HDMS ''Det Store Bælt'' Royal Danish Naval Museum - Det Store Bælt /ref>The original designs of the figurehead and ornamentation of the gallery are available at this reference by clicking "vis" was a frigate of the
Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy
The history of the Danish navy began with the founding of a joint Denmark-Norway, Dano-Norwegian navy on 10 August 1510, when John, King of Denmark, King John appointed his vassal Henrich Krummedige, Henrik Krummedige to become "chief captain and ...
, launched in 1782. In 1800, she was sold to the
Danish Asiatic Company
Danish Asiatic Company (Danish language, Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East Ind ...
and renamed ''Holsteen''.Marcussen - Holsten (I record card /ref>
Construction and design
''Det Store Bælt'' was constructed at Bodenhoffs Plads to a design by Henrik Gerner. She was the first of at least three frigates constructed for the navy at Andreas Bodenhoff's dockyard. The next were '' Friderichsværn'' (1783) and ''Hvide Ørn'' (1784). ''Det Store Bælt'' was launched on 22 June 1782 and the construction was completed in August 1783.
''Store Bælt'' was long with a beam of and a draught of . Her complement was 274 men. Her armament was 36 12-pounder guns.
Career
Naval service
She was commissioned in the Royal Danish Navy and served for some years as the cadet training ship in the North and Baltic seas. In 1785, she was under the command of Ole Andreas Kierulff (17421822).
In 1793 she was patrolling in the North Sea under the command of A J Herbst, and in 1795 and 1797 was part of a joint Danish/Swedish squadron enforcing neutrality and protecting trade. In 1797, she was under the command of Hans Lindholm.
DAC service
In 1800 the Royal Danish Navy sold ''Store Bælt'' for 7,800 '' rigsdaler'' to the
Danish Asiatic Company
Danish Asiatic Company (Danish language, Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East Ind ...
who renamed her ''Holsten''
From her home port of Copenhagen ''Holsten'' completed three voyages to the East Indies:
*1800–1801
*1801–1803 under captain Jan Hendrick Helsding
*1804–1805 also under captain Jan Hendrick Helsding.
On 12 June 1805 ''Holstein'', Helfding, master, was reported off Dover on her way from Bengal to Copenhagen. It appears that it was on a fourth voyage that she met her fate.
Fate
A report in the ''Madras Courier'' dated 10 February 1807 stated that the Danish company's ship ''Holstein'' was sailing from Copenhagen to Serampore when she was dismasted off Ceylon. She sailed to Mauritius for repairs."SHIP NEWS". ''Morning Chronicle'' (London, England), Monday, 21 September 1807; Issue 11964. On reaching
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
(then known as Isle de France) ''Holsten'' was condemned as unseaworthy.
The DAC replaced her, in December 1806, with the purchase from the French at Mauritius the recently captured
East Indiaman
East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...
, which the Company then renamed ''Holsten''.CAVEAT: Differing sources report 1805, perhaps 1806, or 1807 as the year of demise. The first two editors here have concluded the true year is 1807 - see Talk page
Namesakes
At least two other ships have borne similar names"
*Store Bælt (1875–1912), a gunboat.Balsved
*Storebælt (1995–1999), a patrol vessel.