Royal Danish Navy

The Royal Danish Navy is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. It is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining Danish territorial waters including the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

The maritime traditions go back to the 9th century when the Vikings had small but well-organised fleets.

From 1509 to 1814, when Denmark was in a union with Norway, the Danish Navy was part of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. It was an important force then. It played an important part in the colonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. During the Napoleonic Wars the British were afraid that the Danish navy would be used against them. They attacked it in 1801 and captured it in 1807. It took a long time to rebuild the navy.

In World War II 32 ships were deliberately sunk in 1943 to prevent the Germans from using them.

During the Cold War, the Danish navy was rebuilt and modernised. The main job was to repel a possible invasion from the Warsaw Pact. Now there are fewer but larger vessels able to operate for long periods at sea.