Denmark: a small power with a growing shipping industry

Summary

ABSTRACT.Denmark with its possessions of Norway(to 1814), Iceland and Greenland was formed of numerous islands and depended on seaborne trade. So did the capital, Copenhagen, which drew food and commodities from all over the kingdom. Danish shipowners exploited their position to trade between the Baltic and North Sea, while others captured cargoes throughout the world, trading between hundreds of ports remote from Denmark or Danish products.

RÉSUMÉ.Le Danemark, auquel appartenaient la Norvège(jusqu'en 1814), l'Islande et le Groenland, était formé de nombreuses îles et dépendait du commerce maritime, tout comme Copenhague, sa capitale, qui faisait venir denrées alimentaires et produits de base de tout le royaume. Les armateurs danois profitèrent de leur situation géographique pour installer leur marché entre la mer Baltique et la mer du Nord. d'autres s'emparèrent de cargos partout dans le monde, ce qui leur permit d'établir des échanges commerciaux avec des centaines de ports éloignés du Danemark ou de ses produits.

THE ROYAL DANISH NAVY

Nearly all the ships of the Danish navy were taken by the British in 1807 and after the Napoleonic Wars the economy was so bad that in 1820 the navy consisted of only two ships of the line, five frigates, one corvette and two brigs. More men-of-war were built in the following years; in 1850 four ships of the line, eight frigates, five corvettes and four brigs were available, as well as a handful of paddle steamers.

In the years 1848–1850 Denmark was at war against insurgents in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein who were for a time supported by Prussia. At that time no German state possessed a navy, so Denmark was superior at sea and could blockade Hamburg as well as the Prussian harbours in the Baltic. The Danish navy still held its own in the second war in 1864, although as a result of that war the duchies were lost to Prussia and Austria. At that time several of the wooden frigates were provided with steam boilers and auxiliary propellers. On the eve of the First World War the Danish navy had four cruisers, five smaller armour-plated warships, thirty torpedo boats, four submarines and a lot of smaller vessels. In most years during the 19^th century a brig was sent to the Danish Caribbean islands of St Thomas, St Jan and St Croix.