Archaeologists discover wreck of Danish warship sunk by Nelson 225 years ago | Archaeology

More than 200 years after it was sunk by Admiral Horatio Nelson and his British fleet, a Danish warship has been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen harbor by marine archaeologists.

Working 15 meters (49 feet) below the waves in thick sediment and near-zero visibility, divers are racing against time to uncover the 19th-century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing estate being built off the Danish coast.

Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, which led months of underwater excavations, announced its findings on Thursday, 225 years after the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen.

“It’s a big part of the Danish national feeling,” said Morten Johansen, the museum’s head of maritime archaeology.

“Much has been written about the war by very enthusiastic viewers, but we don’t actually know what it was like to be on a ship being blown to pieces by British warships, and we can probably learn some of that story by seeing the wreckage,” Johansen said.

At the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson and the British fleet attacked and defeated the Danish navy, which had established a protective blockade outside the harbour. Thousands were killed and injured in the brutal hours-long naval engagement that was considered one of Nelson’s “great battles.” The aim was to remove Denmark from the alliance of northern European powers that included Russia, Prussia and Sweden.

At the center of the conflict was the Danish flagship Dannebroge, commanded by Admiral Olfert Fischer.

The 48-metre (157 ft) Dannebroge was Nelson’s main target. Cannon fire tore through the upper deck before incendiary shells sparked a fire on board.

“[It was] “Being on one of these ships is a nightmare,” Johansen said. “When a ship is hit by a cannonball, it’s not the cannonball that does the most damage to the crew, but the wood splinters that fly everywhere, much like grenade debris.”

The war is also believed to have inspired the expression “to ignore”. Nelson, who lost his right eye, said after deciding to ignore his superior’s signal: “I only have one eye, I have the right to be blind sometimes.”

Nelson eventually offered a ceasefire, and an armistice was later agreed upon with Danish Crown Prince Frederik. The affected Dannebroge slowly drifted north and exploded. Records say the sound created a deafening roar in Copenhagen.

Maritime archaeologists discovered two cannons, uniforms, insignia, shoes, bottles, and even part of a sailor’s lower jaw; It probably belonged to one of the 19 unnamed crew members who lost their lives that day.

The excavation site will soon be surrounded by construction work on the mega-project Lynetteholm, which aims to build a new residential district in the middle of Copenhagen’s harbour, expected to be completed by 2070.

Marine archaeologists began exploring the site late last year, targeting a spot thought to match the flagship’s final location.

Experts say that the dimensions of the wooden pieces found match the old drawings. Dendrochronological dating, which uses tree rings to determine the age of the tree, ties the wreck to the year the ship was built. The dark excavation site is also littered with cannonballs; It poses a danger to divers navigating in darkened waters due to alluvial clouds rising from the sea floor.

“Sometimes you can’t see anything and then you really just have to grope, look with your fingers instead of your eyes,” diver and marine archaeologist Marie Jonsson said.

Described in books and painted on canvas, the war of 1801 is deeply embedded in Denmark’s national story.