This Danish Warship Exploded in Battle 225 Years Ago. Now, Archaeologists Are Racing to Recover Its Artifacts

The destruction of the “Dannebroge” was documented in art and history books. Now, thanks to a museum’s excavations, archaeologists can study the wreck up close for the first time

Michele Debczak | Correspondent

April 7, 2026

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A fiery explosion sank the Danish warship Dannebroge during the Battle of Copenhagen on April 2, 1801, killing dozens of people on board. More than two centuries later, the wreck of the famous ship has been identified at the bottom of the Copenhagen harbor, according to the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark.

Maritime archaeologists working for the museum made the discovery while surveying the seabed ahead of planned construction. Developers are building an artificial island called Lynetteholm at the battle site to help protect the Danish capital city from flooding and storms, and now researchers are racing to recover the wreckage. By the time the project’s first stage opens in 2029, the ship’s remains will be inaccessible.

Adding to the difficulty of the tight timeline, visibility at the bottom of the silty harbor, close to 50 feet below the surface, is nearly zero.

“Sometimes you can’t see anything, and then you really have to just feel your way, look with your fingers instead of with your eyes,” diver and maritime archaeologist Marie Jonsson tells James Brooks of the Associated Press.

The excavation team has been hard at work since the end of 2025. So far, they’ve identified two cannons, personal items like shoes and clay pipes, and the remains of one of the wreck’s victims who had been listed as missing.

“We have found a lower jaw that is without doubt human, as well as several other bones, including ribs, which could very well be human,” says Otto Uldum, maritime archaeologist at the Viking Ship Museum and the excavation leader, in a statement. “We are far from finished sorting and analyzing the material, but we are bringing everything up.”

Denmark and Great Britain faced off in the Battle of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars, which embroiled much of Europe for nearly two dozen years. On its final day above the waves, the Dannebroge was anchored in the Copenhagen harbor at the center of the Danish-Norwegian defense line against British naval forces. British Admiral Horatio Nelson launched an attack with his fleet of 39 heavily armed vessels, leading to a battle that lasted several hours and led to thousands of casualties—most coming from the Danish side.

As the Danes’ flagship, the Dannebroge was a prime target. After the British fired on the vessel, a blaze broke out on board, and the ship exploded. More than 50 crewmembers were confirmed dead, while 19 were labeled missing.

Danish art and history books immortalized the Battle of Copenhagen in the decades that followed, but physical evidence of the carnage hasn’t been studied in an archaeological context until now.

“We actually don’t know how it was to be onboard a ship being shot to pieces by English warships and some of that story we can probably learn from seeing the wreck,” Morten Johansen, head of maritime archaeology for the Viking Ship Museum, tells the AP.

Resurfacing the ship in its entirety isn’t feasible, Lynsey Chutel reports for the New York Times. Copenhagen harbor authorities had the wreck broken up in the mid-19th century to facilitate easier passage for ships traveling through the port. The Viking Ship Museum is aiming to bring up as many artifacts as possible in the next few months, documenting the findings using 3D scanning, photographic recording and surveying.

Michele Debczak | Read More

Michele Debczak is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She appears in seasons four through six of History Channel’s “The Food That Built America,” and her work has been featured in Mental Floss, IndieWire, Eater and Vice.