![]() | It has been suggested that this article be merged with Frigate Flensborg . (Discuss) Proposed since June 2024. |
Sinking of the Flensborg | |||||||
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![]() A View of the Cape of Good Hope, by William Hodges | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
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1 ship 1 sloop | Multiple ships | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 ship sunk Most men killed 42 imprisoned | Unknown |
The Sinking of the Flensborg (Danish : Flensborgs forlis), also known as the Sinking of the Flensburg, was a minor skirmish between Danish and Portuguese vessels in 1630 off the Portuguese-controlled Cape of Good Hope. The skirmish resulted in the sinking of the Danish man-of-war Flensborg and caused great financial concerns about the Danish project in India .
In 1616 the Danish East India Company was established, and in 1620 it acquired the fishing village of Tharangambadi (Tranquebar). [1] The first European cargo arrived in 1623, and another was sent in 1624. [2] However, in 1625 Christian IV of Denmark invaded the Holy Roman Empire, which meant a stop in dispatching ships to India. [3] When peace was concluded in 1629, Christian regained his interests in the Indian affairs and sent two ships, the man-of-war Flesnborg, and a two-mastered sloop, to India in late 1629. They were shortly after followed by the two-mastered vessel, Fortuna. [3]
When reaching the good hope, the Flensborg came into a fight with the Portuguese. [3] The Portuguese were trying to maintain their monopoly of trade with India, which they claimed had been given to them by the Pope. [4] In the initial skirmish between the Flensborg. and multiple Portuguese ships, the Flensborg was caught on fire and exploded. [5] Most of the men on board the ship were killed in the explosion, and the men who survived were taken as hostages by the Portuguese. [5]
According to other sources, the incident with Flensborg happened off the Malabar Coast, however, this has been rejected. [6]
When the news of the disaster of the Flensborg reached Copenhagen, it led to speculations as to whether King Christian and the company would be able to invest more capital in the East Indian Trade. [5] Some of the investors claimed it would be best to abandon the whole project, sell the Danish colonies, and bring the Danes home, others maintained that they should wait and see. [7]
Danish India was the name given to the forts and factories of Denmark in the Indian subcontinent, forming part of the Danish overseas colonies. Denmark–Norway held colonial possessions in India for more than 200 years, including the town of Tharangambadi in present-day Tamil Nadu state, Serampore in present-day West Bengal, and the Nicobar Islands, currently part of India's union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Danish and Norwegian presence in India was of little significance to the major European powers as they presented neither a military nor a mercantile threat. Dano-Norwegian ventures in India, as elsewhere, were typically undercapitalized and never able to dominate or monopolize trade routes in the same way that British, French, and Portuguese ventures could.
Bantam Presidency was a presidency established by the British East India Company and based at the Company factory at Bantam in Java. Founded in 1617, the Presidency exercised its authority over all the Company factories in India, including the agencies of Madras, Masulipatnam and Surat. The factors at Bantam were instrumental in founding the colony of Madraspatnam in 1639 with the Fort St. George, which later grew into the modern city of Madras. The Presidency of Bantam was twice downgraded, first in 1630 before being restored in 1634 and for the second time in 1653, when owing to the hostility of Dutch traders, the Presidency was shifted to Madras.
The Action of 19 February 1619 was a naval engagement between Denmark-Norway, under the leadership of Ove Gjedde, and French privateers, which took place on 19 February 1619, during the first Danish expedition to India. Two French vessels were taken and incorporated into the Royal Danish Navy.
The Skirmish at Pipli or more formally the Destruction of the Danish factory at Pipli, was one of the two recorded land confrontations between the Danish East India Company and the Mughal Empire during the Dano-Mughal War. The Skirmish was a Mughal punitive expidition in retalition for the Danish arrest of a Persian merchant. The Skirmish ended in a Mughal victory, and the Danish factory in Pipli was destroyed and burned down.
