Cron Printz Christian was the first Chinaman of the Danish Asiatic Company. A former Royal Swedish Navy ship of the line, HSMS Warberg, launched at Karlskrona in 1699, she was one of three Swedish naval ships captured by Tordenskiold at Marstrand in 1719 and subsequently included in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy as HDMS Kronprinsen af Danmark. In 1730, she was loaned out to the newly established Danish Asiatic Company for its first expedition to Canton.
HSMS Warberg was a frigate of the Royal Swedish Navy, launched at Karlskrona in 1699. [1]
During the attack on Marstrand, Varberg was one of three Swedish naval ships captured by Peter Tordenskiold and escorted to safety east of Koön. The two other ships were the galley Prins Fredrik av Hessen and the frigate William Galley.
Warberg was subsequently commissioned by the Royal Danish Navy as Kronprinsen af Danmark. [2]
Some of Copenhagen's leading merchants responded to the dissolution of the Danish East India Company by creating two trading societies, one for the Indian trade and another one for the new and promising China trade. On 20 April 1730, the two societies were merged to form the Danish Asiatic Company. It was decided to loan out Kronprinsen af Danmark to the interim company for its first expedition to China. [3] The ship was subsequently adapted for her new use as a merchant ship and renamed Cron Printz Christian. Michael Christian Ludvig Ferdinand Tønder , a naval officer who had served under Tordenskiold in the Great Northern War, was selected as captain of the ship. The lack of experience with trade on China presented a challenge to the new company. Peter van Hurk, a Dutchman who had completed four voyages to China with ships of the Dutch East India Company, was appointed as supercargo. Guillielmo de Brouwer, another Dutchman with experience from the Dutch East India Company, was appointed as second captain. Peter Mule was appointed as second supercargo. Joachim Bonasch was appointed as 3rd supercargo. Hans Ølgod was appointed as skibsskriver. Frederik Zimmer was appointed as third mate. Christen Lintrup, who would later be raised to the peerage under the name Lindencrone, started his career in the Danish Asiatic Company as second assistant on the expedition.
Cron Printz Christian was towed out of Copenhagen Harbour on 14 October 1730 and set sails 12 days later. The voyage was off to a bad start when foul weather took her too far north and a leak in the hull made it necessary to call at the Faroe Islands for repairs. In January 1731, Cron Printz Christian called on the Canary Islands. She passed the Cape of Good Hope in May and then continued east to the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul. She then turned to a northeasterly course, directly towards the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java, where in late June fresh supplies were taken aboard.
The Chinese coast was first sighted around one month later. On 26 June 1731, Cron Printz Christian called at Macao. A delegation from the ship headed by van Hurk paid a visit to the Portuguese governor. On 27 June, a Chinese vessel escorted the delegation up the Pearl River to Canton to apply for permission from the Hoppo to send Cron Printz Christian up the Pearl River for trade. The permission reached the ship four days later. She was subsequently inspected both by Chinese customs officials and a Mandarin from the fort of Bocca Tigris before continuing up the river to anchorage of Whampoa.
Peter van Hurk and the other company traders rented a Chinese factory outside Canton proper as their headquarters. They spent the next months purchasing more than a thousand crates of tea, 305 stacks of porcelain, 274 pieces of tuttenage metal (zinc oxide) as well as a range of other items. In addition to this came 101 crates acquired as part of the salary of the captains, mates, company traders and other senior crew members. The fact that van Hurk was allowed sixteen crates of goods while Tønder as captain was only allowed three crates testifies to the important role he played on the expedition. Even de Brouwer was with six crates of goods allowed twice as much as Tønder.
