HDMS Justitia (1777)

HDMS Justitia was a Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy ship-of-the-line, built to a design by Henrik Gerner.[3] Although launched in 1777, she was not fully commissioned until 1780.[4] The British Royal Navy seized her in 1807, together with the rest of the Danish fleet after the second battle of Copenhagen. The British never commissioned Justitia. A renaming to Orford in 1809 was cancelled. She was broken up in 1817.

For the earlier HDMS Justitia, see HDMS Justitia (1707).

An illustration of Justitia
History
Denmark & Norway
NameJustitia
NamesakeJustitia
BuilderHenrik Gerner, Nyholm, Copenhagen
Laid down8 June 1776[1]
Launched2 September 1777[1]
Commissioned1780
Out of service1807
FateTaken by the British at second Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
General characteristics
Class and typePrindsesse Sophia Frederica Class ship of the line[2]
Sail planFull-rigged ship
United Kingdom
NameJustitia
AcquiredBy capture by the British at second Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
FateBroken up 1817
General characteristics (British service)[1]
Tons burthen175811⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • Overall: 174 ft 3 in (53.1 m)
  • Keel: 124 ft 2+1⁄2 in (37.9 m)
Depth of hold19 ft 9 in (6.0 m)
Complement590
Armament
  • Lower deck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
  • Upper deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 4 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Round house:6 × 18-pounder carronades

HDMS Justitia (1777)
Illustration of Justitia by Henrik Gerner.

HDMS Justitia served in the home fleet based in Copenhagen for the whole of its active life in the Danish navy, when new acting as flagship to the admiral commanding the home squadron.[lower-alpha 1] Her captains and admirals include

  • Admiral on the flagship Justitia - Vice Admiral Carl Friderich de Fontenay (1781 and 1782).[5][lower-alpha 2]
  • Flag captains on Justitia - Hans Georg Krog (1780),[6] Johan Peter Wleugel (1782),[7]
  • Captains when Justitia was not the flagship - Hans Schiønnebøl (1781),[8] Anton Friderich Lützow (1789),[9] and Svend Martin Ursin (1800).[10]
  • In 1786 Lorentz Henrik Fisker was second in command of Justitia in the home squadron [11]
  • In 1788 Commodore Just Bille put forward proposals for the testing of the new 36 pound cannon in HDMS Justitia.[12] These trials took place in June and July 1788, with Poul de Løvenørn as the official observer.[13]
  • In 1788 Peder Janus Bording was Captain of HDMS Justitia in the home squadron which served alongside the Russian squadron involved with the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) commanded by the Russian vice admiral von Dessen. In August of that year Justitia accompanied ship-of-the-line Lovisa Augusta and the frigate Møen on a secret mission to the North Sea (for which details are lacking!), and later on artillery trials.[14]

Justitia does not appear to have been involved in the 1801 battle of Copenhagen but was present at the 1807 battle when the majority of the Danish fleet was surrendered to the British. At that point the Royal Danish Navy struck her from the lists.

HMS Justitia

Justitia was one of the many ships the British Royal Navy seized after the battle. She arrived at Portsmouth on 5 December 1807 and then was laid up.[1]

Fate

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered Justitia, of 74 guns and 1758 tons, was first advertised for sale and breaking up in July 1814.[15] The successful purchaser had to give a bond to complete the breaking up within one year. However she did not sell.

In February 1817 the Navy used her for experiments with Robert Seppings diagonal braces. She was then broken up at Portsmouth in March 1817.[1]

Notes
  1. A total of twenty-three Danish officers are recorded in the two volumes by Topsøe-Jensen and Marquand as serving at some time on the Justitia, always in the home squadron, covering the years 1780 to 1800.
  2. Vice Admiral C.F. de Fontenay was the son of Admiral Gaspard Frédéric le Sage de Fontenay who had served on the earlier ship-of-the-line HDMS Justitia (1707) in 1723

Citations
  1. Winfield (2008), p. 91.
  2. Three decks
  3. Royal Danish Naval Museum - shiplist Justitia
  4. Balsved - Danish Naval History
  5. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 1 page 391
  6. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 page 53
  7. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 page 723
  8. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 page 455
  9. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 page 149
  10. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 page 667
  11. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 1 page 374
  12. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 1 page 120
  13. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 2 page 157
  14. Topsøe-Jensen Vol 1 page 172
  15. "No. 16920". The London Gazette. 25 July 1814. p. 1510{.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Justitia (ship, 1777).
  • Balsved - Danish Naval History website
  • Threedecks website - Justitia (1777)
  • (in Danish)T. A. Topsøe-Jensen og Emil Marquard (1935) "Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og den danske Søetat 1814-1932“. Two volumes. Volume 1 and Volume 2 Hard copies are listed in libraries Stockholm, Odense, Ballerup and Copenhagen
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
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