Battle of Copenhagen (1801)

The Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 (Danish: Slaget på Reden), 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.

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
Copenhagen, Denmark–Norway
55°42′10″N 12°36′48″E
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Denmark–Norway
Commanders and leaders
  • Olfert Fischer
  • Steen Bille
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

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
Location within Europe

As the British ships entered the harbour of the Danish fleet, several of its ships took up station in the city's inlet, forming a blockade. The Danish fleet defended the capital with these ships and bastions on both sides of the harbour inlet. 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 Tsar Paul I of Russia, as his death meant the end of the Russian-led League of Armed Neutrality of which Denmark was a member.

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