Battles of the Gunboat War
1807–1814 · 4 battles covered, in date order. Click a battle on the map for its summary.
Battle (size: ships engaged)
British movement
Danish movement
Routes are approximate.
1808
22 March 1808 · Off Zealand Point (Sjællands Odde), Kattegat
Battle of Zealand PointBritish victory; the last Danish ship of the line destroyed
Prinds Christian Frederik, under Captain Carl Wilhelm Jessen, was sent to stop the British squadron in the Kattegat from interfering with the French and Spanish army waiting to cross into Sweden. She was caught off Zealand Point by Nassau and Stately and fought them for over two hours in the evening, until, with 55 killed and 88 wounded, she ran aground close inshore and struck. The British took off her crew and the wounded and set her on fire; she blew up the next evening. It was the end of Denmark's battle fleet.
2
vs
1 (1 lost)
16 May 1808 · Alvøen, near Bergen
Battle of AlvøenDano-Norwegian success; Tartar driven off
The frigate Tartar went into the skerries near Bergen after a Dutch frigate reported to be there. While she lay becalmed, the schooner Odin and five Norwegian gunboats came out and attacked her where her broadside could not bear. Captain George Bettesworth was killed by the first shots. Tartar's crew towed and kedged her round, drove off the gunboats, and got her back to sea.
1
vs
6
9 June 1808 · Off Saltholm, the Sound
Attack on the Saltholm convoyDanish success; the escort and a dozen merchant ships captured
A British convoy bound for the Baltic was becalmed in the Sound off Saltholm, just south of Copenhagen. The Danish gunboats rowed out and attacked it where the escorts could not manoeuvre. They took the gun-brig Turbulent and twelve or thirteen of the merchant ships, the kind of attack that made every passage of the Sound dangerous for the British.
1 (13 lost)
vs
0
1812
6 July 1812 · Lyngør, southern Norway
Battle of LyngørBritish victory; Najaden destroyed
The new frigate Najaden and three brigs, Laaland, Samsøe and Kiel, were cruising off the Norwegian coast when the British 64 Dictator and three brigs came on them. Captain Hans Peter Holm took his squadron into the narrow channels of the skerries at Lyngør, where he thought a ship of the line could not follow. Captain James Stewart took Dictator in anyway, with a local pilot, and ran her aground in a position where her full broadside bore on Najaden at close range. In half an hour Najaden was shattered and on fire, and she sank. The brigs Kiel and Laaland were taken but had to be abandoned when they grounded, and the British ships fought their way back out under fire from gunboats. The Danes lost 133 killed.
4
vs
4 (1 lost)