Ship model of Ulla Fersen on the stocks
History
Sweden
Name	Ulla Fersen
Builder	Karlskrona naval shipyard
Launched	15 August 1789
Captured	1796 and 1801 (detained and released)
Fate	Sank 20 April 1807
Notes	Rebuilt 1802
General characteristics
Length	33.55 m (110 ft 1 in) (113 Swedish ft)
Beam	9.07 m (29 ft 9 in) (30 Swedish ft 6 Swedish in)
Draft	4.0 m (13 ft 1 in) (13 Swedish ft 6 Swedish in)
Armament	18 × Swedish 6-pounder cannon

HSwMS Ulla Fersen was an 18-gun frigate of the Swedish Navy. Designed by the shipwright Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, she was launched in 1789 and served in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790, most notably at the Battle of Reval. British vessels twice detained her, once in 1798 and again in 1801, with the first event almost resulting in the execution of the Swedish Navy officer Rudolf Cederström by his own government. Ulla Fersen was completely rebuilt in 1802, and lost in a storm in 1807.

Ulla Fersen was designed by the Swedish shipwright Fredrik Henrik af Chapman.^[1] In 1787, Chapman proposed the Swedish Navy adopt a ten-year plan which would involved constructing five ships of the line, six frigates, several storehouses and a naval hospital. Various issued prevented the plan from being fully implemented. Ulla Fersen was the final warship built under Chapman's plan, being launched on 15 August 1789 in Karlskrona.^[a] Although the Swedish navy referred to her as either a frigate or light frigate, she more closely resembled contemporary French corvettes or British sloops-of-war in size and armament. Ulla Fersen was named after Ulla von Höpken, a Swedish noblewoman and courtier.^{[citation needed]}

In 1788, war broke out between Sweden and Russia. On 17 March 1790, Lieutenant Rudolf Cederström, commanding Ulla Fersen and the fellow frigate Jarramas, led a successful raid on Baltischport. The Swedes were under the mistaken impression that there was an Imperial Russian Navy squadron of between 10 and 12 ships at Baltischport, and aimed to attack it before the squadron could set sail. Though the supposed squadron was absent, Cederström formed a naval brigade and forced the surrender of a Russian fort before burning several local storehouses containing naval stores.^[3]

During the Battle of Reval, which took place on 13 May 1790 off the port of Reval, Ulla Fersen served as the flagship for General-Admiral Prince Karl, Duke of Södermanland, the brother of Gustav III. The Swedes were attempting to eliminate a Russian squadron under Admiral Vasily Chichagov, which had wintered in the harbour at Reval, though they were unsuccessful. Prince Karl signalled the Swedish fleet to withdraw from Ulla Fersen, which had stayed out of the range of Russian cannon fire.^{[citation needed]}

In 1798, Ulla Fersen, under Cederström, escorted a convoy of Swedish merchantmen in the North Sea. On 7 August, he encountered two Royal Navy warships, HMS Busy and HMS Speedwell. Busy's captain, John Ackworth Ommaney, hailed Ulla Fersen and asked where the convoy was going. Cederström replied that they were bound for the "Spanish Sea". Ommaney ordered the Swedes to permit boarding parties to inspect the merchantmen to determine if they were carrying cargo deemed by the British as contraband and for destinations under enemy control. Cederström initially refused, but then relented and permitted the convoy to go into the Downs for further inspection.^[4]

Sweden was neutral at the time and Cederström was under strict orders from Gustav IV Adolf not to permit foreign interference with Swedish-flagged ships escorted by Swedish warships and to resist such interference with force if necessary.^[4] However, Cederström, realising that he was outgunned, chose to avoid violence and refused to resist. Busy was armed with sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder guns,^[5] while Speedwell was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns and 12 ½-pounder swivel guns.^[6] This gave the British a combined broadside in excess of 290 pounds, versus Ulla Ferson's 54 pounds. Cederström was recalled to Sweden and tried for disobeying orders, being found guilty and sentenced to death, being imprisoned for a while was at a fortress. He was pardoned just before he was due to be executed and was eventually restored to his former position in the Swedish navy, going on to enjoy a distinguished career.^{[citation needed]}

The Portsmouth Telegraph reported on 16 March 1801:

By a private letter received from Cork, we learn, that the Dryad frigate, Captain Mansfield, has captured and sent into that port, a Swedish frigate, after an action of ten minutes, in which the Swede had 7 killed and 14 wounded.

The Swedish frigate was Ulla Fersen. HMS Dryad returned from the Irish Station to Portsmouth on 18 March with both Ulla Fersen and the French privateer Premier Consul, which Dryad had captured at about the same time.^[b] Ulla Fersen was under the command of Lieutenant Hans Hampus Fallstedt and was on her way to the Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy. Although clearly outgunned, as Dryad carried thirty-six 18-pounder guns and eight 32-pounder carronades, which gave her a broadside of 452 pounds, Fallstedt apparently wished to escape Cederström's fate, and decided to resist with force. British authorities detained Ulla Fersen at Portsmouth before releasing her following diplomatic negotiations.^{[citation needed]}

Ulla Fersen sank in a storm off the island of Usedom on 20 April 1807; her captain at the time was Major Peter Holm, who died in the sinking. There is evidence to suggest that not all her crew perished.^[7]