The Battle of Colberger Heide (also Kolberger Heide or Colberg Heath) took place on 1 July 1644 during the Torstenson War, off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The battle was indecisive, but a minor success for the Dano-Norwegian fleet commanded by Jørgen Vind, assisted by Grabow and King Christian IV, over a Swedish fleet commanded by Klas Fleming, assisted by Ulfsparre and Bjelkenstjerna.
Course of the battle
The Dano-Norwegian fleet consisted of 40 ships with about 927 guns, and the Swedish fleet consisted of 34 ships with 1018 guns and 7 fireships.
The Dano-Norwegian fleet, coming from the east, and the Swedish fleet, coming from the west, met just north of the island of Fehmarn (Femern). The Swedes turned and sailed south along the west side of Fehmarn, inshore of a shoal, while the Danes followed a little further offshore. The Swedes turned north and swung around before resuming their westward course alongside the Danes. As the battle progressed the fleets turned before the wind, north and then back east south of the island of Langeland. As they approached the island of Lolland the Swedes turned south and eventually ended up in Kiel Bay while the Danes continued south-east, anchoring to the east of Fehmarn.
Casualties
Neither side had lost a ship. Dano-Norwegian casualties were 37 killed and 170 wounded, and Swedish casualties were 32 killed and 69 wounded. Among the Dano-Norwegian casualties were commander Jørgen Vind, who died of his wounds soon after the battle,[1] and the king, whose wounds included the loss of an eye.
Outcome
The exact result of the battle is disputed by historians. Some claim that the battle ended with a Dano-Norwegian victory,[2] with others claiming that it ended inconclusively.[3][4][5][6][7]
Impact
A Danish 1715 medal commemorating the battle.
While the Dano-Norwegian fleet gained a minor success when it subsequently managed to incarcerate the Swedish fleet at the Bay of Kiel, the battle was not decisive: in a subsequent encounter, the Dano-Norwegian navy was utterly defeated off the Fehmarn coast. The significance of the battle lies rather in it being retrospectively perceived as the last Dano-Norwegian victory over her long-time adversary, Sweden, in the two countries' struggle for control of the dominium maris baltici, as well as the heroization of the Dano-Norwegian king's personal commitment during the battle, memorized in the famous Marstrand painting and the first lines of the Danish royal anthym Kong Christian stod ved højen mast.[8]
The fireships were named Meerman, Caritas, Meerweib, Bona, Jungru, St Mikael and 1 other. 4 had previously been used as horse transports and were barely ready.
References
Footnotes
^Lohmeier, Dieter (2001). "Zacharias Lunds Lebenslauf in Spannungsfeldern". In Detering, Heinrich; et al. (eds.). Dänisch-deutsche Doppelgänger. Grenzgänger. Vol. 3. Göttingen. pp. 19–20. ISBN3892443564.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Essen, Michael (2020). The Lion from the North: Volume 2, The Swedish Army during the Thirty Years War 1632-48. Helion & Company. p. 113. ISBN978-1913118839. However, the outcome of the battle was inconclusive and both sides claimed victory.
^Mygind, Finn (31 December 2012). "Kolberger Heide | lex.dk". Den Store Danske (in Danish). Retrieved 9 September 2024.
^Schilling, Heinz (2007). Konfessionalisierung und Staatsinteressen. Internationale Beziehungen 1559-1660series=Handbuch der Geschichte der internationalen Beziehungen. Vol. 2. Schöningh. p. 557. ISBN978-3506737229. Parrott, David (2012). The Business of War. Military Enterprise and Military Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 149. ISBN978-0521514835. Jenkins, Richard (2011). Being Danish. Paradoxes of Identity in Everyday Life. Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN978-8763526036.
General reference
Naval wars in the Baltic 1559-1850 (1910) - R. C. Anderson
