The final journey

On her last journey the ship left Copenhagen in June 1767 with 40 men on board. Among them was Erich Ancker, a Norwegian, and the captain  Espen Kiønig. On their way the weather turned bad, and they found it necessary to seek refuge in the outport Merdø harbour, outside the town of Arendal in Norway. Also at this place there were people who had been in contact with slave trading before. A former owner of the red house, Zacharias Allewelt, was in fact a slave captain.

When they left Norway in July, they had started on the first leg of the triangular route, with a main cargo of brandy, guns, powder, gunflints, and textiles. After loading on the Gold Coast, they were to cross the Atlantic with a new cargo of enslaved Africans, gold and ivory. The last leg was from St. Croix to Copenhagen with a cargo produced by slave labour, mainly consisting of sugar, dyewood, mahogany and tobacco.

Map showing the route of Fredensborg.

After 103 days on their way from Copenhagen, the Fredensborg anchored in the road at their main castle, Christiansborg in Ghana. African traders brought the slaves to the forts where they were exchanged for European trade articles. Because of a low supply of slaves, Fredensborg remained in the road for 205 days. This had a very adverse effect; 11 of the crew died, including the Captain, Espen Kiønig. Johan Frantzen Ferentz took over, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, as stated in one of the documents. In April they loaded a total of 265 enslaved Africans: 158 males, 78 females, nine girls and 20 boys.

The blacksmith from the fort came on board and shackled the slaves, two by two. They also took on board ivory and gold.

 
In the space below deck they built extra bunks for the slaves. The women and children were kept aft. This well-known drawing shows the method of stowing slaves.

 
This watercolour drawing from 1785 shows the next slave ship with the name Fredensborg

You see clearly both the fortifications armed with four swivel cannons and three sailcloth stacks to provide fresh air to the hold. Some of the slaves are on deck; male slaves on the main deck, females and children on the quarterdeck. A net prevents the slaves from escaping. The main food was beans and grain. On Sunday they got a piece of meat, on Saturday millet. A clay pipe and tobacco was given daily, apart from Saturday. A drink of brandy was offered four days a week.

 
This drawing shows one of the slaves working on Fredensborg.

Starting to cross the middle passage Captain Ferentz had a serious problem. 12 of the crew had already died, and many of the others were sick. To handle this stressed situation they used 9 of the slaves as so-called deck slaves. They worked for the Company without payment.
Below deck some of the slaves planned a revolt to take over the ship. They belonged to the Akwamu people. But their fight for freedom was stopped before it started, because the African crewmember Aye reported the plan to the captain.

 
Many of the slaves and crewmember, Aye, died, and Captain Ferentz registered this in the margin of his logbook.

 After 78 days they dropped anchor in the harbour of Christiansted, St.Croix. The surviving slaves were brought ashore and sold. Twenty-nine had died.

With a new cargo of sugar, dyewood, mahogany, tobacco, cinnamon, and cotton they set off for Denmark. There were also three slaves on board; one of them died crossing the Atlantic. 

The Fredensborg was sailing in the Skagerrak, between Denmark and Norway, when a violent easterly storm, with rain, and then snow struck hard. The date was 1 December 1768.

East of Tromøy Island they resolved to seek help to save the ship, cargo and crew. A local pilot boarded the ship. His job was to bring the ship to a safe harbour. Suddenly they observed that the heavily loaded slave ship was in great danger. Rough sea and strong currents made it impossible to pass the rock, and the pilot gave orders to turn the ship.

They failed, ran aground, and the Fredensborg was wrecked at Tromøy, an island outside of Arendal in southern Norway.

The long journey in the triangular route was nearly completed when the crew, three passengers, and two slaves managed to save their lives under very dramatic conditions.

In addition to the suffering of the slaves, the last journey cost many lives; 30 slaves, 16 of the crew, and 2 passengers. A total of 11 percent of the slaves and 37.5 percent of the crew lost their lives