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Danish Shallow Water Frigate (With Plans)


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Inspired by Don Alejandro´s thread about the Spanish Navy, I put all plans for danish frigates posted so far in one thread.

Sorted à la francaise, i.e. by caliber of the guns on the upper gun deck, not the actual gun count.

 

 

4- / 6-pounder frigates

 

Blaa Heyren

18 guns, 1734, Benstrup

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (Danish fod)

 

Length:                                                                      86'

Breadth:                                                                     22' 2'

 

Draught aft:                                                               11' 6''

Draught forward:                                                        9' 4''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water                 4' 6''

 

Length to Breadth ratio:                                             3,86

 

Armament

 

18 4-pounders

 

 

Langeland

18 guns, 1758, Krabbe

 

 

 

 

Based on the lines of the Royal Caroline.

 

Dimensions (Danish fod)

 

Length:                                                                       89'

Breadth:                                                                     23' 3''

 

Draught aft:                                                               9' 8''

Draught forward:                                                        9' 4''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water                  5'

 

Length to Breadth ratio:                                             3,83

 

Armament

 

18 4-pounders

 

 

 

8-pounder frigates

 

Raae

30 guns, 1709, Judichær

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (Danish fod)

 

Length:                                     104'

Breadth:                                      29'

 

Draught aft:                                 12'

Draught forward:                          11' 2''

 

Length to Breadth ratio:              3,58

 

Armament

 

18 8-pounders

12 4-pounders

 

 

Christiania,

20 guns, 1774, Krabbe

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (imperial feet)

 

Length:   118' 6''

Breadth:   31' 11''

 

Draught aft:  14'

Draught forward:  12' 11''

 

Length to Breadth ratio:   3, 71     

 

 

Armament

 

20 8-pounders

10 Falquonettes (1-pounders)

 

 

Crew

 

173

 

Other ships in class: Tranqvebar (1762), Alsen (1764), Færøe (1766)

 

Launched in 1774 at Friderichswaern (Norway), broken up 1793.

 

Thread: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/12971-christiania-danish-20-gun-frigate-1774-with-plans/?hl=christiania

 

8-pounder frigate concept

24 guns, 1794, Stibolt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length                                                                       125'       

Breadth                                                                       33'

Depth in Hold                                                              16' 7''

 

Draught Foreward                                                      13' 3''

Draught Aft                                                                 14' 6''

Height of middle gunport above the water                    5' 9''

 

L/B ratio                                                                      3.78

 

Armament

 

24* danish 8-pounders

 

 

Hvide Ørn,

30 guns, 1798, Hohlenberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model:

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length                                                                       124'       

Breadth                                                                       32' 6

 

Draught Foreward                                                       13'

Draught Aft                                                                  14'

 

Height of middle gunport above the water                    5' 9''

 

L/B ratio                                                                      3.81

 

Armament

 

24 8-pounder

6   8-pound howitzers

 

 

Lille Belt

20 guns, 1803, Hohlenberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions

 

Length                                                                108' (danish)

Breadth                                                                 28' 9''

 

Draught Foreward                                               12' 9''

Draught Aft                                                          11' 3''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water           5'

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,75

 

Armament

 

20 danish 8-pounders (or 32-pound carronades)

 

 

 

 

12-pounder frigates

 

 

Hvide Ørn

32 guns, captured 1715, ex-swedish Vita Orn

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length                                                                105'

Breadth                                                                 30'

Depth in Hold                                                        11' 6''

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,5

 

Armament

 

22 12-pounders

10  6-pounder

 

 

Christiansborg

24 guns, 1758, Krabbe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions

 

Length                                                                128' (danish)

Breadth                                                                 33' 10''

Depth in Hold                                                        13'

 

Draught Foreward                                               13' 3''

Draught Aft                                                          14' 6''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water           5' 9''

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,79

 

Armament

 

24* danish 12-pounders

 

 

Designed by M. Krabbe, launched 1758, broken up 1786.

 

Krabbe submitted this plan after returning from the obligatory european study trip (1752 - 1756, visiting british, french, italian and dutch shipyards) and a certain french influence is clearly visible.

 

 

Perlen

36 guns, 1774, Krabbe

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions

 

Length                                                                128' (danish)

Breadth                                                                 34' 6''

Depth in Hold                                                        17'

 

Draught Foreward                                                 15'

Draught Aft                                                            13' 9''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water               6'

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,71

 

Armament

 

24 12-pounders

10  4-pounders

 

 

Friderichsværn

36 guns, 1784, Gerner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions:

 

Length:                                                          127' (danish)        / 130' 10'' (imperial)

Breadth:                                                          36' (danish)        /   37' 1''    (imperial)

Depth in Hold:                                                 17' 2'' (danish)    /   17' 8''    (imperial)

Draught Foreward                                                                          14' 2''    (imperial)

Draught Aft                                                                                     15' 2''    (imperial)

 

Height of middle gunport above the water                                       6' 2'' (imperial)

 

L/B Ratio              3,53

 

Armament:

 

26* danish 12-pounders

10* danish 4-pounders (later replaced by 12-pounder carronades)

 

Designed by H. Gerner, probably Denmark's most eminent shipwright in the 18th century, Friderichsværn was one of seven ships of the Bornholm-class. Launched 1784 and captured by HMS Comus before the 2nd Battle of Copenhagen. Sold 1814.

