An 1814 drawing of Lougen |
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| Career (Denmark) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Lougen |
| Builder: | Stibolt of Nyholm, Copenhagen |
| Launched: | 20 July 1805 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Norway in 1814 |
| Career (Norway) | |
| Name: | Lougen |
| Acquired: | 1814 |
| Out of service: | 1825 |
| Fate: | In Norwegian Navy 1814 - 1825, then moved to the Scheldt and shipwrecked in 1881 at Bremerhafen |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Brig-of-war |
| Displacement: | 310 tons[1] |
| Length: | 94 ft 4 in (28.75 m) (gundeck) 77 ft (23 m) (keel)[1][Note 1] |
| Beam: | 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m)[1] |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)[1] |
| Sail plan: | Brig |
| Complement: | 85 men |
| Armament: |
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HDMS Lougen was a Danish naval brig launched in 1805. She saw service in the Danish navy before being transferred to the Norwegian navy in 1814 and then to Germany in 1825. During her service with the Danish navy, Lougen participated in two notable actions against the British Royal Navy during the Gunboat War. She was finally shipwrecked near Bremerhafen in 1881.
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On 14 March 1808 Lougen found the British brig Childers engaged in escort duty in Norwegian waters and tried over the course of several hours to bring about an engagement, from which the Childers finally escaped much damaged and with casualties.
On Sunday, 19 June 1808, off the Naze of Norway in the vicinity of the port of Kristiansand, Seagull encountered and chased Lougen.[2] Lougen, under the command of First Lieutenant Peter Frederik Wulff,[1] tried to maintain a distance from Seagull to take advantage of the range of her 18-pounders relative to the range of Seagull's 24-pounder carronades.
The chase brought both vessels close in shore where the fresh breeze was lessening to a near calm. Seagull tried to get between Lougen and the shore to prevent her from reaching Kristiansand.
Unfortunately for Seagull, about 20 minutes into the engagement six Danish gunboats arrived from behind some rocks and in two divisions of three each took up positions on Seagull's quarter, where they fired on her with their 24-pounder guns while Lougen fired on her larboard bow. Within half an hour the Danish fire had badly damaged Seagull's rigging and dismounted five of her guns. Eventually Seagull's captain, Commander Robert B. Cathcart, who was himself severely wounded, struck, having lost eight men killed and 20 wounded.[2] Lougen had only one man killed and a dozen men slightly wounded.
Shortly after Seagull had surrendered, and after her crew and wounded had been taken off, she sank. A number of the prize crew from the Lougen drowned as Seagull sank. The Danes later recovered Seagull and took her into their naval service.
After the Treaty of Kiel and Norway's separation from Denmark, Lougen was transferred to the Norwegian navy in 1814. In 1825 the Norwegians transferred her to the Scheldt. She was shipwrecked in 1881 at Bremerhafen.