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The frigate “Urania” of the Brodersen family
For over 33 years, the captains of the Brodersen family sailed on the “Urania”, a merchant vessel that was built in 1826 in Szczecin (Stettin). Under Danish flag number “Q 131”, the three-master, with a crew of up to 14, took about three months to sail from Flensburg to the Caribbean.
For 20 years, Asmus Brodersen was the first captain and initially the sole owner. His son Nis, previously helmsman on board, captained the full-rigged ship for eight years – mainly in the West Indies trade with the island of St. Croix, but also in whaling around Greenland. Nis died at sea in 1864. His brother Behrend Brodersen captained the cargo ship for five years.
After 40 years of adventure on the seas, the “Urania” fell victim to a hurricane on 30 September 1866 in the port of Puerto Plata (now Dominican Republic).
Whalers & rum – the drink that gave them the courage to hunt the whales
The “Urania” frigate owned by the Brodersen merchant family was not sent just to the West Indies. It also headed towards Norway in order to hunt whales off the coast of Greenland.
To help the whaleboats find their way back to the mother ship in the fog, canons were fired on board. Once, a canon exploded and injured Captain Nis Brodersen so severely that one of his legs had to be amputated a few weeks later in Stavanger. The wound was treated with boiling fish oil – the usual treatment at that time.
He survived the procedure and later continued to go to sea. It is said that holes were drilled in the ships deck so that he could stand up better on his wooden peg in as well …
