Danish warship sunk by Nelson's British fleet discovered after 225 years

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A Danish warship has been found underwater in Copenhagen harbor, more than 200 years after it was sunk during the Battle of Copenhagen by Admiral Horatio Nelson and the British fleet. The Dannebroge is being excavated by marine archaeologists who are racing against time to uncover the 19th-century wreck before it becomes a construction site for a new housing district being built off the Danish coast.

“It’s a big part of the Danish national feeling,” said Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology at Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum. “We know a great deal has been written about the battle by very enthusiastic spectators, but we actually don’t know how it was to be onboard a ship being shot to pieces by English warships and some of that story we can probably learn from seeing the wreck.”

In the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson and the British fleet attacked Denmark’s navy as it formed a protective blockade outside the harbor. The battle resulted in thousands of casualties and is considered one of Nelson’s “great battles,” intended to force Denmark out of an alliance with Russia, Prussia, and Sweden.

The Dannebroge was Nelson’s main target during the fighting. Cannon fire tore through its upper deck before incendiary shells sparked a fire aboard. The ship drifted northward and exploded, making a deafening roar across Copenhagen, records say.

Marine archaeologists have discovered two cannons, uniforms, insignia, shoes, bottles, and even part of a sailor’s lower jaw, perhaps one of the 19 unaccounted-for crew members who likely lost their lives that day. The dig site will soon be enveloped by construction work for Lynetteholm, a megaproject to build a new housing district in Copenhagen Harbor expected to be completed by 2070.

“There are bottles, there are ceramics, and even pieces of basketry,” Jonsson said. “You get closer to the people onboard.”

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