Battle of Alvøen

The Battle of Alvøen was fought on 16 May 1808 between the British frigate HMS Tartar and five Norwegian gunboats off Bergen as part of the Gunboat War. Beginning in 1807, the Royal Navy had implemented a blockade of the Norwegian coast, leading to major sociopolitical turmoil in Norway since it was dependent on imports of foodstuffs from Denmark. Having lost most of their fleet in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807, the Danish were unable to afford the time or money to rebuild their blue-water navy of ships of the line and frigates and so had been forced to construct gunboats for coastal defence duties.

Tartar was underway to Bergen harbour in search of the Dutch privateer Gelderland, which her crew knew to be seeking shelter in the harbour during repairs. On the evening on 15 May, a message was received at Bergenhus Fortress stating that a British frigate had been sighted, and was probably heading towards Bergen. After the frigate had been sighted at Alvøen, near Bergen, on 16 May, the five gunboats making up the entire naval force in Bergen were ordered to row out and engage the British. Tartar lay becalmed outside Alvøen, and in thick fog, with the Norwegian vessels taking up a position between Bergen and the frigate and opening fire. The battle lasted about one hour, during which the British lost 2 men, including George Edmund Byron Bettesworth, the commander of the frigate. Norwegian losses were four men killed.