shipstamps.co.uk

Fredericus Quartus.
The stamp was issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Danish Naval Officer's College.
Information was to the effect that the stamp was based on a model of the Store Christianus Quintus (The Great CHristian the Fifth), a ship which in fact was never built.
Apparently this information was only partly correct for although a ship of that name was laid down in 1699 (and apparently the model was taken from this), the King (Christian V) died before the vessel was finished and the name was changed to the name of the succeeding monarch, Frederik IV.
Thus she was launched as the Fredericus Quartus.
The model is now in the Danish Admiralty.
Sea Breezes February 1961.
Denmark SG378, 379.

Built on the Naval Shipbuilding yard at Nyholm, Denmark for the Danish navy.
December 1966 launched under the name FREDERICUS QUARTUS named after King Frederick IV.
Displacement 1.695 last. Dim. 185 x 50ft, draught forward 20.2 aft 22.6ft.
Built as a three-decker fleet flagship.
Armament 110 cannons, 36 pounders in the main battery deck
The naval architect Olaus Judichaer designed her.
Crew 950.

Originally named the STORE CHRISTIANUS QUINTUS, named after king Christian V but when he died before the ship was completed, she was renamed after the new king. These large three-deckers were always named after the reigning Danish monarch.

She was the last ship of the line built during the 17th century, and probably the largest warship ever built for the Danish fleet during the age of sail. At that time she was the pride of the Danish navy, and represented a substantial investment of Denmark’s available defense budget.

Ironically, with an awesome amount of firepower and a veritable floating fortress, during the Great Northern war she never became involved in “close quarters action” with Swedish warships, which she should have been easily able to beat into submission.
Therefore, the operational employment of FREDERICUS QUARTIS during the Great Northern War departed from the examples of the Danish fleet flagship of the 17th century, which never shirked from close quarters action with the enemy, and often received a physical beating as a result of it. After the FREDERICUS QUARTES, none of Denmark’s subsequent “three deckers” ever had the opportunity to prove itself in auction against the enemy.

1732 Condemned.

There is a beautiful model in the lobby of the Admiral Hotel at Copenhagen, and most probably the stamp is designed after this model.

Source: copied from http://www.milhist.dk/weapons/shipdata/frquar.html.