Battle of Silda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Silda
Part of the Gunboat War
Dano-Norwegian shallop gunboat
Date 23 July 1810 Location Silda, Denmark-Norway Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Denmark-Norway
Commanders and leaders
Richard Byron	Gabriel Heiberg
Strength
2 frigates	2 schooners 1 gunboat
Casualties and losses
Unknown	4 killed 1 schooner captured 1 gunboat scuttled

The Battle of Silda was a naval fight that happened on July 23, 1810. It took place near the Norwegian island of Silda. This battle was between the British and Danish-Norwegian navies.

It was part of a bigger conflict called the Gunboat War, which was itself a small part of the huge Napoleonic Wars. In this battle, two British warships either captured or destroyed three or four Danish-Norwegian gunboats. The stories from the Danish-Norwegian side and the British side are a bit different.

What Happened: The Danish-Norwegian Story

The Danish-Norwegian Navy had some special boats called gun-schooners. These were named Odin, Thor, and Balder. They also had a gun-barge called Cort Adeler. These boats were kept at a pilot station on Silda island. However, only Thor and Balder, plus a smaller gunboat, actually fought in the battle.

On July 23, 1810, two British warships, HMS Belvidera and HMS Nemesis, attacked. One of the Danish-Norwegian boats managed to hit a British boat. This caused some British soldiers to be killed.

Even so, the British managed to capture the station. The crew of one Danish-Norwegian boat sank their own vessel so the British couldn't take it. This is called "scuttling." The British took the other two captured boats as "prizes." This means they claimed them as their own. The crews of these boats were taken as prisoners of war to England. The British also captured merchant ships that were docked nearby.

What Happened: The British Story

The British ships Belvidera and Nemesis were sailing close to the coast of Studtland, Norway. On the evening of July 22, a small boat from Belvidera went to explore a deep bay. It spotted three Danish-Norwegian gun-vessels.

The next morning, seven small boats from the two British warships went into the creek. They managed to "cut out" (capture) the two larger Danish-Norwegian vessels. The British did not lose any soldiers in this attack. However, the Norwegians lost four men who were killed.

The two bigger vessels were named Balder and Thor. They were schooner-rigged, meaning they had a specific type of sail. Each of them had two large 24-pounder guns and six smaller 6-pounder howitzers. Each boat had a crew of 45 men.

The third gun-vessel was smaller, known as Gunboat No. 5. It had one large 24-pounder gun and a crew of 25 men. Its crew steered it up a narrow bay (a fiord) and then left it. The British then decided to burn this boat.

The British records about prize money mention three vessels: Balder, Thor, and Fortuna. Fortuna might have been a merchant ship that was captured at the same time.

After the Battle

The local Norwegian commander was a vicar named Gabriel Heiberg. He did not warn other Danish-Norwegian naval ships nearby. These ships could have helped to fight off the British attack.

Later, he also gave an order for ships to stay away from fighting. Because of this, he had to face a special military trial. This trial was to decide if he had done anything wrong.

Sources

• An article on the event from nrk.no
• Some contemporary reports