HDMS ''Elephanten'' (1773) The ornamentation on this ship is depicted at the Royal Danish Naval Museum's websit
Elephanten
by clicking "vis" and more directl
here
was an 18th-century ship-of-the-line in the Dano-Norwegian navy, built at Nyholm in Copenhagen to a design by the Frenchman

Laurent Barbé Laurent Barbé was a French shipbuilder born about 1696. He came to the attention of Frederik Danneskiold-Samsøe,Count Frederik Danneskiold-Samsøe was appointed head of the Danish navy in 1735 when in 1739 the newly formed Danish Naval Constructio ...

Ship builder

Laurent Barbé was appointed to the Nyholm shipyards when his predecessor Knud Benstrup was sacked in 1740. As an experienced shipbuilder he produced technical drawings for a 76-gun ship-of-the-line which was built and saw service as HDMS ''Elephant'' (1741). He was reticent about revealing his construction methods to the Danish Naval Construction Commission but as a protege of the Count of Samsøe he survived in his position. Barbé also designed a frigate, a slightly smaller ship-of-the-line (of 70 guns) and a royal yacht. ''Elephanten'' was judged to be an excellent ship when it entered service, and the technical drawings became a standard for future similar ships. He also had failures and his frigate HDMS ''Æroe'' was a very mediocre sailer. In 1743 he obtained various French ship designs, which were built at Copenhagen and in 1744 was commissioned to design and build a galley – which proved a good sailer but responded poorly when rowing. With the departure of Count Samsøe in November 1746, Barbé lost all support in the shipyard, had disagreements with the Construction Commission and was retired on a pension of 500 rdl in 1747. Barbé continued to live in Copenhagen until his death, in straitened circumstances, on 21 March 1764. His collection of design drawings was seized on his dismissal and put into the Danish admiralty's collection for future use. HDMS ''Elephanten'' (1773) is credited to the design of Barbé, although she was launched 26 years after Barbé's departure. (The plans available on line, for ornamentation drawn in 1772 and receiving royal approval, are signed Håndværksmester/Bygmester: Møllerup).

The Ship

During the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801 HDMS ''Elephanten'' was in the inner harbour and not engaged in the fighting. Her namesake on the British side, HMS ''Elephant'' was

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

's flagship that day.History Today

Fate

''Elephanten'' was decommissioned in the latter half of 1801, but may have been used as a storage facility for gunpowder until 1805, and thence as a blockshipThe title of a document stating this is recorded at the Royal Danish Naval Museum's websit
Elephanten
by clicking "vis" but the document itself is missing

Notes

References

Citations

Royal Danish Naval Museum
Details, drawings and models for some named ships are available. *Balsved

*Bjerg H C
Laurent Barbe
in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 3rd Ed., Gyldendal 1979–84. Accessed 18.May 2019 *History Toda
Vol 51 (4) April 2001

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elephanten Ships of the line of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy 1773 ships