HDMS ''Ingolf'' was a Danish schooner-rigged steam

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

build in iron and launched in 1876. ''Ingolf'' marks a transition between the traditional gunships with

muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm in which the user loads the projectile and the propellant charge into the muzzle end of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern designs of breech-loading fire ...

cannons placed along the sides of the ship and modern

breechloading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

and turning guns placed in the centerline of the ship. The guns on ''Ingolf'' were

guns from

Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The steam engine was British and could deliver 650 HP. The propeller could be hoisted up into a well on the underside of the ship, so as not to slow down the ship when she went for sails. ''Ingolf'' undertook a large number of voyages, often in the North Atlantic (

Faroes The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

) in summer and the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

in winter. From 1897 ''Ingolf'' also served as training ship for

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s and

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

s. During World War I ''Ingolf'' was part of the Danish alerted fleet (not a true mobilization, as Denmark was neutral during the war). The last voyage as a training ship was in 1922 and went to the Mediterranean. Decommissioned in 1926 and sold for scrap.

Ingolf expedition

''Ingolf'' was used for two

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

expeditions during the summer months of 1895 and 1896, collectively known as the Ingolf Expedition. The cruises were financed by the Danish Government and had the objective of studying the

bathymetry Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors ('' seabed topography''), river floors, or lake floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of wate ...

around

, northwards toward

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

and off West

, heavily inspired by the

Challenger expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific programme that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by W ...

and similar American and German expeditions. Commander both years was the experienced captain C.F. Wandel and scientific crew consisted of three zoologists ( Hector Jungersen,

William Lundbeck William Lundbeck (16 October 1863 in Aalborg – 18 May 1941 in Kongens Lyngby) was a Danish entomologist mainly interested in Diptera. He was a Professor in the University Museum in Copenhagen. Lundbeck's most important work was ''Diptera Danica ...

, and H.J. Hansen, replaced in 1896 by

Carl Wesenberg-Lund Carl Jørgen Wesenberg-Lund (December 22, 1867 in Copenhagen - November 12, 1955), D.Phil, professor of limnology 1922-1939 at the University of Copenhagen, was a Danish zoologist and freshwater ecologist. He was a pioneer in Danish nature cons ...

), one botanist ( Carl H. Ostenfeld) and one hydrographer (

Martin Knudsen Martin Hans Christian Knudsen (15 February 1871 in Hasmark on Funen – 27 May 1949 in Copenhagen) was a Danish physicist who taught and conducted research at the Technical University of Denmark. He is primarily known for his study of molecul ...

). Despite severe weather and ice conditions thousands of hydrographical measurements were taken and biological samples collected at a total of 144 stations, down to depths of 3500 meter. The results are published in the impressive report ''The Danish Ingolf-Expedition (1899–1942, 5550 pages and 333 plates). The most significant results were the demonstration of two different bottom faunas separated by the Wyville Thomson Ridge south of the Faroe Islands and the systematic difference in temperature of the water at the sea floor between the north and south side of the ridge; and the very large number of small crustaceans collected by means of H.C. Hansen's method of filtering the bottom mud with fine silk gauze rather than a metal sieve. A very large number of species of micro-crustaceans were thus described for the first time based on the material collected by the Ingolf expedition.

References

External links

Ingolf Report on Biodiversitylibrary.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingolf (1876) Research vessels of Denmark Ships built in Copenhagen Gunboats of Denmark 1876 ships