A vessel lost for more than 225 years surfaced during harbor works, yielding weapons and human remains. The discovery may change our understanding of the 1801 battle.<\/p>\n
In the waters off Denmark, pages of ancient history have met again: a vessel that disappeared more than 225 years ago during attacks by a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson was discovered during deep-sea work in the Copenhagen harbor. The find was hailed as a remarkable archaeological discovery.<\/p>\n
Maritime archaeologists from the Danish Viking Ship Museum identified the ship that sank during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 while surveying the port floor ahead of the planned construction of an artificial island.<\/p>\n
The excavations, which have been ongoing since the end of last year, managed to document the remains of the vessel at a depth of about 15 meters, where visibility was almost zero, according to the museum\u2019s press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found Dannebroge and the remains of those who could not land ashore after the battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Otto Uldum<\/p>\n
Uldum stressed that the ship\u2019s dimensions fully matched the preserved drawings, adding: \u201cThe area is littered with cannonballs and bar-shot. And yes, we found two cannons\u201d.<\/p>\n
The team of archaeologists was sent to conduct a more detailed survey of the site ahead of the construction of the planned infrastructure project.<\/p>\n
Linnetholm is to become a 271-acre artificial peninsula, with development aimed at protecting Copenhagen from rising sea levels. The project has drawn numerous protests due to potential environmental impact.<\/p>\n
The museum stated that the sunken vessel is the Dannebroge, which on the morning of April 2, 1801, stood anchored in the harbor as part of the Danish-Norwegian defense against the British fleet commanded by Nelson.<\/p>\n
However, that day the Battle for the city unfolded. Danish sailors fought for four hours against the superior British forces, but were defeated; Dannebroge caught fire and exploded, after which the ceasefire was declared.<\/p>\n
The battle is well documented in the country\u2019s history, but, according to Uldum, this is most likely the first archaeological investigation connected with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough the battle is a central event in Denmark\u2019s history, as far as I know, no one has archaeologically studied it up to now. This is truly extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Otto Uldum<\/p>\n
Along with the battle\u2019s evidence, researchers found a rich artifact complex linked to the Dannebroge\u2019s crew: footwear, fragments of clothing, clay pipes, and elements of the uniform.<\/p>\n
Remains of one of the previously registered missing sailors were also found.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found a lower jawbone, undoubtedly human, as well as several other bones, including ribs that could be human. We are still far from finishing sorting and analyzing the material, but everything has been brought to the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Otto Uldum<\/p>\n
Nelson\u2019s fleet deployed 39 ships equipped with heavy artillery. Dannebroge stood at the center of Denmark\u2019s defenses under the command of Olfert Fischer and became the main target of British forces, which fired at it from two ships.<\/p>\n
Although the battle lasted only a few hours, it caused significant losses: according to the museum, 56 people on Dannebroge died, more than 40 were wounded.<\/p>\n
During the battle, the British suffered about 255 losses, more than 700 were wounded. For the Danes, losses were much higher: about 370 dead, 665 received medical aid, and more than 100 later died from injuries. The total number of fatalities remains unknown, as at least 200 Danes were considered missing.<\/p>\n
Extensive marine surveys in the Copenhagen harbor basin have been ongoing since 2020. Other sunken ships have also been found here, including one of the largest medieval cogs from the 15th century. Archaeological investigations are planned to be completed this spring; materials from the site are being captured in 3D imagery and photographed for further study.<\/p>\n
The analysis of the findings continues, as they help better understand the Battle of Copenhagen and the fate of the legendary Dannebroge.<\/p>\n
While scientists continue to uncover details, the discovery serves as a reminder of the wealth of history that may unfold for many years to come thanks to modern research methods and new archival data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vessel lost for more than 225 years surfaced during harbor works, yielding weapons and human remains. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[108,29858,29859,29700,29857,29707,38],"class_list":["post-54122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-copenhagen","tag-copenhagen","tag-copenhagen-harbor-wreck","tag-danish-marine-archaeology","tag-dannebroge","tag-dannebroge-copenhagen-harbor-wreck-danish-marine-archaeology-lynetteholm","tag-lynetteholm","tag-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116335462739195365","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}