Christen Thomesen Sehested, who died in 1657. He was an admiral in the Danish–Norwegian naval fleet during the Eleven years war, better known as the Great Northern...
's at the Siege of Stralsund and Ulrich Christian Gyldenløve's at Rügen, he is seen as the most heroic figure of the Great Northern War, after Charles XII. He is mentioned by name both in the Danish royal anthem "Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" from 1778 and the Norwegian national anthem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet
Ja, vi elsker dette landet
is the national anthem of Norway. It is commonly referred to as just "Ja, vi elsker" . The lyrics were written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson between 1859 and 1868, and the melody was written by his cousin Rikard Nordraak in 1864. It was first performed publicly on 17 May 1864 in connection with the 50th...
" from 1864.
Statues of him have been erected in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
(1876), Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, Stavern
Stavern
Stavern is a small Norwegian town located in the municipality of Larvik, south of the city of Larvik in Vestfold.The port and naval base of Stavern was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 . Even though it was an important port it was first given its status as a town July 1, 1942...
, Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and Haakonsvern
Haakonsvern
Haakonsvern is the main base of the Royal Norwegian Navy and the largest naval base in the Nordic area. The base is located at Mathopen within Bergen municipality, about 15 km south-west of the city centre...
. In the United States, Tordenskjold Township in the state of Minnesota was settled in 1871 by Danish brothers who named it after him.
The Royal Danish Navy
Royal 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...
has named several ships after him, including an early 20th century coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...
. The Niels Juel class corvette
Niels Juel class corvette
The Niels Juel class is a three-ship class of corvettes currently in service with the Royal Danish Navy. They were built in Denmark at Aalborg Shipyard and were launched in the period 1978-1980...
KDM Peter Tordenskiold (F356), served from around 1980 to August 2009. The Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
has also named ships after him, such as the coastal defence ship Tordenskjold
HNoMS Tordenskjold
HNoMS Tordenskjold, known locally as Panserskipet Tordenskjold, was a Norwegian coastal defence ship. She, her sister-ship , and the slightly newer were built as a part as the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905...
, and the Royal Norwegian Naval Training Establishment in Bergen is named KNM
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
Tordenskjold.
The Danish city of Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn
This article is about a Danish town. For the German town, see Friedrichshafen, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Frederikshavn is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to...
has hosted an annual summer festival in his memory since 1998. Tordenskiold was stationed there, and wrote 67 letters from there between 1717 and 1719. In 2008 the Festival attracted more than 30,000 visitors. In 2009 the Days of Tordenskiold were celebrated on 26, 27 & 28 June.
The most popular brand of match
Match
A match is a tool for starting a fire under controlled conditions. A typical modern match is made of a small wooden stick or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface...
es in Denmark is called Tordenskiold. In the late 1800s, Sweden had a large export production of matches, so a Danish manufacturer put Tordenskiold's portrait on his matchbox in 1882, in the hope he could once more strike at the Swedish . The Tordenskiold brand was bought by a Swedish company in 1972.
In fiction
Though his victories were not decisive in the course of the war, he eventually attained mythic status, as one of few successful Dano-Norwegian military commanders. As Denmark lost Norway in the 1814 Treaty of KielTreaty of Kiel
The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 in Kiel...
and consigned itself to the status of a minor power following the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, Tordenskiold was revived as both a Danish and Norwegian national symbol. He was portrayed as the little guy outsmarting his far more powerful adversaries, and his exploits were enhanced by mixing in myths and fiction.
A comprehensive fictionalized account was collected in the 1858 popular song "Jeg vil sjunge om en Helt", and a great number of fictional plays and novels were subsequently published. These accounts served as background for the 1910 Danish film "Peter Tordenskjold", based on a Carit Etlar
Carit Etlar
Carit Etlar, the better-known pen name of Carl Brosbøll , was a Danish author, known mostly for his 1853 book Gjøngehøvdingen about the eponymous Svend Poulsen Gønge.-Biography:...
play, and the 1942 film "Tordenskjold går i land". In 1993, the two-act musical Tordenskjold opened, a mix of fact and fiction, with Øystein Wiik as Peter Wessel. The musical was performed in Gladsaxe
Gladsaxe
Gladsaxe Kommune is a municipality near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 25 km², and has a total population of 62,562...
and Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
.
One of the myths about Tordenskiold has entered into the Danish and Norwegian languages. During the negotiations for Marstrand's surrender in 1719, it is told he had his men move from block to block as he was walking the Marstrand commander through his positions, thus convincing the commander that his strength was much greater than it actually was. This gave birth to the idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
"Tordenskjold's soldiers" , denoting the same group of people (feeling compelled to) repeatedly taking charge and fill multiple roles.