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Flakfortet

Architecture in DenmarkArtificial islands of DenmarkFortifications of CopenhagenSea forts
Flakfortet
Flakfortet

Flakfortet, meaning sand-shoal fortress, is a sea fort located on the artificially built island of Saltholmrev, in the Øresund between Copenhagen and Saltholm. The island and fort are simply known as Flakfortet; the name of the island; Saltholmrev, meaning the reef near Saltholm, is seldom used. Flakfortet was the last of three artificial islands that the Danes created to defend the entrance to Copenhagen's harbor. (The other two are Trekroner Fort (the oldest) and Middelgrundsfortet.) Flakfortet's guns covered the Hollænderdybet channel between Middelgrundsfortet and Saltholm, and the Flinterenden channel between Sweden and Saltholm. Eventually Flakfortet became more of a site for anti-aircraft weapons than for coastal artillery. Its military functions ended in 1968. Flakfortet is currently used for recreational purposes such as concerts, and the site has a restaurant and yacht moorings. During the summer, a ferry company, Spar Shipping, has five scheduled trips per day to the island, with the trip from Nyhavn taking about 40 minutes each way. There is an overnight hostel on the island too.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Flakfortet (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Flakfortet
Saltholm, Tårnby Kommune

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N 55.703 ° E 12.732 °
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Flakfortet

Saltholm
1433 Tårnby Kommune
Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark
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flakfortet.dk

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Øresund
Øresund

Øresund or Öresund (UK: , US: ; Danish: Øresund [ˈøːɐˌsɔnˀ]; Swedish: Öresund [œːrɛˈsɵnːd]), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of 118 kilometres (73 mi); its width varies from 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to 28 kilometres (17 mi). The narrowest point is between Helsingør in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden. Øresund, along with the Great Belt, the Little Belt and the Kiel Canal, is one of four waterways that connect the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean via Kattegat, Skagerrak, and the North Sea; this makes it one of the busiest waterways in the world. The Øresund Bridge, between the Danish capital Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö, inaugurated on 1 July 2000, connects a bi-national metropolitan area with close to 4 million inhabitants. The HH Ferry route, between Helsingør, Denmark and Helsingborg, Sweden, in the northern part of Øresund, is one of the world's busiest international ferry routes, with more than 70 departures from each harbour per day. Øresund is a geologically young strait that formed 8,500–8,000 years ago as a result of rising sea levels. Previously, the Ancylus Lake, a fresh-water body occupying the Baltic basin, had been connected to the sea solely via the Great Belt. The incursion of salt water via Øresund marked the beginning of the modern Baltic Sea as a salt-water body.

Battle of the Sound
Battle of the Sound

The Battle of the Sound was a naval engagement which took place on 8 November 1658 (29 October O.S.) during the Second Northern War, near the Sound or Øresund, just north of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Sweden had invaded Denmark and an army under Charles X of Sweden had Copenhagen itself under siege. The Dutch fleet was sent to prevent Sweden from gaining control of both sides of the Sound and thereby controlling access to the Baltic Sea as well as of its trade. The Dutch, under the command of Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam with Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer as his flag captain, who had sailed to the Baltic in support of Denmark, had 41 ships with 1,413 guns while the Swedes, under Lord High Admiral Carl Gustaf Wrangel, had 45 ships with 1,838 guns. The Dutch were grouped into three squadrons, while the Swedes separated their ships into four. The seven Danish ships with about 280 guns were unable to assist their Dutch allies because of adverse northern winds and could only watch. Obdam, who initially received written instructions from the Grand Pensionary, Johan de Witt that were very complicated and confusing to Obdam. He requested the orders to be given to him again "in three words", with de Witt replying with a single sentence: "Save Copenhagen and punch in the face anyone who tries to prevent it". The "anyone" was a reference to the English, whose powerful fleet had recently defeated the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War, leading to the Dutch suspecting an English fleet present might come to the aid of the Swedish, although the English simply observed the fighting from a distance, being allied to neither side. The Swedes attacked aggressively, but failed to gain the upper hand, primarily because the approaching Dutch had the weather gage. The Dutch forced the Swedish fleet to end the blockade of the Danish capital, enabling its resupply by Dutch armed transport ships, which eventually forced Charles to abandon the siege entirely. The Swedes lost five ships in the action compared to one Dutch ship, however, the remaining allied ships were more damaged. Also, considering the slightly fewer losses of men in the Swedish navy, 1,200 compared to 1,400 (439 killed, 269 captured and slightly more than 650 wounded allies), the battle is considered a tactical draw. Strategically, however, it was a major allied victory.