Battle of West Kay
| Battle of West Kay | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the prelude to The English Wars | |||||||||
.jpg) The brig HDMS Lougen being attacked by two British frigates | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 United Kingdom |
 Denmark-Norway | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
John Perkins Koppelmann |
Carl Wilhelm Jessen Hans Munch | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
 HMS ExperimentHMS Arab |
 HDMS LougenHDMS Aarvaagne | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
2 frigates 40 cannons[1] |
1 schooner 1 brig 20 cannons[1] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
8 killed 10 wounded |
1 killed 3 wounded | ||||||||
The Battle of West Kay (Danish and Norwegain: Slaget ved Fugleklippen) sometimes also referred to by the Danish name as the Battle of Fugleklippen, was a naval battle between Denmark-Norway and The United Kingdom. The battle took place at the Skerry of West Kay (Danish: Fugleklippen), near St. Thomas and ended in a Danish victory,[2] which would later on have a significant national importance for Denmark.[3]
Background
Up until and including the Napoleonic Wars, Privateering was a common aspect of naval warfare in the Caribbean.[3] Denmark–Norway which owned the Danish West Indies, was keen to protect its trade and therefore sent two barques to guard and secure the trade on the islands in the late 18th century.[3] Including in 1793 the HDMS Lougen sailed for the islands[4] and later the Schooners Irisine and Den Aarvaagne also patrolled the islands[3][5]
Dano-British tensions
In the end of February 1801, there were rumours of a British mobilization to invade the Danish West Indies.[6] In response to the rumours, Governor-General Casimir Wilhelm von Scholten, sent two ships to gather more information.[6][4]
Lougen, under Carl Wilhelm Jessen,[1] with Den Aarvaagne under Hans Munch, was ordered to examine the British intentions. Jessen choose to distance Lougen from Den Aarvaagne, in order for Den Aarvaagne to return to Christiansted and inform the governor, in case of hostilities.[6]
Action
Prelude
When Lougen was near the uninhabited skerry of West Kay, presumably west of St. Thomas, two British ships, namely HMS Experiment and HMS Arab, was approaching.[6][3][7] Jessen could without problem have reached Charlotte Amalie, but instead sticked to his mission of investigating the British and came in for firing range of the British vessels[6][5] Arab under captain John Perkins shot three direct shots at Lougen.[6][3][1][8] In response Jessen asked the reason behind the shots, and when he did not get any answer from Arab, he countered by shooting sharp shot under Arab's Union Jack.[6][3] Arab replied by firing a whole Broadside at Lougen, which signalled the start of the confrontation.[6]
Battle
Experiment thereafter shot Lougen, and Lougen was therefore attacked by two sides[1][3][2] The Danish ship was heavily focused on the manoeuvre in order for the British not to board Lougen, and cannons from the afterdeck was installed to fire against the British.[6] Despite the shelling, Jessen managed to order Den Aarvaagne to return to Christiansted and inform the general-governor.[6] The attacked Lougen sailed to the coast of St. Thomas for the protection of a Coastal artillery[3][4] When the coastal artillery shot at Arab, it retreated to Tortola and the now alone, Experiment instead pursued Den Aarvaagne which were on its way to St. Croix[3][6] Jessen quickly followed Experiment and surrounded by artillery from both sea and land, Experiment retreated from battle.[6]
Aftermath
The Danish brig lost one member of its crew and three were wounded, and Lougen were damaged on several fronts.[6] The British had suffered a bigger loss with eight dead and ten wounded[6]
Carl Wilhelm Jessen returned to Denmark in summer 1801 and was awarded The King's Gold Honour Saber, by Crown Prince Regent Frederick with the inscription "For expelled against 3 March 1801"[6] In addition he received a bounty worth 400 Danish rigsdaler[6] He would later command the Danish Royal Navy in the Battle of Zealand Point[9]
Despite this Danish victory, on 28 March 1801, a British fleet of 3 ships-on-the-line, 6 Frigates, with an additional 20 armed vessels and 4000 men, under the command of Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet invaded St. Thomas.[10][1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Flor, Christian (1860). Haandbog i den danske literatur [Handbook in the Danish literature] (in Danish). Copenhagen: Forlaget Gyldendal. p. 591.
- ^ a b Perioden fra 1800 til 1815: Slaget på Københavns red, Flådens ran og Englandskrigene (PDF).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nielse, Per (1997). FLADEN OG DANSK VESTINDIEN [The Fleet and the West Indies] (PDF) (in Danish). Forlaget Marinehistoriske Skrifter and Dansk Vestindisk Selskab. pp. 18–20.
- ^ a b c Schou, Rolf (1933). Lougen Orlogsman og Koffardimann (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum.
- ^ a b Thilo, Palle (2009). Orlogsbriggen Lougen, 18 kanoner, 1791-1802 [The brig Lougen, 18 cannons, 1791-1802] (in Danish). Forlaget Falcon.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Balsved, Johnny. "To engelske fregatter måtte tage flugten ud for St. Thomas i Dansk Vestindien". Danish Naval History.
- ^ Garde, H.G (1852). Den Dansk-norske Sømagts Historie 1700-1814 [The Dano-Norwegain Naval power's History 1700-1814] (in Danish). Copenhagen: forlaget J. H. Schubothes Boghandling.
- ^ Jungersen, Kay (1945). Danmarks Søkrigshistorie [Denmarks Naval War History] (in Danish). Copenhagen: Søofficersskolens foranstaltning.
- ^ Danish Military History Archived 12 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine website (in Danish)
- ^ Clarke, James. The Naval Chronicle. Vol. 5. Cambrigde Library Collection]. p. 209.