Action of 16 May 1797

Last updated
Action of 16 May 1797
HDMS Najaden (1796).jpg
A painting of the engagement by Terkild Emanuel Lønning
Date16 May 1797
Location
Result See aftermath
Belligerents
Royal Standard of Denmark (1731-1819).svg Denmark–Norway Maritime flag of Regency of Tripoli (18th century).svg Tripolitania
Commanders and leaders
Royal Standard of Denmark (1731-1819).svg Steen Bille Maritime flag of Regency of Tripoli (18th century).svg Yusuf Karamanli
Strength
1 frigate
1 brig
1 xebec
3 xebecs
3 smaller vessels
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Action of 16 May 1797 was a naval battle that took place near Tripoli in Ottoman Tripolitania (present-day Libya). The Danish squadron was attacked by a Tripolitan squadron that outnumbered them in number of vessels.

Contents

Background

After the newly appointed Bey of Tripoli, Sidi Yussuf, demanded an increased tribute, which essentially constituted a bribe to stop Tripolitans preying on Danish merchant ships. He also captured two Danish vessels, whose crews he sold into slavery. As a result Denmark-Norway sent Captain Lorenz Fisker in the 40-gun frigate Thetis to Tripoli. He had two missions: first, to escort the annual "gift ship" to Algiers, and second, to secure the freedom of the two Danish vessels and their crews. He arrived at Tripoli on 30 August 1796, but failed to free the captured sailors, or even agree on a ransom price. [1]

Action

The Danes, therefore, decided to make a second attempt. They sent Captain Steen Andersen Bille in the frigate Najaden 40 under Captain John Hoppe to Malta, where she arrived on 2 May 1797. There the Danes met up with the brig Sarpen 18, under Captain Charles Christian De Holck. They also hired a xebec of six guns, which was then sailed by a Danish crew under Lieutenant Hans Munck (or Munk), of Sarpen. This squadron then sailed from Malta for Tripoli. On 12 May, off the coast of Lampedusa, they met with Fisker and Thetis. Fisker transferred command of Danish forces in the Mediterranean to Bille and sailed for home. Bille's small squadron sailed past the forts guarding Tripoli on 15 May 1797. [1] Among the guns firing on the Danish vessels from the forts were four Danish cannons that the Libyan envoy Abderahman al Bidiri had obtained from the King of Denmark-Norway in 1772.

On 16 May Najaden sailed into the harbour and attacked the six armed vessels there. The Tripolitan forces consisted of the 28-gun xebec Meshuda, two other xebecs of similar size and three smaller vessels. Although the Danish cannon fire caused extensive casualties among the Tripolitans, the latter nevertheless got close to the Danish vessels and almost managed to board Najaden. Hoppe's deft manoeuvring forestalled defeat. Although the two smaller Danish ships were more of a hindrance than a help, the Tripolitans retreated after two hours. Danish casualties were one killed and one wounded. [1] Subsequent negotiations resulted in a peace treaty on 25 May. Denmark-Norway agreed to continue to pay tribute.

Aftermath

Bille remained in the Mediterranean until 1801 with a force that the Danish government increased to three frigates and two brigs. After the Danish government recalled him to become the chief of the naval defence, the Danish flotilla remained, continuing to protect Danish shipping for a few more years. Bille went on to command a division of the navy in the Battle of Copenhagen.

The Norwegian Poul S. Stub, who was held in slavery in Tripoli after his merchant ship Providentia had been captured, observed the battle from the land and wrote up his impressions. [2]

Ships involved

Denmark-Norway

Tripolitania

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Argus</i> (1803)

The first USS Argus, originally named USS Merrimack, was a brig in the United States Navy commissioned in 1803. She enforced the Embargo Act of 1807 and fought in the First Barbary War – taking part in the blockade of Tripoli and the capture of Derna – and the War of 1812. During the latter conflict, she had been audaciously raiding British merchant shipping in British home waters for a month, when the heavier British Cruizer-class brig-sloopHMS Pelican intercepted her. After a sharp fight during which Argus's captain, Master Commandant William Henry Allen, was mortally wounded, Argus surrendered when the crew of Pelican were about to board.

HDMS <i>Najaden</i> (1811)

HDMS Najaden was a frigate in the Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy. She was commissioned in 1811 and originally carried 36 guns, later being upgraded to 42. She served briefly during the Gunboat War only seeing action once, when on 6 July 1812 the British ship of the line HMS Dictator and the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Calypso sank her during the Battle of Lyngør. The Battle of Lyngør effectively ended Denmark's involvement in the Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Lyngør</span>

The Battle of Lyngør was a naval action fought between Denmark-Norway and the United Kingdom in 1812 on the southern coast of Norway. The battle ended in a Dano-Norwegian defeat, and marked the end of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway's involvement in the Napoleonic Wars.

HDMS <i>Najaden</i> (1796)

HDMS Najaden was a frigate of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served from 1796 until the British captured her in 1807. While in Dano-Norwegian service she participated in an action at Tripoli, North Africa. She served the Royal Navy as the fifth rate HMS Nyaden from 1808 until 1812 when she was broken up. During her brief British service she participated in some small attacks in the Barents Sea during the Anglo-Russian War.

