The story of this tragic event will be told at a new stranding museum in Thorsminde opening in 2017.
HMS St. George and HMS Defence
During a hurricane on 24th December 1811, HMS Defence with a crew of 560 men stranded 2 km north of Thorsminde. Soon afterwards HMS St. George, with 865 crew on board, also stranded about 2 km south of Thorsminde. Crew-members struggled to save themselves. Lifeboats did not exist at that time and when the waves destroyed the two vessels, most of the crew drowned. Only 17 survived out of a total of 1425. This was the worst catastrophe to have taken place along the west coast of Denmark.