HDMS Sarpen was brig of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served from 1791 to 1807 until the British captured her in 1807. While in the Dano-Norwegian service she participated in an indecisive action at Tripoli

Tripoli

Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...

, North Africa. She served the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 as HMS Sarpen from 1808 until 1811 when she was broken up. During her brief British service she participated in the Walcheren Expedition. Her name is that of a waterfall on the Norwegian river Glomma

Glomma

The Glomma or Glåma is the longest and largest river in Norway. The long river has a drainage basin that covers a full 13% of Norway's area, all in the southern part of Norway.-Geography:...

.

Design

Sarpen was one six Lougen-class brigs designed by the naval architect Ernst Stibolt that the British captured in 1807.

Dano-Norwegian service

In the action of 16 May 1797

Action of 16 May 1797

This battle took place on 16 May 1797 near Tripoli . The Danish squadron was victorious over a Tripolitan squadron that outnumbered them in terms of the number of vessels...

, Sarpen, under Captain Charles Christian De Holck, with Captain Steen Andersen Bille

Steen Andersen Bille

The name of Steen Andersen Bille is closely associated with one extended family of Danish Naval Officers over four generations. Their relationships are as follows*Steen Andersen Bille Colonel and Vice-Commandant of Copenhagen....

 in overall command in the frigate  Najaden

HDMS Najaden (1796)

HDMS Najaden was a frigate of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, which she served from 1796 to 1807 until the British captured her in 1807. While in Dano-Norwegian service she participated in an action at Tripoli, North Africa. She served the Royal Navy as the fifth rate HMS Nyaden from 1808 until...

, participated in a punitive attack at Tripoli. The battle lasted for about two hours before the Tripolitans retreated. The Danes suffered one man killed and one wounded. As a result of the Danish victory, the Bey of Tripoli signed a peace treaty with Denmark on 25 May.

On his return to Malta from Tripoli, De Holck, performed his quarantine of 38 days at the lazzaretto in Valletta

Valletta

Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...

, together with Lieut. John Munk, Lieut. Emanuel Krieger, Lieut. Wolfgang Kaas, Commissar Gabriel Hetting and Doctor Mark Klausen. In acknowledgement of the kind treatment they had received, De Holck set up a commemorative marble tablet on 10 October 1797.

During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, Sarpen was under the command of Capt Lt Carl Farbriuis de Tengnagel. Prior to the battle the Danes had sent her to The Skaw

Skagen

Skagen is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,515 , in Region Nordjylland on the northernmost tip of Vendsyssel-Thy, a part of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark...

 to serve as the eyes of the fleet. She served in Olfert Fischer

Olfert Fischer

Johan Olfert Fischer was a Danish officer in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He commanded the Dano-Norwegian fleet against British forces under Lord Nelson during the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801.-Life and career:...

's division in the Inner Run under Chamberlain Steen Bille and did not engage in any actual fighting.

British service

The British took possession of Sarpen under the terms of capitulation following the Second Battle of Copenhagen

Battle of Copenhagen (1807)

The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...

 on 7 September 1807. Sarpen arrived on 7 November at Chatham where she was fitted out from November to August 1808. She was to be renamed Voltiguer but the Admiralty canceled the name change. After refit she joined the British Navy as HMS Sarpen.

Commander James Gifford took command of Sarpen on 16 May 1808 for the North Sea and Baltic. In 1809 she came under the command of Commander John Sanderson Gibson and participated in the Walcheren Expedition. She took up station off Blackenbeg (probably Blankenberge

Blankenberge

Blankenberge is a town and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke.On 1 January 2010 Blankenberge had a total population of 18,907...

). In early May Gibson boarded a vessel with an English license and found out from the Master information about the size and status of the French fleet at Terneuzen

Terneuzen

Terneuzen is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With over 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland.-Population centres :...

. Gibson passed the information up the chain of command to Admiral Sir Richard J. Strachan

Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet

Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Childhood:...

. Similarly, on 29 June, boats from Sarpen captured a boat and took five prisoners. Gibson interrogated the prisoners from whom he learned that the French were stringing a chain across the river at Antwerp to prevent an attack by fire ship

Fire ship

A fire ship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were usually old and worn out or...

s. By October 1809, however, Sarpen was at Anholt

Anholt (Denmark)

Anholt is a Danish island in the Kattegat, midway between Jutland and Sweden, with 171 permanent residents as of 1 January 2010. It is seven miles long and about four miles wide at its widest and covers an area of 21,75 km². Anholt is part of Norddjurs municipality in Region Midtjylland...

, to which she had escorted four supply ships.

Fate

Sarpen was paid of on 22 December 1809 and laid up at Sheerness. She was broken up there in August 1811.