HDMS Holsteen

Last updated

Holsteen (1772).jpg
A contemporary drawing of Holsteen
History
Naval Ensign of Denmark.svgDenmark & Norway
NameHolsteen or Holsten [1]
Builder Frederik Michael Krabbe, Nyholm, Copenhagen
Laid down23 March 1770
Launched11 April 1772
Commissioned1775
Out of service2 April 1801
FateTaken by the British at first Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHolstein, renamed Nassau in 1805
AcquiredBy capture by the British at first Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
Honours and
awards
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Nassau 22 March 1808" [2]
FateSold 1814
General characteristics
Class and typeHolsteen-class ship of the line
Displacement1.01 Læster (=2,020 tons)
Tons burthen13947494 (bm)
Length48.65 m (159.6 ft)
Beam13.70 m (44.9 ft)
Draught6.04 m (19.8 ft)
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
General characteristics (Danish service)
Complement373–470 crew, plus 100 soldiers
Armament
  • Lower deck: 24 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper deck: 24 × 12-pounder guns
  • QD & Fc: 12 × 8-pounder guns
General characteristics (British service [3] )
Complement491 seamen and marines
Armament
  • Lower deck: 26 × 24-pounder guns
  • Upper deck: 24 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 12 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 24-pounder carronades

Holsteen [lower-alpha 1] 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.

Contents

Design

Holsteen was the name ship of her class of three vessels. The Danish naval builder, Frederik Michael Krabbe, was the chief designer and builder for the Danish navy. She was a foot narrower than the otherwise identical Oldenborg-class vessels.

Danish service

Holsteen escorting a convoy of three Chinamen and two East Indiamen back from the Cape of Good Hope. Konvoj af Kina- og Ostindiensfarere 1780.jpg
Holsteen escorting a convoy of three Chinamen and two East Indiamen back from the Cape of Good Hope.
Ship journal, 1779. Uddrag af orlogsskibet Holstens skibsjournal 1779.jpg
Ship journal, 1779.

In 1775, Holsteen fitted out during a voyage to Norway, where she was used as a command ship for the ships laid up in Trosvik (near the mouth of the Oslo Fjord), [4] before she returned to Copenhagen in 1776.

From 25 May 1776 to 16 July 1780, Holsteen sailed to Lisbon, the Gold Coast, and Cape Town. On her return in July 1780, under command of Ulrik Christian Kaas, she performed guardship duties in Øresund, off Copenhagen until 24 October 1780.

From 1782 until 1783, Holsteen sailed with the Neutrality Squadron. She was a member of a squadron from June to October 1794 in Øresund and the following year in 1795, sailed with a squadron in Øresund and the North Sea.

In 1801, she was equipped as a blockship and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801 where she took her place towards the northern end of the defensive line between Infødstretten and Søhesten. For a short time Holsteen served as the flagship. About 14:15 her captain was forced to strike to the British. [5]

British service

On 12 April, the British sent Holstein back to Britain. She was the only one of the ships-of-the-line that the British chose to keep. All the rest they viewed as little more than floating batteries. She transported the wounded and sailed in company with Monarch and Isis, which too carried wounded. She arrived at Yarmouth on 22 April and was laid up there in ordinary until July 1802. Then Holstein transferred to Chatham on 16 October 1802 and was laid up there. [3]

Between March and September 1805 Perry & Co., Blackwell, repaired her at a cost of £22,022. She was renamed Nassau and commissioned in September under Captain Robert Campbell, for the North Sea. [3]

On 18 April 1806, Nassau was in company with Majestic, Agincourt, Dictator, Orpheus, Sparrow, and the hired armed cutter Florence captured the Prussian galliot Jonge Bartels. [6] Five days later Nassau captured the Vissery. [7] Then, a little more than a week later, on 2 May, Nassau and Stately captured the Nicholai and Martha. Several other British warships shared in the proceeds of the prize. [8] Between May and June 1807 she escorted a convoy to Madeira.

