Knud Nielsen Benstrup

Knud Nielsen Benstrup (1692 26 February 1742) was a Danish naval officer and the senior officer, overfabrikmester, at the Royal Danish naval shipyards, until his career was blighted by court martial and imprisonment.

Personal Benstrup was born in 1692 in the East Jutland town of Ebeltoft where his father was town clerk.

Career From his start as a cadet in 1706 Knud Benstrup was on active service throughout the Great Northern War, in 1715 as a junior lieutenant in the ships-of-the-line Justitia and then Ditmarsken under Admiral Christian Thomesen Sehested in the Pommeranian campaigns.

Christianus Sixtus (1733) Delmenhorst (1735) Dronning Lovisa (1744) Jylland (1739) Kiøbenhavn (1744) Markgrevinde Sophia Christine (1732) Norske Løve (1735) Ditmarschen Oldenburg (1732) Prindsesse Charlotte Amalie (1731) Prindsesse Lovise (1731) Prindsesse Sophia Hedevig (1731) Slesvig (1733) Svanen (1730) Tre Løver (1730) Wenden (1742) Plus the frigate Blaa Heyren (1734) and the armed trading ship Kongen af Danmark (1735)

Court martial and imprisonment

Problems began to mount for Benstrup with the launch of the ship-of-the-line Christianus Sixtus in 1733

, when it was discovered that the ship had a draught six inches deeper than planned. Diderich de Thurah had spotted and warned of the potential problem earlier, noticing that much of the timber used in the ship's construction had been insufficiently seasoned, and thus was heavier. The extra draught would not, of itself, have been fatal as there were other ships in the fleet with deeper draughts. Benstrup was ordered by Admiral M Bille to strip out excess timber without altering the integrity of the hull but in doing so he departed from the design plans that had had royal approval. decided by a majority and gave Benstrup a severe sentence - execution was suggested by Krag - which Lütken and Lützow took heavy objection to. who was known to be both capable and ruthless. Other senior officers sided with the Count.

To obtain clarity in the case, King Christian VI called them all in for a meeting where Lütken took the opportunity to express himself so boldly that he made enemies of both King Christian and Count Danneskiold. Benstrup himself got the opportunity later to present his defence against the accusations but did so without legal representation and in such a fierce and disrespectful manner that he was forced to face a court martial which deemed he had broken his terms of office and sentenced him to imprisonment in Kastellet, the military citadel and prison. Here he remained until 1739 when he was pardoned and released but banished from Copenhagen.

Consequences The "problem" ship Christianus Sixtus served for 35 years, being decommissioned in 1769.

With the removal of Benstrup, none of the remaining shipbuilders (Krag, Thuresen, and Thurah) proved up to the required standard, although Thurah retained the title and salary of fabrikmester for many years. Danneskiold prevailed on the newly formed Construction Committee to employ the Frenchman Laurent Barbé as the main shipwright to the Danish navy.

Banishment and death Forbidden to leave Denmark and banished from Copenhagen, but in possession of a pension, Benstrup chose to return to his home town of Ebeltoft where he lived until his death on 26 February 1742.