HMS Dictator was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 January 1783 at Limehouse. She was converted into a troopship in 1798, and broken up in 1817.

The action of 22 June 1803 was a naval battle between the United States Navy and the Tripolitan Navy during the First Barbary War. Two ships from the American squadron blockading Tripoli, USS John Adams and USS Enterprise, met and engaged a Tripolitan polacre along with nine gunboats. After fighting a sharp action for forty five minutes the gunboats veered off and the polacre was abandoned. The Tripolitians later retook the polacre and were reengaged by the Americans before the vessel was destroyed in a large explosion.

HDMS <i>Sarpen</i> (1791)

HDMS Sarpen was a brig of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, in which she served from 1791 until the British seized her in 1807. While in Dano-Norwegian service she participated in an indecisive action at Tripoli, North Africa. She served the Royal Navy as HMS Sarpen from 1808 until 1811 when she was broken up. During her brief British service she participated in the Walcheren Expedition. Her name is that of a waterfall on the Norwegian river Glomma.

HDMS <i>Lougen</i> (1805)

HDMS Lougen was a Danish naval brig launched in 1805. She saw service in the Danish navy and participated in two notable actions against the British Royal Navy during the Gunboat War. In 1814, as a result of the Treaty of Kiel, the Danes transferred her to the Norwegian navy. The Norwegians sold her to German merchants in the Scheld in 1825. She was finally shipwrecked near Bremerhaven in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Wilhelm Jessen</span> Danish naval officer

Carl Wilhelm Jessen was a Danish naval officer and Governor of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steen Andersen Bille (1797–1883)</span> Danish vice-admiral

Steen Andersen Bille, was a Danish vice-admiral and minister for the navy. He was famous for his service in the Danish Royal Navy, particularly during the First Schleswig War, 1848–1851.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Peter Holm</span>

Hans Peter Holm was a Danish naval officer who commanded vessels of the Dano-Norwegian Navy in several actions. He commanded several naval vessels during the Gunboat War. His most important action occurred in 1812 at the Battle of Lyngør when a British squadron, led by the British ship-of-the-line HMS Dictator, destroyed his vessel, HDMS Najaden. Holm sustained wounds in the battle but survived, only to drown in an accident shortly afterwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steen Andersen Bille (1751–1833)</span> Danish Naval Officer

Steen Andersen Bille (1751–1833) was a Danish naval officer and a member of the Bille family. He rose to the rank of admiral and became a Privy Counselor during the period of Denmark-Norway's policy of "armed neutrality" following the Gunboat War. He was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Danish Navy after 1814.

HDMS Lolland was launched in March 1810. She served in at least four major engagements during the Gunboat War before she was transferred to the Norwegian navy after the Treaty of Kiel brought about the separation of Norway from Denmark in 1814. Lolland continued to serve with the Norwegian Navy until sold in 1847.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorentz Fisker</span>

Lorentz Fisker (1753–1819) was a Danish naval officer who charted the waters of southern Norway and the Kattegat, and organised Norwegian defences against Britain and Sweden.

Henrik Lorentz Fisker was a successful naval officer in the service of Denmark. He was the son of an attorney at the supreme court, and deputy mayor of Copenhagen. From the age of thirteen as a cadet in the Danish-Norwegian navy, he rose through the ranks to vice admiral in 1775 and full admiral in 1790. He died 20 June 1797 and was buried in the Holmens Kirkegård, the Danish naval cemetery, in Copenhagen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bille (1680–1756)</span>

Michael Bille (1680–1756) was an officer in the Danish Royal Navy during the Great Northern War. He was commissioned as a junior lieutenant in 1699, advancing steadily to become Vice Admiral when he retired in 1737.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Ernst Bille</span> Danish naval officer

Daniel Ernst Bille was a naval officer and rear admiral in the service of the Danish crown.

HDMS <i>Triton</i> (1790)

HDMS Triton was a Danish frigate launched in 1790 which operated in Danish/Norwegian home waters and in the Mediterranean in the protection of Danish merchant ships - not only from Barbary pirates but also from potential British privateers. The period in which it operated was fraught with political and practical difficulties which led to two battles at Copenhagen and other, lesser, actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edouard Suenson</span>

Edouard Suenson (1805-1887) was a Danish vice admiral known for his participation in the First and Second Schleswig War, and served as the main Danish commander at the Battle of Heligoland in the latter.

HDMS <i>Thetis</i> (1790)

HDMS Thetis was a Fifth rate frigate of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served from 1790 to 1850. She is remembered as the ship that carried a young Bertel Thorvaldsen to Malta in 1796. The sculptor ended up living and working in Rome the next more than forty years. He created a large number of small portrait drawings of the officers on board the ship.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dansk Militaer Historie". Archived from the original on 2010-11-26. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
  2. Topsøe-Jensen, T. A.; Marquard, Emil (1935). Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660–1814 og den danske Søetat 1814–1932 (in Danish). Vol. I. p. 132.

32°54′8″N13°11′9″E / 32.90222°N 13.18583°E / 32.90222; 13.18583