Norske Løve (ship, 1634)

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The ivory model in the exhibition at Rosenborg Castle

The Norske Løve was the first warship of that name in the Danish-Norwegian Navy. From 1634 to 1798 there were six ships of this name in the Danish-Norwegian Navy. They were named after the Norwegian national coat of arms , the Norwegian lion .

Construction and technical data

The Norske Løve was a "middle range" galleon (a so-called mellomskip ) with three masts , an extremely long bowsprit typical of the time , a closed battery deck , an open main deck amidships and a high poop deck . It was built in 1634/35 at the naval shipyard near fortress Engelsborg on the small island of Slotø near Nakskov by shipbuilder Daniel Sinclair († 1636), who immigrated from Scotland , according to plans by his business partner David Balfour († 1634), who was also from Scotland. Balfour had previously built the Tre Kroner (42 cannons) and several other warships for King Christian IV . When he died , he left architectural drawings that Sinclair used to build two ships. The Norske Løve based, according to the Treaty of 1631 between King Christian IV and the shipbuilders, on the design of the 1628 Balfour in. Copenhagen built Oldenburg (32-42 guns, 300 men, 1,644 of Sweden captured), which as an excellent sailor was known . The Norske Løve was probably the last ship of Sinclair to have built the three- decker Sanct Sophia (40 cannons, lost in a storm in 1645) in 1627 ; the fortress and shipyard Engelsborg on Slotø was closed after his death.

The ship was 38.13 m long and 9.89 m wide in the battery deck, had a draft of 3.30 m aft and displaced 900 tons. The information on armament and crew are different and both may have been changed several times over the years. 1644/45 are called 16 24-pounders and 22 10-pounders, giving a broadside weight of 604 pounds. At other times from 36 to 48 guns are given, and the broadside weight is given elsewhere as 608 pounds for 38 guns and 668 pounds for 46 guns. The manning varied between 194 and 244 men, presumably depending on how many cannons were to be operated.

An artistically excellent ivory model of the ship, completed by Jacob Jensen in 1654, is on display in Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen.

history

The Norske Løve was fully equipped and manned every year for the following twelve years and she took part, classified as a 46-gun ship of third rank in 1644 , in several armed conflicts in the Swedish-Danish War 1643-1645, including the sea ​​battle in Lister Tief on May 16, 1644, the naval battle on the Kolberger Heide on July 1, 1644 and the blockade of Gothenburg in 1644/45.

The ship was launched in 1653 .

successor

A new Norske Løve of nearly equal size and armament ran in 1654 in Lübeck from the stack . It is often confused with its predecessor. She was the flagship of the Danish-Norwegian fleet and was lost in a hurricane in 1666 in the "Løvebukten" near Egersund after her anchor chain broke .

Footnotes

  1. ^ Probst, p. 187
  2. ↑ Some of the stones in the complex were used to repair the castle in Nykøbing ; what was left could be fetched by the local farmers.
  3. ↑ 121.5 × 31.5 × 10.5 Danish feet; 1 Danish foot = 313.8536 mm.
  4. ↑ http://felipe.mbnet.fi/html/ships_1600-16491.html
  5. ↑ http://felipe.mbnet.fi/html/ships_1600-16491.html
  6. ↑ Catharine Leigh Inbody Corder: La Belle: Rigging in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, A Reconstruction of a Seventeenth Century Ship's Rig. MA Thesis, Texas A&M University, 2007, p. 93, Fig. 51
  7. ^ Probst, p. 188

literature

  • Niels M. Probst: Den danske flådes historie 1588-1660: Christian 4.s flåde. Marinehistorisk Selskap, Skrifter 26, Copenhagen, 1996, ISBN 87-00-28586-2