James Robbins (shipbuilder)
James Robbins | |
|---|---|
| Died | 1680 |
| Nationality | English |
| Other names | Jakob/Joakim/Johan Rubbens/Rubbenis/Rubberts/Rubbing [1] |
| Citizenship | Danish |
| Occupation | The King of Denmark's Master Shipwright |
| Years active | 1641-1680 |
| Known for | Builder of Sophia Amalia and other ships for the Danish navy |
James Robbins, died 1680, was an English shipbuilder in Danish service who built Sophia Amalia and other ships for the Danish navy.
Early career[edit]
Robbins began his professional life as a ship's carpenter in the Royal Navy. From 1635 he was employed as the King's Purveyor of Timber in Hampshire. King Charles I granted Christian IV of Denmark the right to recruit shipbuilders in England, and in 1641 Robbins accepted an offer to join the Danish service.[2]
Danish shipbuilder[edit]
Robbins began his Danish career in 1642 as a master shipwright at Bremerholm, the Danish main naval station, with the obligation to teach his craft to persons in "His Royal Majesty's service".[3] One of his first assignments, was in 1642 to control if the upper deck of the ship Trefoldighed, being built in Neustadt, was done according to pattern.[4] In 1645 Robbins was ordered to Norway to build ships from timber supplied by Hannibal Sehested, the Danish statholder.[5] The timber purveyor, Frederik Bøjsen, a burgher of Christiania, was the government contractor for the building of the ships.[1] In the shipyard on Hovedøya, in the Oslo Fiord, he successively built the naval ships Hannibal, a two-decker with 60 gun ports, launched in 1647; Sophia Amalia, a three-decker with 100 gun ports, launched in 1650; and Prins Christian, a two-decker with 91 gun ports, launched in the same year.[6][7] Robbins returned to Denmark and remained in service at Bremerholm until 1665. He continued to live in Copenhagen, re-entered royal service in 1668, and died while active in 1680.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Lind, Hans Daniel (1889). Kong Kristian den fjerde og hans mænd pa Bremerholm. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, pp. 308, 374.
- ^ Bellamy, Martin & al. (1998). "English Master Shipwright to the Danish Crown 1570-1680." The Mariner's Mirror, volume 84, issue 2, p. 215.
- ^ Bruun, Christian (1871). Curt Sivertsen Adelaer. En historisk Undersøgelse. Kjøbenhavn: Gyldendalske Boghandel, p. 247.
- ^ Klem, Knud (1977), "Christian 4. og Bremerholm." Handels- og Søfartsmuseets årbog, p. 100.
- ^ a b Bellamy, Martin (1997). Danish Naval Administration and Shipbuilding in the Reign of Christian IV (1596 - 1648). PhD. thesis, University of Glasgow, pp. 372-374.
- ^ Barfod, Jørgen H. (1963). "Orlogsflåden på Niels Juels Tid." Marinehistorisk Selskabs Skrift, no. 7, p. 10.
- ^ "Skipsbygging på Hovedøya i Christiania." Christiania Seilskuteklubb. Archived 2016-12-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2016-12-27.