The geographic layout of
Denmark proper (not including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) has a
coastline to land area ratio of 1:5.9. For comparison, the figure for the
Netherlands is 1:92.1 and for the United States, 1:493.2. Denmark therefore naturally has long-standing maritime traditions, dating back to the 9th century when the
Vikings had small but well-organised fleets. They were often based in a small number of villages, usually with a common defence agreement;
Viking ships, usually of the
Knarr type, were light, and therefore easy to transport from village to village over land. With time, the defence pacts gave rise to larger, more offensive fleets which the Vikings used for
plundering coastal areas. In the period after the Vikings, and up to the 15th century, the fleet consisted mainly of merchant vessels. Indeed, it is said that
king Valdemar Sejr had more than 1,000 ships during the conquest of
Estonia in 1219. Together they carried more than 30,000 soldiers with horses and supplies. Records exist of a unified Danish navy from the late 14th century.
Queen Margaret I, who had just founded the
Kalmar Union (consisting of Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Iceland,
Greenland,
Faroe Islands,
Shetland,
Orkney, parts of
Finland and parts of Germany) ordered the building of a navy – mainly to defend the union against the
Hanseatic League. Earlier the national fleet had consisted of vessels owned and operated by the
nobility, but the country as such did not have a navy. The earlier
monarchs therefore had to rely on
conscription from the nobility, which was not always easy as the monarchy itself often had enemies within the nobility. Queen Margaret I gave instructions for a navy to be constituted and maintained under the control of the monarchy. The nobility still had to provide crews (which consisted mainly of "volunteered" farmers) for these ships, though the core crew-members (i.e.
masters,
master-at-arms and
master carpenters) could be employed by the monarch. There were also education
officers, mainly levied from the nobility. In the 15th century, especially during the reign of
King Hans, Danish trade expanded appreciably, increasing the need for the delivery of merchandise. As shipping was the ideal means of transport at the time, Danish maritime interests had to be further protected. King Hans is credited with establishing a joint
Dano-Norwegian fleet in 1509, substantially increasing the number of professional crewmembers. They were mainly petty criminals, who had to choose between working in the king's navy or imprisonment. They received basic training in seamanship and carpentry, enabling them to sail the ships. Responsibility for weaponry and combat was still in the hands of conscripted farmers. For these, the country was divided into a number of counties – known in Danish as
skipæn (the term
skip being related to the Danish word for ship,
skib), which would later serve as the Danish
dioceses. It was also during this period that dedicated naval bases and shipyards were founded. They would build, maintain and fit out the king's navy. The first record of a dedicated naval base is
Bremerholmd (later
Gammelholm) in the year 1500.
Founding of the Royal Danish Navy The founding of the Royal Danish Navy is often viewed in Denmark as taking place on 10 August 1510, when King Hans appointed his vassal
Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and head of all our captains, men and servants whom we now have appointed and ordered to be at sea." When
King Frederick II was crowned in 1559, he immediately began expanding the navy. The number of bases, yards and vessels rose rapidly and substantial resources were used for new ship designs, weaponry, training and battle tactics. Sweden, which had become an independent country, dominated a large part of the
Baltic Sea and threatened Danish merchant interests. In retaliation, Denmark closed the
Øresund in 1568, laying the first seeds for the
Scanian War (1675–1679), only eight years after the end of the
second Nordic War (1657–1660), during which Denmark lost the now Swedish provinces of
Skåne,
Halland and
Blekinge. During this period, further resources were allocated to the navy.
Niels Juel led the Royal Danish Navy to a victory in the
Battle of Køge Bay in 1677.
King Christian IV (crowned in 1588) continued in his father's footsteps. In the beginning of the 17th century, he considerably expanded the naval workshops. In
Copenhagen, where the navy resided, he built a large number of homes for crewmembers and workshop craftsmen – the most famous being
Nyboder (completed in 1631) which still stands in central Copenhagen. General admiral lieutenant
Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve was appointed supreme commander of the navy in 1701. He raised the status of the naval profession and established
Søkadetakademie, the predecessor of the
Royal Danish Naval Academy. In 1709, Peter Jansen Wessel joined the navy. He was later given the rank of admiral as a reward for his many victories – most famously at
Marstrand and
Dynekilden. He was later known as
Tordenskjold. In 1712, Tordenskjold succeeded in burning 80 Swedish naval cruisers, which played a large part in the outcome of the
Great Nordic War (1709–1720). Since
Scandinavia now was at peace, the navy focused its resources on other parts of the world, partaking in the
colonisation of Africa and the
Caribbean. A permanent naval presence of shifting strength was maintained in the Mediterranean Sea – protecting Danish-Norwegian interests in the region – mainly commerces against piracy. The Danish Mediterranean Squadron had numerous minor engagements with The Barbary States during the 1700s and 1800s. On several occasions these hostilities escalated to substantial actions. Some of the more notable can be said to be: the Mediterranean Squadron's bombardment of Algiers in 1770 under the command of rear admiral
Frederik Christian Kaas; the then captain, and future Privy Councillor,
Steen Andersen Bille's action at
Tripoli in 1797; and commander
Hans Georg Garde in a joint Scandinavian expedition in 1844 – which effectively ended the Barbary states' attacks on Scandinavian merchants in the region. A pact of neutrality was made between Denmark (including Norway) and Sweden, providing a solid basis for commercial expansion.
