Battle of Copenhagen (1801)

First Battle of Copenhagen
Part of the War of the Second Coalition and the English Wars
Battle of Copenhagen by Nicholas Pocock
Date 2 April 1801 Location The roadstead of Copenhagen Harbour, Denmark–Norway 55°42′10″N 12°36′48″E / 55.70278°N 12.61333°E / 55.70278; 12.61333 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Denmark–Norway
Commanders and leaders
Hyde Parker Horatio Nelson	Olfert Fischer Steen Bille
Strength
12 ships of the line 5 frigates 7 bomb vessels 6 sloops	9 ships of the line 11 sloops 17 assorted ships 1 land battery
Casualties and losses
1,200 killed, wounded or captured[1][2] 3 ships of the line ran aground	2 ships of the line sunk 1 ship of the line destroyed 6 ships of the line captured 1,600 killed, wounded or captured[2]
class=notpageimage| Location within Europe

The Battle of Copenhagen of 1801 (Danish: Slaget på Reden, meaning "the battle of the roadstead [of Copenhagen Harbour]"), also known as the First Battle of Copenhagen to distinguish it from the Second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807, was a naval battle in which a British fleet fought and defeated a smaller force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy anchored near Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. The battle came about over British fears that the powerful Danish fleet would ally with France, and a breakdown in diplomatic communications on both sides.

As the British ships entered the harbour of the Danish Navy, several of its ships took up station at the harbour's roadstead, forming a blockade. The Danish fleet defended the capital with these ships and bastions on both sides of the harbour inlet.^[3] It was the second attempt by the British to try to prevent a Franco-Danish alliance, as the British had already entered Øresund with a fleet in August 1800, in order to persuade Denmark not to ally with France. The Danes agreed to the British terms upon hearing news of the assassination of Tsar Paul I of Russia, as his death meant the end of the Russian-led League of Armed Neutrality of which Denmark was a member.^[3]