HDMS Printz Friderich (1764)

	Original plans of the Printz Friederich
History
Kingdom of Denmark
Name	HDMS Printz Friderich
Builder	F. M. Krabbe, Nyeholm, Copenhagen
Laid down	1761
Launched	1764
Fate	Wrecked 29 September 1780,
General characteristics
Complement	667
Armament	70 guns

HDMS Printz Friderich was a ship-of-the-line launched in 1764, to a design by Frederik Michael Krabbe, a naval officer and leading ship designer of that period.^{[Note 1]} Two other ships — Norske Løve and Øresund — were constructed to the same design. Little is known of her service history beyond that she received a new keel in 1775. She was lost in 1780. Her wreck was rediscovered in 2018 by Kim Schmidt/Undervandsgruppen

Service

In 1770–1771, the ship was part of a squadron under Admiral F. C. Kaas active off Algiers.^[2] During this time, on 1 October 1770 the ship ran aground at the entrance to Port Mahon^[3]
In September 1774, Printz Friderich returned to Denmark from the West Indies.^[4]

Loss

On 29 September 1780, Printz Friderich was under the command of Andreas Lous, a well respected naval officer and chart maker of the period. She ran aground on the shoal Kobbergrund southeast of the island of Læsø in the Kattegat and was a total loss.^[5]^[6] The vast majority of the crew were rescued and landed on Læsø - only eight or ten men were drowned.^[7] Supplies were quickly sent to Læsø for the survivors. The court martial of Captain Lous and his officers for the loss of the ship exonerated Lous (who had been ill and confined to his cabin for three days), but considered three lower-ranking officers (Lars Kinck, Stibolt^[8]^{[Note 2]} and Fleischer) culpable.

Almost a month later the Danish frigate Kiel under Claus Frandsen Tønder also ran aground near Læsø but escaped without damage having jettisoned eight cannon. She then took on board one hundred of the Printz Friderich's crew from the island.^[9]

Wreck

All sign of the ship disappeared from view, and almost from memory. In 2018 a specialist Underwater Group,^[10] using several forms of modern survey equipment eventually found the wreck largely intact.^{[Note 3]}^[5]^[6]

Notes

^ The spelling of the ship's name in records has varied slightly over the years eg Printz, Prinds, Prinz and several variations of Friderich, Frederich. The title used for this article is the name as on the design plans.
^ This was Andreas P. Stibolt. Three members of the extended Stibolt family served in HDMS Printz Friderich at various times.
^ A similar search for HMS Belette, which in 1812 too was lost off Læsø, has so far proven unsuccessful.

Citations

^ Danish Naval Archives - Prinz Friderich Archived 2021-11-30 at the Wayback Machine - for construction plans follow link and click "Vis".
^ Topsøe-Jensen, Vol 2, p. 552, Andreas H. Stibolt.
^ Topsøe-Jensen, Vol 2, p. 45
^ Topsøe-Jensen, Vol 2, p. 557, Friderich Stibolt.
^ ^a ^b "Danish warship found in ten-year quest". BBC News. 2018-11-13. Retrieved 2019-08-16. The team used a combination of old naval maps and state-of-the-art sonar equipment to find the powerful 52-metre (170-foot) ship, which went down in stormy seas off Denmark's Laeso Island in September 1780.
^ ^a ^b "Historic Danish warship found at the bottom of the Kattegat Sea". Copenhagen Post. 2018-11-13. Retrieved 2019-08-16. The team of divers, led by Kim Schmidt, had searched over 104 square km of seabed, making more than 200 dives in vain in difficult conditions before locating the wreck.
^ Topsøe-Jensen, Vol 2, p. 112.
^ Topsøe-Jensen, Vol 2, p. 554, Andreas P. Stibolt.
^ Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 p 650
^ Danish Research Website

References

T. A. Topsøe-Jensen og Emil Marquard (1935) “Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og den danske Søetat 1814-1932 (Danish Naval Officers)