The stowing of Cron Printz Christian began in October 1731, On 15 December, she left the anchorage of Whampoa. She reached the Cape of Good Hope after just three weeks where fresh provisions were taken on board. Cron Printz Christian arrived back in Copenhagen on 27 June 1732. [4]
The Danish Asiatic Company purchased the ship in August 1732. Sje departed from Copenhagen in 1834, bound for Tranquebar. She arrived back in Copenhagen in 1837. She departed from Copenhagen in 1737, bound for Tranquebar. She arrived back in Copenhagen in 1738. She is last time mentioned in 1745. [2]
The ship journals from Cron Printz Christian's 1730–32 voyage are kept in the National Archives of Denmark. Other written accounts of the voyage include Zimmer's tyrmandsoptegnelser fra rejse 1730-1732 and cadet Tobias Wigandt's diary from the expedition. [2]
Captain Michael Tønder, supercargo Peter van Hurk, second supercargo Peter Mule. Third supercargo Joachim Bonasch and third mate Frederik Zimmer were all portrayed in Canton by one of the city's so-called face-makers. Four of these painted clay portrait statuettes are now in the collection of the National Museum of Denmark but loaned out to the Danish Maritime Museum in Helsingør. The one of Frederik Zimmer is privately owned. [5]
The Danish East India Company refers to two separate Danish-Norwegian chartered companies. The first company operated between 1616 and 1650. The second company existed between 1670 and 1729, however, in 1730 it was re-founded as the Asiatic Company.
Events from the year 1730 in Denmark.
Events from the year 1732 in Denmark.
Zacharias Allewelt (1682–1744) was a Danish sea captain and slave trader.
Michael Fabritius was a Danish merchant, shipowner and shipbuilder.
Peter van Hurk was a Dutch-Danish merchant.
Christen Lindencrone was a Danish landowner and supercargo of the Danish Asia Company. He owned Gjorslev Manor on Stevns and constructed the Lindencrone Mansion on Bredgade in Copenhagen. He was ennobled in 1757 with the surname Lindencrone.
Danish Asiatic Company was a Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East India Company. It was granted a 40-year monopoly on Danish trade on Asia in 1732 and taken over by the Danish government in 1772. It was headquartered at Asiatisk Plads in Copenhagen. Its former premises are now used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dronning Sophia Magdalena was an East Indiaman of the Danish Asiatic Company, constructed at Asiatisk Plads in 1747. The name was later transferred to another DAC East Indiaman, built Asiatisk Plads in 1762.
Norge was an East Indiaman of the Danish Asiatic Company. She was taken as a prize by HMS Sceptre at the Cape of Good Hope in January 1808.
Christianshavn was an East Indiaman of the Danish Asiatic Company, which she served from 1800 until 1834. The poet Poul Martin Møller served as a ship chaplin on board the ship on an expedition to Canton and Manilla in 1819–20. She was renamed Frederik VI after undergoing a complete overhaul at the Royal Dockyard in Copenhagen in 1828. She completed the Danish Asiatic Company's last expedition to China in 1834–34.
HDMS Slesvig (Sleswig) was a ship of the line of the Royal Danish Navy, which she served from 1725. In 1733, she was transferred to the new Danish Asiatic Company.
Arveprinsen af Augustenborg, also referred to as Prinsen(Printzen)af Augustenborg, was an East Indiaman of the Danish Asiatic Company, constructed in Copenhagen in 1789. She completed nine expeditions to the East Indies between 1789 and 1805.
Kongen af Danmark was a Chinaman of the Danish Asiatic Company. It was the first ship constructed at the company's own shipyard.
Kongen af Danmark was a Chinaman of the Danish Asiatic Company, built at Asiatisk Plads in 1788. She was the fifth DAC ship with this name.
Prinsesse Charlotte Amalie was a Chinaman of the Danish Asiatic Company, built in 1781. She completed four expeditions to Canton.
HDMS Fridericus Quartus, launched at Royal Danish Naval Dockyards in 1699, was a three-deck, 110-gun ship of the line designed to be the flagship of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. She soon proved difficult to navigate, and unsuited for the shallow Danish waters. She was later used as an East Indiaman, first by the Danish East India Company and then by the Danish Asiatic Company. She was wrecked at Skagen in November 1736, shortly after embarking on her second DAC expedition to Tranquebar. She co-existed with another ship by the same name, a slave ship owned by the Danish West India Company, which wrecked off Costa Rica's coast in 1710.
Pierre Paul Mourier was a Danish Asiatic Company trader who spent 15 years in Canton. He created a Danish-Chinese dictionary of more than 10,000 words. He owned Aagaard from 1787 to 1896.
Vendela was an East Indiaman of the Danish East India Company. In 1732, she was sold to the Danish Asiatic Company.
Prinsesse Charlotte Amalie was an East Indiaman of the Danish Asiatic Company, bought in England in 1738. She sailed on three expeditions to Tranquebar netween 1741 and 1845.
