In September 2025, I had the special honor of digitizing the remains of a wooden warship off Denmark. It sank in 1809 after being trapped in the ice and attacked by Danish troops who advanced on foot across the frozen sea.
Here is the story:
The End of the Corvette Camilla in the Winter of 1808 off Denmark.
During the Danish-Swedish War (1808–1809), the corvette Camilla was deployed to protect merchant shipping in the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat. It was an armed wooden vessel carrying soldiers.
Under the command of Lieutenant J. G. Escholin, she sailed on December 22, 1808, together with an English convoy from Karlskrona and anchored off Falsterbo on the 24th.
Because of contrary winds, the convoy remained stuck until January 6, when the British frigate Salcette gave the signal to set sail. But ice and currents blocked the convoy.
The majority of the convoy remained trapped in the ice. The Camilla, with six merchant ships, drifted towards Saltholm and ran aground. In the process, the rudder broke and the bow was damaged.
Some ships were able to break through the ice and open a passage, but Camilla and several others remained stuck.
Now the enemy attacked:
From the ice, armed Danish troops marched towards the ships. The ice was so solid that even cannons could be dragged across it.
Captain Escholin on the Camilla tried to cover the merchant ships. He could not prevent some cables from being cut, but he did stop the attack across the ice with cannon fire.
Both anchor cables broke, and the Camilla was driven with the ice into Køge Bay.
By mid-January, storms and ice forced the ship into a bay between Stevns and Møn. Escholin had defensive positions established, fields of fire cut into the ice, and guards posted. In the following days, the Danes repeatedly tried to persuade Escholin to surrender—supported by up to 250 soldiers.
Escholin, however, remained steadfast. They hoped for milder weather that would free them from the ice. But on February 5, cold, strong northeasterly winds, and southward currents set in. The keel and hull were badly damaged by the ice. To remain afloat, almost all the cannons had to be thrown overboard. Supplies lasted only a few more days; there was bread for just two days left. The crew was exhausted, weakened, and stranded near the enemy coast.
Escholin had exhausted all possibilities. To prevent the ship from falling into enemy hands, he had it set on fire on February 10. The crew abandoned the Camilla, which shortly thereafter exploded.
Escholin and his men reached the coast and surrendered to the Danish troops as prisoners of war—defeated by the forces of nature alone, not by the enemy.
The dive
I scanned the wreck on September 10th 2025 during our MarineResearchGermany Expedition. The wreck lies in 21m water depth
Model
You can find the files in my download area