In the late summer of 1807 she returned to Copenhagen where she participated in the second Battle of Copenhagen. After the surrender of the Danish fleet, Nassau, on 21 October 1807, was one of the vessels that escorted the surrendered Danish ships from Holmen to Kronborg. She then remained in Danish waters until February 1809.

Battle of Zealand Point

Battle of Zealand Point, 22 March 1808; depicting HMS Nassau and Stately with the British squadron closing in on Prinds Christian Frederik Slaget ved Sjaellands Odde.jpg
Battle of Zealand Point, 22 March 1808; depicting HMS Nassau and Stately with the British squadron closing in on Prinds Christian Frederik

On 22 March 1808 Nassau and the 64-gun Stately destroyed the last Danish ship of the line, HDMS Prinds Christian Frederik, commanded by Captain Carl Wilhelm Jessen, in a battle at Zealand Point.

The battle cost Nassau one man killed, one man missing, and 16 men wounded. [9] 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.

Further prizes in 1808

On 19 April 1808 Stately and Nassau captured the Danish ships Industrie and Haabet Anker. [10]

On the morning of 1 September 1809, Nassau was escorting a convoy of East Indiamen in the English Channel when she sighted a strange sail. Nassau sent her boats in chase and after two hours they were able to capture the French privateer lugger Jean Bart of Saint Malo. She was armed with four guns and had a crew of 25 men under the command of Enseigne de vaisseau Louis Ollivier Pilvesse. She was five days out of the Île de Batz and had made no captures. [11]

Fate

Nassau was laid up at Chatham in September 1809. In March of the next year she was commissioned as a prison ship under the command of Lieutenant William Field. He commanded her until she was sold for £2,510 on 3 November 1814. [3]

See also

Notes

  1. This ship's name appears as Holsteen or Holsten in Danish records, and as Holstein in English. She was renamed Nassau in 1805.

Citations

  1. Danish Naval Museum website – Holsteen click "vis" for technical drawings
  2. "No. 20939". The London Gazette . 26 January 1849. pp. 241–243.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Winfield (2008), p. 108.
  4. Record card for Holsten (1772) and select Holsten (1772)
  5. (in Danish) Danish Naval Website Flådens Historie Archived 11 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "No. 16235". The London Gazette . 7 March 1809. p. 314.
  7. "No. 16209". The London Gazette . 13 December 1808. pp. 1696–1697.
  8. "No. 16081". The London Gazette . 31 October 1807. p. 1442.
  9. "No. 16137". The London Gazette . 16 April 1808. p. 536.
  10. "No. 16204". The London Gazette . 26 November 1808. p. 1615.
  11. "No. 16295". The London Gazette . 15 September 1809. p. 1439.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunboat War</span> 1807–1814 war between Denmark–Norway and the United Kingdom

The Gunboat War was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and Great Britain supported by Sweden 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.

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

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. Peter Willemoes was among the Danish casualties,

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.

French ship <i>Constitution</i> (1795) Ship of the line of the French Navy

Constitution was a 74-gun Téméraire-class ship of the line of the French Navy launched as Viala in 1795. The Royal Navy captured her in 1806 and sold her in 1814.

HMS <i>Zebra</i> (1780) British sloop-of-war (1780–1812

HMS Zebra was a 16-gun Zebra-class sloop of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 August 1780 at Gravesend. She was the second ship to bear the name. After twenty years of service, including involvement in the West Indies campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars, she was converted into a bomb vessel in 1798. In this capacity she took part in attacks on French ports, and was present at both battles of Copenhagen. The Navy sold her in 1812.

HMS <i>Edgar</i> (1779) 74-gun Royal Navy ship of the line

HMS Edgar was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, that saw service in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Launched in 1779, she fought in the battles of Cape St Vincent and Copenhagen, two of the major naval engagements of the wars.

