HMS Little Belt (1807)

HMS Little Belt, at right, and the USS President fire upon each other
History
Denmark
Name	Lillebælt
Namesake	The Little Belt strait off Jutland
Builder	Fugelsang at the Royal Shipyard, Copenhagen
Launched	31 August 1801
In service	February 1802
Captured	Captured by British at the Battle of Copenhagen on 7 September 1807
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Little Belt
Acquired	Captured at the Battle of Copenhagen on 7 September 1807
Commissioned	April 1808
Fate	Sold in 1811
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	20-gun post ship
Tons burthen	460 5⁄94 (bm)
Length	116 ft 4 in (35.5 m) (overall); 94 ft 0 in (28.7 m) (keel)
Beam	30 ft 4 in (9.2 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 5+1⁄2 in (3.8 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	121
Armament	Danish service: 20 × 30-pounder carronades + 2 × 8-pounder chase guns British service: 18 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 9-pounder chase guns

Lillebælt was a Danish 22-gun warship launched in 1801. The Danes surrendered her to the Royal Navy in 1807 and she became the 20-gun post ship HMS Little Belt. In a single-ship action in 1811 while the United States of America was at peace with Great Britain, USS President fired on Little Belt, ostensibly believing her to be HMS Guerriere, which had recently impressed a sailor from USS Spitfire. History is not sure who fired first, both sides claiming the other had fired initially. This action was the eponymous "Little Belt affair". British captain Arthur Batt Bingham maintained that the Americans fired first and that although his vessel had suffered heavy casualties he had not at any time surrendered. Little Belt was broken up in 1819.