Battle of Copenhagen (1801)

For the later naval battle, see Battle of Copenhagen (1807).

First Battle of Copenhagen
Part of the War of the Second Coalition and the English Wars

Battle of Copenhagen by Nicholas Pocock
Date2 April 1801
Location
The roadstead of Copenhagen Harbour, Denmark–Norway
55°42′10″N 12°36′48″E / 55.70278°N 12.61333°E / 55.70278; 12.61333
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway
Commanders and leaders
Strength
  • 12 ships of the line
  • 5 frigates
  • 7 bomb vessels
  • 6 sloops
  • 9 ships of the line
  • 11 sloops
  • 17 assorted ships
  • 1 land battery
Casualties and losses

1,200 killed, wounded or captured[1][2]

3 ships of the line ran aground
  • 2 ships of the line sunk
  • 1 ship of the line destroyed
  • 6 ships of the line captured
  • 1,600 killed, wounded or captured[2]
Battle of Copenhagen (1801) is located in Europe
Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
class=notpageimage|
Location within Europe
Where the Battle of Copenhagen harbour occurred in 1801, and where Roskildefjord is located. It could have been hazardous for the Royal Navy to sail into the fjord, which is very narrow

The Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 (Danish: Slaget på Reden, meaning "the battle of the roadstead [of Copenhagen Harbour]"), also known as the First Battle of Copenhagen to distinguish it from the Second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807, was a naval battle in which a British fleet fought and defeated a smaller force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy anchored near Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. The battle came about over British fears that the powerful Danish fleet would ally with France, and a breakdown in diplomatic communications on both sides.

As the British ships entered the harbour of the Danish Navy, several of its ships took up station at the harbour's roadstead, forming a blockade. The Danish fleet defended the capital with these ships and bastions on both sides of the harbour inlet.[3] It was the second attempt by the British to try to prevent a Franco-Danish alliance, as the British had already entered Øresund with a fleet in August 1800, in order to persuade Denmark not to ally with France. The Danes agreed to the British terms upon hearing news of the assassination of Emperor Paul I of Russia, as his death meant the end of the Russian-led League of Armed Neutrality of which Denmark was a member.[3]

  1. ^ Ole Lisberg Jensen, THE ROYAL DANISH NAVAL MUSEUM - An introduction to the History of the Royal Danish Navy Archived 7 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b William James (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain. London: Richard Bentley. Retrieved 2012-03-16
  3. ^ a b part "Det danske søforsvar" at