Battle of Zealand Point The Battle of Zealand Point was a naval battle of the English Wars and the Gunboat War . It was fought off Zealand Point by ships of the Danish and British navies on 22 March 1808 and was a British victory . Prelude . The Danish ship of the line " Prins Christian Frederik " was stationed in Kristiansand , Norway from 7 August 1807 , patrolling waters between Norway and Denmark where Britain had imposed a blockade . In February 1808 , the " Prins Christian Frederik " pursued the British ship into hiding . Having learned of the Danish ship , the British admiralty sent a squadron consisting of HMS " Nassau " ( the former Danish ship - of - the - line " Holsteen " , taken during the Battle of Copenhagen ) , , , and two brigs , and , to secure the waters . While this was going on " Prins Christian Frederik " became frozen in near Kristiansand . She therefore did not set sail for Denmark until 4 March . By the time " Prins Christian Frederik " reached Denmark , epidemic typhus had broken out among her crew . Ice in the Danish harbours prevented her from docking , and crew were replaced over the ice . On 17 March morale deteriorated further when news arrived that King Christian had died . She was ordered into the Great Belt ( " Storebælt " ) strait to provide cover for a crossing of a French army corps consisting of Spanish soldiers ordered by Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte ( later King of Sweden ) to attack Skåne . Having been alerted to the Danish plan , the British ships give chase . The British ships intended to outmanoeuvre , corner and overpower the " Prins Christian Frederik " ; Captain Carl Jessen , after conferring with his officers , decided to take a stand in order to gain enough of a tactical advantage to move into familiar waters and within the protective range of the cannon at Kronborg . Course . In the hours before the battle the Danish ship - of - the - line was within sight of two British warships – the frigate " Quebec " and the sloop " Lynx " . At 2 [ pm ] they were joined by the sloop , " Falcon " , who recorded the signal from " Quebec " ” Danish Line - of - battle - ship to windward ” , and cleared for action . Shortly after 4 [ pm ] " Stately " and " Nassau " were sighted to the North East , and the signal , " inforced with a ( signal ) gun " , of the presence of the enemy led to all ships making ” all sail , in chace ” . " Falcon " recorded in her logbook , from a safe distance of five miles , that the battle opened at 7 : 50 [ pm ] . At about 7 pm , " Stately " and " Nassau " flanked the " Prins Christian Frederik " , which opened fire on " Stately " . The two British ships returned fire . The initial engagement lasted for two hours , and resulted in the death of one of the Danish officers , Peter Willemoes . After a brief pause , the British ships attacked again and succeeded in driving the " Prins Christian Frederik " onto the sandbar . The Danish officers surrendered and prisoners were transferred to the British ships . The dead were dumped overboard ; the transfer of wounded took until the next morning . After failing in their attempts to tow the " Prins Christian Frederik " off the sand , the British set her on fire ; she exploded in the evening of 23 March . " Stately " had four men killed , and 31 officers and men wounded . " Nassau " lost one man killed , 17 officers and men wounded , and one man missing . " Prins Christian Frederik " lost 55 men killed and 88 men wounded . The British had evacuated all the Danish prisoners and wounded before they set fire to her . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasps " Stately 22 March 1808 " and " Nassau 22 March 1808 " to any still surviving crew members of those vessels that chose to claim them . Consequences . The " Prins Christian Frederik " was the last of the Danish ships of the line during the Napoleonic Wars . Its loss meant the end to any Danish challenge to British supremacy in Danish territorial waters .