Boat Name: Norske Love
Year Launched: 1765
Country: Denmark
Constructed By: Master F.M. Krabbe, Nyholm, Copenhagen
Size:167 ft. over stern, width 45 feet, and depth fore & aft 18 feet, 9 inches & 20 feet.
Crew: 667
Guns: 66
Actual Dimensions of Model: Length, 43 inches. Height, 39 inches.
Year Model Built: Oct 26, 2002 – Jan 5, 2003
Model Construction Hours: 406 hours
Historical Significance:
Norske Love was the second built from a series of three, the two others being “Printz Friderich” and “Dronning Caroline Mathilde”, later called “Oresund” in 1772. The ship was named after the Norwegian Lion and the Danish-Norwegian Imperial Coat of Arms.
The Danish-Norwegian warships were, until 1780, tared with a very dark brown color, after which they were painted black with light-yellow battery lines—the so called “Nelson Look”. The decks were light tar-colored & the gun carriages red. All ornaments, made by the sculptor C Mollerup were reminders of Norway. On the transom there is a fisherman & a farmer, symbolizing the most important trades of Norway, agriculture & fishing.
The Norske Love was used as a guard ship in Oresund and other Danish waters. In 1789 it was equipped as a guard ship to protect Russian ships in the Danish waters. In 1779 the ship was repaired and in 1795, after having been stripped into a block ship, was used to give shelter for homeless families after the Fire of Copenhagen that same year. In 1798 it was deleted from the Navy’s registers.