The Siege of Dansborg alternatively the Siege of Fort Dansborg sometimes also referred to as Willem Leyel's siege of Dansborg, was a siege initiated by traveler and seafarer, Willem Leyel, against the men loyal to governor Bernt Pessart. The siege was concluded after the men at Dansborg opened the gates for Willem Leyel, surrendered, and accepted Leyel as the new governor.
Roland Crappé's raids on Portuguese colonies refers to a series of raids by Dutchman in Danish service, Roland Crappé, on Portuguese Ceylon and India. The raids were partially unsuccessful, in that Crappé's ship, Øresund, caught fire and sank.
Willem Leyel or Willum Leyel was a Danish governor of Tranquebar and captain in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy.
The Skirmish at the Strait of Malacca was a skirmish between the claimed governor of Tranquebar, Bernt Pessart, and the local authorities of Dutch Malacca. The confrontation led to the imprisonment or death of all of Pessart's crew and the confiscation of the vessel, Dend gode Haab. Although Pessart and his crew would later be released and cooperate with the Dutch to spy on the Spanish in Manila.
The Ambush near the Bay of Manila, alternatively the Death of Bernt Pessart, was an ambush by the Indigenous peoples of the Philippines, against a combined Dano-Dutch espionaging expeditionary force in 1645. The ambush led to the death of former governor and president of Danish India, Bernt Pessart.
The Conflict between William Leyel and Bernt Pessart refers to the tensions and minor civil war between Willem Leyel and Bernt Pessart over the governorship of Tranquebar and the Danish East India Company. The conflict led to the escape of Bernt Pessart, and the command at Tranquebar accepted Willem Leyel as governor of Danish India.
The Capture of St. Michael or the Seizure of St. Michael, was a Danish seizure of a Bengali ship in the Bay of Bengal. The Danes captured the Bengali ship and the vessel was subsequently incorporated into the Danish Navy given the name St. Michael.
The Attack in Hooghly was a Danish attack on two Bengali ships during the Dano-Mughal War in 1671. The Danes succeeded in blowing up the Bengali ships, and violence continued off the coasts of Kalingapatnam and Balasore.
The Battle of Balasore was an engagement between Bengali and English ships against Danish ships at Balasore. When the English failed to persuade the Danes, the Bengalis started attacking the English vessel, yet the English were rescued by the Dutch.
Roland Crappé or Roelant Crappé was a Dutch colonial official serving the Dutch and Danish East India Company. He became director general of the Ceylonese department of the Danish East India Company in 1618 and became commander in chief and governor of Tranquebar upon his seventh arrival in the Indies in 1624. During his leadership, new factories and offices were established and Danish trade went exceptionally well. He died in 1644 only a few years after his homecoming to Denmark.
Bernt Pessart, Berndt Pessart or Berent Pessart was a Dutch overhoved and self-proclaimed President of Danish India from 1636 to 1643. In his earlier years, he would serve the Dutch East India Company in Bantam, and in September 1636 he would land in Danish Tranquebar on the St. Jacob. Here he would serve the Danish East India Company until his deposure in 1643, after which he again would serve the Dutch East India Company by espionage on the Spanish Philippines. He would die in June 1645 by an ambush of local natives near Manila.
The Expulsion of Danes from Balasore was a violent expulsion and ousting of the Danish East India Company from the Mughal habour and trading hub of Balasore in 1643 or 1644 by the local Mughal governor, Malik Beg.
The frigate and man-of-war Flensborg, or Flensburg, was a Danish East Indiaman sent on 2 December 1629 to Tranquebar as the third cargo to India. However, it was blown up by the Portuguese off the Cape of Good Hope in 1630.
The Dano-Carical Conflict was a small-scale conflict between the Danes at Tranquebar and the Portuguese at Carical (Karaikal). The conflict includes three smaller naval engagements, which eventually led to a four-hour-long imprisonment of Danish Captain Simon Jansen.
The Christianshavn Incident, also known as the Skirmish at Santa Cruz, was a minor incident and skirmish between Danish and Spanish military assets near Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain. The Danish vessel, Christianshavn, was badly wounded and the Danes had to retreat into habour, where they would be detained.