 

Other ships in class:

Bornholm       (1774, only 24 12-pounder on the upper deck)

Kiel                (1775)

Moen             (1777)

St. Thomas    (1779)

Cronborg        (1781)

Det Store Belt (1782)

 

 

Triton

30 guns, 1789, Stibolt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions

 

Length:                                                      126' (danish) / 129' 10'' (imperial)

Breadth:                                                      34' (danish) /  35' 1'' (imperial)

Depth in hold:                                                14' 3'' (danish) / 14' 9'' (imperial)

 

Height of middle gunport above waterline:       5' 9'' (danish) / 6' (imperial)

 

Armament:

 

24* 12 pounders + dedicated bowchase port, 6* 12-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck

 

 

Designed by fabrikmester E. Stibolt and launched 1789, burnt by the british after the Battle of Copenhagen 1807.

The french-style hull shape is typical for the pre-Hohlenberg era and given her rather conservative number of guns, speed seems to have been the focus of this ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Nymphen

38 guns, 1806, Hohlenberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length:                                                                        136'

Breadth:                                                                         36'

Depth in hold:                                                                17' 8''

 

Height of middle gunport above waterline:                     6' 3''

 

L/B Ratio                                                                       3,77

 

Armament:

 

26 12-pounders

10 24-pound carronades

 

 

 

 

18-pounder frigates

 

Disco

42 guns, 1781, Gerner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (imperial)

 

length                                                               144' 3'

breadth                                                              38' 1'

draught aft                                                         17' 9''

 

height of middle gunport above the waterline:    8' 5''

 

Length-to-breadth-ratio:                                     3.78

 

Armament

 

26 danish 18-pounders

16 danish   8-pounders

 

Crew

 

389

 

Launched 1778, transferred to Asiatic Company in 1781, broken up 1795 (five voyages to India)

 

Ships in class: Pommern (1784)

 

A 'lastdrager' frigate, but also on the list of royal navy frigates.

 

Thread: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/13770-disco-danish-east-indiaman1778-with-plans/?hl=disco

 

Havfruen

40 guns, 1789, Stibolt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (imperial)

 

length                                                                           148' 3''                        

breadth                                                                          38' 7'

draugth aft                                                                     17'

draugth forward                                                             15' 9''

 

distance of the meta center to true midpoint                  2' 10''

(waterline)             

 

heigth of middle gunport above the waterline                6' 6''

 

length-to-breadth ratio                                                   3,84

 

 

Armarment

 

26 18-pounders / 26 12-pounders

4   12-pound howitzers

14  6-pounders

 

Crew

 

380

 

Main differences compared to the later Iris and Freia:

Slightly rounder transom (with two stern chase ports with ornamented lids), beakhead bulkhead with huge bollard timbers and no chase port (the position of the foremost port would allow for a 30° fire angle, though), subsequently more space between ports ( 7' 5'' instead of  7' 2'')

 

Thread: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/13882-havfruen-danish-frigate-1789-with-plans/

 

Freia

40 guns, 1793, Stibolt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (imperial)

 

length                                                                           148' 3''                        

breadth                                                                          38' 7'

draugth aft                                                                     17'

draugth forward                                                             15' 9''

 

distance of the meta center to true midpoint                  2' 10''

(waterline)             

 

heigth of middle gunport above the waterline                6' 6''

 

length-to-breadth ratio                                                   3,84

 

 

Armarment

 

danish service

 

26 18-pounders

4   12-pound howitzers

14  6-pounders

 

Crew

 

380

 

 

british service

 

26 24-pounders (Gover)

14 32-pound carronades

2    9-pounders

 

Crew

 

264

 

 

Launched 1793, captured by the RN in 1807. Coverted to troopship in 1811.

 

Capable of 10.6 knots close-hauled and 13 knots running free, although rather leewardly (performance of sister-ship Iris). Good, easy sea-boat. British captains trimmed her by the head, which is quite unusual and the danish design draughts indicate that was not the case in danish service (draft was almost 2 feet deeper overall in british service).

