HDMS Najaden (1796)
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Najaden in battle at Tripoli in 1797
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| History | |
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 Denmark & Norway
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| Name: | Najaden |
| Builder: | Nydholm Dockyard, Copenhagen |
| Laid down: | 11 August 1795 |
| Launched: | 11 August 1796 |
| Fate: | Surrendered to the British after the Battle of Copenhagen |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Nyaden |
| Acquired: | Captured from Denmark 7 September 1807 |
| Commissioned: | 1808 |
| Fate: | Broken up May 1812 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fifth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 908 75⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 38 ft 0 in (11.6 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 5 1⁄2 in (3.2 m) |
| Complement: | 254 in British service |
| Armament: |
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HDMS Najaden (Danish: "The Naiad") was a frigate of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served from 1796 to 1807 until the British captured her in 1807. While in Dano-Norwegian service she participated in an action at Tripoli, North Africa. She served the Royal Navy as the fifth rate HMS Nyaden (or Nijaden) from 1808 until 1812 when she was broken up. During her brief British service she participated in some small attacks in the Barents Sea during the Anglo-Russian War.
Najaden was the first ship that the great Danish naval architect F.C.H. Hohlenberg designed after he returned home from training abroad. She had several revolutionary innovations and bore more resemblance to 19th century sailing warships than 18th century examples.HMS Nymphen was the only other member of the class.
Najaden had a slab-sided hull and the typical Hohlenberg pinkie stern, with a place for two stern chaser guns. Gardiner suggests that the pinkie stern and increased tumblehome towards the stern permitted the vessel to fire over the quarters. Naval warfare in the Baltic made extensive use of oared gunboats, which would fire on becalmed vessels from the quarter, an angle that normally broadside guns could not cover. The pinkie stern was unpopular with the British, who removed it when they refitted her.
Compared to many British frigates of the same period, her main gun deck ports were closer to the water (at 6 feet (1.8 m) when loaded with full supplies), and she had less carrying capacity for supplies. This made sense as Hohlenberg expected that her primary area for operations would be the Baltic. But it would have been difficult for her to be in full action in heavy weather in the open Atlantic.
In the action of 16 May 1797, Najaden, under Captain John Hoppe, with Captain Steen Andersen Bille in overall command, led a small squadron that also included Sarpen and a hired xebec in an attack at Tripoli. The battle lasted for about two hours before the Tripolitans retreated. The Danes suffered one man killed and one wounded. As a result of the Danish victory, the Bey of Tripoli signed a peace treaty with Denmark on 25 May.
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Wikipedia