Copenhagenization and rebuilding The
British, under pressure from the
French in the
Napoleonic Wars, became increasingly reluctant to allow Denmark to trade overseas as they believed
First French Consul & General Bonaparte could benefit economically from Danish commerce. In 1801, they decided send a fleet to attack a Danish fleet, in the
Battle of Copenhagen, under the command of
Admiral Hyde Parker. The defence line, under the command of
Olfert Fischer, put up a fierce fight, but was defeated, with the loss of 3 ships sunk and 12 captured. After the battle, the Crown Prince agreed to sign a truce with the British. In the following six years, Denmark managed to stay clear of the Napoleonic Wars, until the events leading to a second confrontation in 1807. Britain was afraid that the Danish fleet might fall under the control of Napoleon, perhaps tipping the balance in his favour.
King Christian VII refused to hand over his navy to the British for safekeeping until the end of the war, and the British decided to capture the fleet by force. Copenhagen was
bombarded and the king forced to surrender the fleet. In 1814, Denmark and Norway were separated relatively peacefully, after more than 300 years together. At the same time, the Common Fleet was split into the Royal Danish Navy and the
Royal Norwegian Navy. The navy was slowly rebuilt, but it was nowhere near its former size. Faith was nevertheless placed in the navy, interests in Africa and the Caribbean still receiving considerable attention. In 1845, a two-year research expedition was launched on the corvette
Galathea. In the
Second Schleswig War (1864), the navy was still relatively small and old-fashioned, even though the
Prussian Navy was even smaller. Only a few steam vessels were at hand and these had a large impact on the war, in the end Prussians were not very successful at sea. As a result, it was considered necessary for the navy to be modernised. By the outbreak of
World War I (1914), the Danish navy was a very modern fleet, mainly equipped with armoured steam ships and only a very few sailing ships.
Interwar period and World War II Peder Skram scuttled by the Danish Navy on 29 August 1943 In the period between the two World Wars, the Royal Danish Navy (as well as the rest of the Danish military forces) had low priority for the politicians, especially between 1929 and 1942 under
Thorvald Stauning. During the first year of the
German occupation (1940–1945), the navy assisted the occupying German forces with minesweeping, because of the political demand of keeping the infrastructure (ferry-lines) up and running. The tensions between the German soldiers and the Danish armed forces rose slowly and, on
29 August 1943, they managed to scuttle 32 of its larger ships, while Germany succeeded in seizing 14 of the larger and 50 of the smaller vessels. This was due to a secret order, given directly to the captains by word of mouth by commander of the navy, Vice Admiral
A. H. Vedel "to try to flee to the nearest neutral or Nazi-opposed port. If that was not possible, the ship should be scuttled at as deep a location as possible." The Germans later succeeded in raising and refitting 15 of the sunken ships. A number of vessels had been ordered to attempt to escape to Swedish waters, and 13 succeeded. The fleet flagship,
Niels Juel, attempted to break out in the
Battle of Isefjord but the crew was forced to beach and partly scuttle her. The score for the larger vessels was therefore: 32 vessels were sunk, 2 were in Greenland, 4 reached Sweden, 14 were captured by the Germans. As for the smaller vessels: 9 "patruljekuttere" reached Sweden, 50 others were captured by the Germans. In September 1943, A. H. Vedel was fired by order of the prime minister
Vilhelm Buhl because of his hostile actions towards the Germans. helicopters, operated on Arctic patrol vessels (1962–1982) In the post-war years, Denmark joined NATO in 1949. As a result, Denmark received large amounts of material and financing through the
Marshall Plan. Furthermore, several ships were purchased from the British and a number of vessels were transferred from the disarmed
Kriegsmarine.
