page_title: Thomas Baker (Royal Navy officer)
section_title: Baker and Copenhagen
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas Baker (Royal Navy officer) / Command / Baker and Copenhagen
context_page_description: Sir Thomas Baker KCB, KWN was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He had obtained his own command during the French Revolutionary Wars and was to play a part in bringing about three of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Battle of Cape Ortegal. He only directly participated in the third, but his actions there, and the capture of the French frigate Didon beforehand brought him honours and rewards. While towing the Didon to a British port, he and another vessel were sighted by the combined Franco-Spanish fleet under Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, and mistaken as scouts for the Channel Fleet. He therefore turned south to Cadiz, leading to the abandonment of the planned invasion of England, and the destruction of the French fleet at Trafalgar by Horatio Nelson some months later. He rose through the ranks after the end of the wars with France, and was commander of the South America Station during Charles Darwin's voyage aboard HMS Beagle. He eventually died with the rank of vice-admiral in 1845 after a long and distinguished career.
context_section_description: Baker and the Nemesis had been assigned to enforce the blockade of naval stores to the French and Dutch dockyards, with a small squadron under his command. On 25 July he approached a convoy of six merchantmen off Ostend, that was being escorted by the 40-gun Danish frigate Freja, and announced his intention to search the merchants, as he suspected them of carrying stores to be used by the French. The commander of the Freja, Captain Krabbe, announced that he would fire on any boat that Baker sent to carry this out. Baker did so anyway and the Danish opened fire, but missed the boat. The shot hit the Nemesis and killed a man. Incensed, Baker ordered a general action and after 25 minutes fighting, subdued the Freja. The Freja and the convoy were escorted into the Downs, where the commander of the station, Vice-Admiral Skeffington Lutwidge, ordered that the Freja continue to fly the Danish colours while the matter was investigated. 
  The heart of the dispute centred over the right of British ships to stop and search merchants. The Danes insisted that a convoy escorted by one of their ships flying a neutral flag, was a guarantee of the cargoes being shipped, except in the approaches to a blockaded port.  The British had no reason to trust or fear the Danes and were not inclined to alter this policy, and a diplomatic mission was sent to Copenhagen under Lord Whitworth, accompanied by a fleet under Vice-Admiral Archibald Dickson. The negotiations resulted in the British agreeing to repair and return the Freja, leaving the matter of the rights of searching vessels to be determined later. The incident caused the Russian Tsar, Paul I, to place an embargo on British goods, though this was lifted three weeks later. Simmering discontent over the unresolved matter of British rights in enforcing the blockades led to the Danes, Swedes and Russians forming the Second League of Armed Neutrality. In response the British despatched a fleet under Sir Hyde Parker and Horatio Nelson to force the Danes to withdraw from the League, which resulted in the Battle of Copenhagen.  Baker's actions were approved of by the Admiralty, and on 26 May 1801 he was appointed to command the 36-gun HMS Phoebe. The Phoebe was assigned to the Irish station, where Baker remained until 27 May 1802.
caption: The tensions caused by the British enforcement of the blockade eventually led to the Battle of Copenhagen
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