| Christiansholm Fortress | |
|---|---|
| Kristiansand, Norway | |
 Portion of the fortress featuring the tower. | |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Norway |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1672 |
| In use | 1672-1872 |
| Battles/wars | Attempted British raid in 1807. [1] |
Christiansholm Fortress (Christiansholm festning) was a Norwegian fortress built to defend the city of Kristiansand.
The fortress was finished in 1672 and formed a part of King Christian IV's plan for defense of Kristiansand when the city was founded in 1641. The architect of the fortress was quartermaster general Willem Coucheron. It was built on an islet, about 100 yards from shore. Today the fortress is connected to the mainland.
The only time the fortress has been in battle was against a British fleet force, led by HMS Spencer (1800) in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars. One of the very few remaining larger warships under Danish-Norwegian command was the ship of the line HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik with 70 cannons that was in the eastern harbor of Kristiansand. Captain Stopford on board HMS Spencer ordered to sail toward the city and announced in a letter that he wanted to take over the HDMS Prinds Christian Fredrik, and threatened to open fire on the city if the ship were not disclosed. When the ships approached, they were met by fierce resistance from Christiansholm Fortress. The attack was repulsed by massive gunfire and the British sailed instead to the abandoned Fredriksholm Fortress, which was blown up and destroyed.
The fortress was decommissioned by royal decree during June 1872 as part of a major redevelopment of fortifications across the nation.
Today, Christiansholm is a tourist attraction by the Kristiansand Boardwalk and venue for a variety of cultural events and festivities. It is now owned by the municipality and is a site used principally for recreation and cultural events.
Kristiansand, historically spelled Christianssand and Christiansand, is a city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth largest and the municipality the sixth largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation of the municipalities of Søgne and Songdalen into the greater Kristiansand municipality. In addition to the city itself, Statistics Norway counts four other densely populated areas in the municipality: Skålevik in Flekkerøy with a population of 3,526 in the Vågsbygd borough, Strai with a population of 1,636 in the Grim borough, Justvik with a population of 1,803 in the Lund borough, and Tveit with a population of 1,396 in the Oddernes borough. Kristiansand is divided into five boroughs: Grim, which is located northwest in Kristiansand with a population of 15,000; Kvadraturen, which is the centre and downtown Kristiansand with a population of 5,200; Lund, the second largest borough; Søgne, with a population of around 12,000 and incorporated into the municipality of Kristiansand as of January 2020; Oddernes, a borough located in the west; and Vågsbygd, the largest borough with a population of 36,000, located in the southwest.
The Gunboat War was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Navy. In Scandinavia it is seen as the later stage of the English Wars, whose commencement is accounted as the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
The Battle of Zealand Point was a naval battle of the English Wars and the Gunboat War. Ships of the Danish and British navies fought off Zealand Point on 22 March 1808; the battle was a British victory.
Holsteen 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 Roads on 2 April 1801. The British renamed the ship HMS Holstein, and later HMS Nassau. She participated in one major battle during the Gunboat War and was sold in 1814.
Christiansø Fortress is one of the historic Norwegian fortresses, which commands the western approaches to Flekkerøy harbor, at Kristiansand municipality in Norway.
Naval Station Holmen is one of several naval stations of the Royal Danish Navy, supplementing the two Danish naval bases in Frederikshavn and Korsør.
HMS Spencer was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 May 1800 at Bucklers Hard. Her designer was the French émigré shipwright Jean-Louis Barrallier. She served in two major battles, Algeciras Bay and San Domingo, and in a number of other campaigns. She was broken up in 1822.
Flekkerøy or Flekkerøya is an island and residential district in Kristiansand municipality in Agder county, Norway. The district is located within the borough of Vågsbygd, and it consists of 4 main neighborhoods: Berge/Andås, Kjære, Lindebø/Skålevik, and Mæbø/Høyfjellet. The district covers all of the island of Flekkerøya which lies within the city of Kristiansand. Since 1989, the island has been connected to the mainland through the Flekkerøy Tunnel, a 2,320-metre (7,612 ft) long subsea road tunnel. The island has 3,632 inhabitants. Flekkerøy Church is located on the island.
The Invasion of Curaçao in 1800 during the War of the Second Coalition was launched by French forces against the Batavian Republic. The French had landed on the island on 22 July, and on 5 September attacked and captured a fort protecting the town of Willemstad, Curaçao. The American consul sent for help, and on 10 September the Dutch governor of the island surrendered to a British frigate, HMS Nereide, under the command of Frederick Watkins. On 22 September the American sloops USS Patapsco and USS Merrimack arrived, and on 23 September the Patapsco sailed into the harbor and landed troops to reinforce the garrison protecting the town. On 23 September and 24 September the French fired upon the defenders, consequently exchanging cannon and musket fire with them throughout the day and night. Though it appeared a French assault was imminent, French forces left the island during the night. Significantly, the French suffered many killed or wounded in contrast to two American wounded. The British took control of the island, and American forces sailed away.
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.
Kristiansand Cannon Museum is a museum at Møvik, 8 kilometers west of the town centre of Kristiansand, Norway. The museum has collected authentic equipment from a former military installation.
Kristiansand Boardwalk is a street in the town centre Kvadraturen in Kristiansand, Norway. The street is in most of its course closed to the passage of motor vehicles, but operates in the tourist season in connection with sightseeing. From where the street Strandpromenaden ends in the eastern corner of the town centre, there is a continuing boardwalk upwards the river Otra. The boardwalk got the Nordic Green Space Award in 2013.
Evert Andersen was a Norwegian sea captain who fought in the Gunboat War against Great Britain and Sweden 1807–09.
Odderøya is an island and neighborhoods in Kristiansand municipality in Agder county, Norway. The 0.7-square-kilometre (170-acre) island lies immediately to the south of the city centre of Kristiansand and it is connected to the mainland by four bridges. The island creates a natural division between the eastern and western parts of the port of Kristiansand.
Fredriksholm Fortress was situated on an islet off Kristiansand, Norway. Today the former fortress is in ruins and the site is a popular place for sightseeing.
Kvadraturen is a borough in the city centre of the city of Kristiansand which lies in the municipality of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. It has a population of 6,750 (2015). The borough is made up of the centre together with the harbour to the south and the more rural district of "Eg" to the north. Kvadraturen is the administrative centre of the municipality of Kristiansand as well as the administrative centre of Vest-Agder county, but is far smaller in area than the other boroughs in the municipality, such as the borough of Grim to the north and west, and the borough of Lund to the east.
MS Seattle was a German cargo ship. The cargo on board varied, but she transported mostly timber and lumber. On the last trip she also carried 30,000 boxes of oranges. The last trip of the ship had been dramatic. She was taken under blockade in the Dutch Antilles. The blockade was broken, the ship escaped and the course was set northwards to Iceland. From there she traveled to Tromsø in Northern Norway, from where the ship had received permission from the neutral Norwegian authorities to sail around the Norwegian coast and into the Baltic Sea. Her last stop in Norway was Kristiansand, where she was forced to port by the Norwegian Navy vessel HNoMS Gyller 8 April.
Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy order of battle in Norway in 1808
HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik was a ship of the line in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy.
HDMS Printz Friderich was a ship-of-the-line launched in 1764, to a design by Frederik Michael Krabbe, a naval officer and leading ship designer of that period. Two other ships — Norske Løve and Øresund — were constructed to the same design. Little is known of her service history beyond that she received a new keel in 1775. She was lost in 1780. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2018.
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Coordinates: 58°08′39″N8°00′13″E / 58.1442°N 8.0035°E
| Before 20th century |  | |
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| From 20th century | ||
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