Cold War During
the Cold War, the Danish navy was rebuilt and modernised, with the main assignment being to repel an invasion from
the Warsaw Pact. Typical operations requiring training were
minelaying (the now disbanded minelayers of the
Falster class (, ), were the world's largest minelayers at their time – each had a complement of 280 900 kg mines) and sting attacks with small but fast combat craft (such as the
Søløven-class fast
torpedo boats (, ) and
missile torpedo boats (, ) and a self-sustaining mobile missile battery (MOBA) equipped with targeting and guidance, capable of firing
Harpoon missiles. The Danish intelligence capabilities were also expanded and the Danish
submarines trained for
very shallow water operations, while a special naval force – the
Danish Frogman Corps was created. The naval bases in
Frederikshavn and
Korsør plus the fortresses at
Langeland and
Stevns were created through NATO funds in the 1950s. In case of war all Danish combat vessels were assigned to
NATO's
Allied Forces Baltic Approaches's naval command
NAVBALTAP.
Post-Cold War Since the end of the Cold War, the navy has been in a transitional phase, from local defence to global operations, with fewer but larger vessels able to operate for long periods at sea. It has also been more self-sustaining. Under the defence agreement (1995–1999) that initiated the process, several of the old "Cold War" frigates and minesweepers were decommissioned. The
squadron structure prior to this defence agreement was as follows: • 1st Squadron = The North Atlantic Squadron (Danish: 'InspektionsSkibsEskadren' (ISE)) with 5 ocean patrol vessels (1
Beskytteren class, 4
Thetis class), 3 ocean patrol cutters (
Agdlek class) and 4 icebreakers • 2nd Squadron = The Frigate Squadron (Danish: 'FreGatEskadren' (FGE)) with 2 frigates (
Peder Skram class), 3 corvettes (
Niels Juel class), 14 StanFlex-vessels () and 6 seaward defence craft (
Daphne class, decommissioned in 1991) • 3rd Squadron = The Mine Squadron (Danish: 'MineSkibsEskadren' (MSE)) with 4 minelayers (
Falster class), 2 cable-minelayers (
Lindormen class) and 7 minesweepers (
Sund class, decommissioned in 1999) • 4th Squadron = The Torpedo Boat Squadron (Danish: 'TorpedoBådsEskadren' (TBE)) with 13 torpedo-/missile boats (8
Willemoes class, 5
Søløven class), 2 oilers (
Faxe class) and a truck-detachment with missiles and radars called
MOBA • 5th Squadron = The Submarine Squadron (Danish: 'UndervandsBådsEskadren' (UBE)) with 6 submarines (3
Tumleren class, 3
Springeren class) and the Frogmans Corps In the defence agreement of 2000–2004, further restructuring of the navy was ordered, as well as the decommissioning of several units. Furthermore, the only unit of
Beskytteren class was donated to
the Estonian Navy as . With the decommissioning of the torpedo boats, the 4th squadron was disbanded and the remnants were transferred to the 2nd squadron. Other units were also decommissioned. The squadron structure now looked like this: • 1st Squadron with 4 ocean patrol vessels (
Thetis class), 3 ocean patrol cutters (
Agdlek class) and 3 icebreakers • 2nd Squadron with 3 corvettes (
Niels Juel class), 14 StanFlex-vessels (
Flyvefisken class), 2 oilers (
Faxe class) and a truck-detachment with missiles and radars called
MOBA and a new truck-unit
MLOG with shops, spare parts, mechanics, etc. • 3rd Squadron = The Mine Squadron (Danish: 'MineSkibsEskadren' (MSE)) with 4 minelayers (
Falster class) and 2 cable-minelayers (
Lindormen class) • 5th Squadron = The Submarine Squadron (Danish: 'UndervandsBådsEskadren' (UBE)) with 4 submarines (3
Tumleren class, 1
Kronbrog class – leased Swedish '''') and the Frogman Corps On 1 January 2006, a major reorganisation was carried out as a part of the defence agreement of 2005–2009 (which also put an end to the 95-year-old submarine service, with no intention of developing future submarine capability), when the former four squadrons were divided into two squadrons: • 1st Squadron – domestic affairs squadron • 2nd Squadron – foreign affairs squadron On 18 August 2022, the
Defence Ministry announced the start of a major naval shipbuilding project, with a commitment of in funding to build new warships, in part as a response to the recent
Russian invasion of Ukraine. The funding is expected to be committed to programs that will roll out to ship commissioning over a 20 to 25-year period, and is a part of the government of Denmark's recent publicly stated plan to increase defence spending to two percent of the country's
gross domestic product (GDP). ==Structure of the Royal Danish Navy==