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.

HMS <i>Lynx</i> (1794) Sloop of the Royal Navy

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 USRC Eagle. She was at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, and during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars took numerous prizes, mostly merchant vessels but also including some privateers. She was also at the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She was sold in April 1813. She then became the whaler Recovery. She made 12 whaling voyages in the southern whale fishery, the last one ending in 1843, at which time her owner had her broken up.

HMS <i>Belette</i> (1806) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Belette was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop, built by King at Dover and launched on 21 March 1806. During the Napoleonic Wars she served with some success in the Baltic and the Caribbean. Belette was lost in the Kattegat in 1812 when she hit a rock off Læsø.

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.

HMS Nemesis was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The French captured her in 1795 at Smyrna, but in 1796 a squadron led by Barfleur brought her out of the neutral port of Tunis. Throughout her career she served under a number of commanders who would go on to have distinguished careers. She was converted to a troopship in 1812 and was sold in 1814.

<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.

HMS Comus was a 22-gun Laurel-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806. In 1807 she took part in one notable single-ship action and was at the capture of Copenhagen. In 1815 she spent six months with the West Africa Squadron suppressing the slave trade during which time she captured ten slavers and freed 500-1,000 slaves. She was wrecked in 1816 with no loss of life.

French brig <i>Voltigeur</i> (1804)

The French brig Voltigeur was a Palinure-class brig launched in 1804. The British captured her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Pelican. She was sold in 1812.

<i>Prévoyante</i> (1793)

Prévoyante was the second of two flûtes built to a design by Raymond-Antoine Haran. She was launched in May 1793 at Bayonne. The British frigates HMS Thetis and HMS Hussar captured Prévoyante in 1795 and the British took her into the Royal Navy after first converting her to a fifth rate. She served as a frigate until 1800, when she underwent reconversion back to a store ship. As a store ship she sailed to the Mediterranean, Cape of Good Hope, and Quebec. She was sold for breaking up in July 1819.

HDMS <i>Allart</i> (1807)

HDMS Allart, a brig launched at Copenhagen in June 1807, was amongst the ships taken by the British after the second Battle of Copenhagen. In British service, she was recaptured by Danish-Norwegian gunboats after venturing too close inshore. Her subsequent service was in the Dano-Norwegian Navy's Norwegian Brig Division, which harried enemy frigates and convoys in Norwegian waters. In 1812, she was captained by Ulrich Anton Schønheyder. His father was after the mother's death married to Joachime Catharine Benzon (1757-1836). On the separation of Denmark from Norway in 1814, Allart transferred to the Norwegian navy, who sold her in 1825.

Proserpine was launched at Amsterdam in 1801 as a 32-gun frigate. The Royal Navy captured her in May 1804 at the capture of Surinam and took her into service as HMS Amsterdam. She sailed to England where she became a guard and storeship at Cork. She was sold in 1815.

HMS Thunder was an 8-gun bomb vessel of the Royal Navy, previously the mercantile Dasher. Dasher, launched at Bideford in 1800, had made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before the Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and renamed her HMS Thunder. Thunder served in the Mediterranean and the Baltic; among other actions, she participated in a battle and one single-ship action, each of which resulted in her crew later qualifying for clasps to the Naval General Service Medal (1847). The Navy sold her in 1814.

HDMS <i>Det Store Bælt</i> (1782)

HDMS Det Store Bælt was a frigate of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, launched in 1782. In 1800, she was sold to the Danish Asiatic Company and renamed Holsteen.

HDMS Nidelven was a brig launched at Copenhagen on 1 December 1792. She was present at both British attacks on Copenhagen, and the British Royal Navy seized her at Copenhagen on 7 September 1807 at the surrender of Copenhagen. The British took her into service as HMS Nid Elven. She served between 1808 and 1809, during which time she captured a small French privateer. She was laid up in 1809. The Navy sold her in 1814.

References