Historic battles in Øresund

Øresund has not always been the peaceful shipping lane that it is now. In earlier centuries, battles - particularly between the neighbours Denmark and Sweden - were common. The winning side often asked leading marine artists to immortalize the victories:

Anton Melbye´s oil painting is part of the collections of Statens Museum for Kunst, the Danish National Gallery

This painting by the 19th century Danish marine artist Anton Melbye (1818 - 1875) depicts the Battle of Køge Bay on July 1, 1677. It is recognized as Denmark´s greatest naval victory ever: 

After losing control of the Baltic Sea in the Battle of Öland the year before, the Swedish navy wanted it back. The Danish fleet, commanded by Niels Juel, had 1,354 cannons and 6,700 men, while the Swedish fleet, commanded by Henrik Horn, had +1,792 cannons and 9,200 men.

On 1 July at daybreak, despite some of his ships having fallen behind, Juel closed, as did the Swedes, and fighting began at about 5am. Horn sent in fireships but the Danes towed them aside. As the fleets approached the coast near Stevn's Point, Juel bore away a little in the hope that the Swedes would try to stay to windward and run aground.

In the early afternoon the wind changed, as Juel had anticipated, and utilising this, the Danish fleet broke the Swedish line by crossing the T, thus isolating several major warships. This was the turning point of the battle, which soon turned into a complete rout.

The Swedes lost eight war ships, several smaller ships and about 3,000 men. The Danish fleet did not lose any ships, only damages on the ships and approximately 100 men were killed and 275 wounded.

This etching by Erik Dahlberg (1625–1702) shows the Battle of the Sound between the Swedish and Dutch fleets on October 29, 1658. 

This is Dahlberg´s interpretation of the Swedish conquest of the Kronborg castle on September 7, 1658.