 

Thread: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/13824-freia-danish-18-pounder-frigate-1793-with-plans/

 

 

Venus

36 guns, 1804, Hohlenberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

length                                                                           139'                      

breadth                                                                          36' 6''

draugth aft                                                                     15' 10''

draugth forward                                                             14' 10''

 

heigth of middle gunport above the waterline                 6' 3''

 

length-to-breadth ratio                                                   3,80

 

 

Freia

46 guns, 1817, Schifter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length                                                                148'

Breadth                                                                 37' 9''

 

Draught Foreward                                               17' 2''

Draught Aft                                                          15' 9''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water           6' 9''

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,92

 

 

Armament

 

28 18-pounders

18 short 18-pounders

 

 

Diana

20 guns, 1818, Schifter

 

 

 

 

Painting of sister-ship Najaden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length                                                                112'

Breadth                                                                 29' 3''

 

Draught Foreward                                               13' 9''

Draught Aft                                                          12' 3''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water           5' 3''

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,82

 

 

Armament

 

20 short 18-pounders

 

 

 

24-pounder frigates

 

Perlen

46 guns, 1804, Hohlenberg

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish fod)

 

Length                                                                150' (danish)

Breadth                                                                 39'

Depth in Hold                                                        20'

 

Draught Foreward                                               16' 7''

Draught Aft                                                          17' 7''

 

Height of middle gunport above the water           6' 9''

 

L/B ratio                                                               3,85

 

 

Armament

 

26*24-pounders

12*12-pounders

8* 24-pounder carronades

 

Edited by Malachi
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Because I don´t like ships of the line, so my motivation to dig the forum for danish SoL plans is pretty much non-existant.

Of course, if the British are to be believed, SoLs are by far the best representatives of Danish shipbuilding.

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Maybe, maybe not. I find it hard to believe that danish shipwrights (Gerner, Stibolt, Hohlenberg) were able to produce excellent SoLs, but failed in frigate design. My best guess is that the british simply put to much weight (provisions+additional guns/carronades) on the smaller ships captured at Copenhagen and thus didn´t get the best out of them.

 

For example, Freya and Iris were designed to carry 26 18-pounders and 14 bronze 6-pounders (which weighed less than iron 6-pounders) or 10 18-pound carronades and 6 bronze 6-pounders. The british armed them with 26 18-pounders (26 24-pounders in the case of Freya) and 14 32-pound carronades + 2 9-pounders.

 

It´s a small wonder that they still managed 10 1/2 knots close-hauled and 13 knots running with a trim that was totally not the designed load waterline.

The case of the Venus is especially interesting, the draught fore and aft with 4 months provisions in danish service was   15' 3'' / 16' 3'', in british service 17' / 16' 9''.

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IIRC the British didn't look poorly on Danish frigates, so much as they thought them similar to French ships, with the usual pros and cons.

 

Put another way, the British were picky but Hohlenberg's ships of the line exceeded their own exacting standards. At the end of the day it was probably a case of strategic priorities as much as sailing qualities, since the British always want tough, capacious vessels.

 

 

Edit: A 32-pdr carronade weighs about 6% more than a short British 6-pounder.

 

EditEdit: Meant to write 6-pounder.

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Edit: A 32-pdr carronade weighs about 6% more than a short British 9-pounder.

 

Hm, a danish bronze 6-pounder weighed 1376 lbs, so  14*1376 lbs= 19.264 lbs.  British quarterdeck + forecastle guns and carronades are ~ 16* 1920 lbs= 30.720 lbs. Plus the ballast to balance to the additional weight.

 

At the end of the day it was probably a case of strategic priorities as much as sailing qualities, since the British always want tough, capacious vessels.

 

 

Which no other country built, because they didn´t need to blockade french ports for months on end :P

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...and combined the draughts for Venus. The extremely narrow 'pink-style' stern looks pretty nice and unique. Stern rakes certainly would be a challenge (which was the intention of Hohlenberg) :P

 

 

 

Another interesting picture:

 

 

 

max angles and recoil positions for the 18-pounders on the upper gun deck.

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Added Raae (the one from PotBS), Hvide Ørn (Tordenskiold's ship) and Perlen (1774).

 

 

I did some more digging in the archives, looks like the Venus-class was the most numerous frigate-class the Danes built during the age of sail. The first Venus was launched in 1805, followed by Najaden in 1811, the second Venus and Perlen in 1812, Minerva (1813), Nymphen (1815), Fylla (1816). What´s curious is that the designer, Hohlenberg, never saw any of these ships in the water. He resigned his post as fabrikmester in 1803 and died shortly after on St. Croix, aged 38.

 

The design remained unchanged by his successor A. Schifter, although the second Venus, Fylla and Minerva were armed with 26 12-pounders, 8 8-pounders and 4 32-pound carronades instead of the 26 18-pounders, 4 6-pounders and 6 18-pound carronades the other ships carried.

 

And I´d really like know what made the danish admirality chose the Venus-class over the design of Hohlenberg´s highly regarded 24-pounder frigate Perlen or Stibolt´s Havfurens for the rebuild of their frigate fleet after the disaster of Copenhagen in 1807.

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And here´s the lovely 'Perlen' ('Pearl'), launched 1804, taken by the british in 1807, finally sold in 1846 :

 

 

 

Length 154' 10'', breadth 40' 5'', draught aft 18' 2'', height of battery amidships 7'

 

Armament: 26 24-pounders (long, 49cwt), 12 12-pounders (long, 27 cwt) and 8 24-pound carronades (16 cwt).

                  The plan shows 14 gun ports + chase port, so two additional 24-pounders are possible with a suitable reduction of quarterdeck guns.

                   And she could mount four stern chasers - the windows are just glorified gun ports - and four bow chasers (all guns coming from the broadside, of course)

 

Official complement: 416

 

Considered as Hohlenberg´s best frigate and the 'apogee of Danish frigate design in the Napoleonic period'.

 

 

I couldn´t find a model of the Perlen, but here´s one of the 90-gun Christian VII (totally, absolutely not the ship of the same name in the player selection poll), so you can get a better impression of the unusual stern construction:

 

 

 

 

In addition to making effective stern rakes more difficult, this pink-style stern also had the advantage that the aftermost broadside guns could be used when being chased (the chasing ship usually took a leeward position , chases with a ship directly behind the other like we have ingame were less common). The possible fire angles can be nicely seen here:

 

 

 

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Najaden 1811 - 1812, sister-ship of the Venus of 1805, only ship of this class with a conventional horse-shoe transom.

'Literally battered to atoms' (citation from the official british account) by the 64-gun ship Dictator in the action of 1812/07/06.


zOA402X.jpg

 

fHaqMTP.jpg

 

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Slightly out of the timeframe*, but interesting nonetheless: the Galathea. Launched 1830, she became famous for the first danish circumnavigation of the globe under captain St. A. Bille in 1846/47.

 

 

 

*but there´s nothing too 'modern' about her; if you cut down the forecastle bulwarks, she looks pretty much exactly like Hohlenberg´s Venus-class.

 

More about the expedition:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galathea_expeditions

 

http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb10468267_00005.html

 

http://www.galathea3.dk/uk/Menu/Historical+perspective/Galathea+1

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions:

 

length                                            133'

breadth                                         33' 6'

draugth aft                                    15'

 

length-to-breadth ratio: 3.97

 

 

Armament:

 

26 18-pounders

 6  6-pounders

 

 

 

The renowned danish artist C.W. Eckersberg, who was responsible for the design of the stern decorations and the figurehead, also painted her a couple of times:

 

 

 

 

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Gefion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Original figurehead:

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish)

 

length                                                     160'

breadth                                                     41'

 

draugth aft                                              18' 9'

 

middle gunport above the waterline          6' 9''

 

Armament

 

28 24-pounders

20 short 24-pounders (either 12-pounders or 42-pound carronades ingame)

 

Crew

 

458

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Here are two pictures, part of a beautiful series of drawings, about the construction of the Freia, launched in 1819:

 

 

 

 

 

And Schifter´s ships seem to have been really fast, Gefion managed 15 knots before the wind and 12 knots close-hauled (speeds in prussian service, haven´t found anything about her in danish service), Galathea 13 knots in a strong gale and that was at the start of her circumnavigation of the globe when she was filled up to the rim with provisions, 6 additional cannons and 40 more crew than her usual complement.

The Freia- and Diana-class were considered as Schifter´s best designs, though. A pity they´re out-of-period :)

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  • 5 months later...
  • 8 months later...

Søe Ridderen

18 guns, 1758, Krabbe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions (danish)

 

length                                                     90'

breadth                                                   23' 4''

 

draugth aft                                             10' 3''

 

middle gunport above the waterline          5''

 

Armament

 

18 4-pounders

 

Crew

 

90

 

 

Edited by Malachi
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Det Store Belt / Holsteen (renamed when in DAC service)

32 guns, Gerner, 1781

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dimensions:

 

Length:                                                          127' (danish)        / 130' 10'' (imperial)

Breadth:                                                          36' (danish)        /   37' 1''    (imperial)

Depth in Hold:                                                 17' 2'' (danish)    /   17' 8''    (imperial)

Draught Foreward                                                                          14' 2''    (imperial)

Draught Aft                                                                                     15' 2''    (imperial)

 

Height of middle gunport above the water                                       6' 2'' (imperial)

 

L/B Ratio              3,53

 

Armament:

 

26* danish 12-pounders

10* danish 4-pounders (later replaced by 12-pounder carronades)

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