[2] By the time Prins Christian Frederik reached Denmark, epidemic typhus had broken out among her crew.

The British ships intended to outmanoeuvre, corner, and overpower Prins Christian Frederik; Captain Carl Jessen, after conferring with his officers, decided to take a stand in order to gain enough of a tactical advantage to move into familiar waters and within the protective range of the cannon at Kronborg.

Their Swedish pilots were discharged the next day when the squadron, comprising the three ships-of-the-line Nassau, Stately, and Vanguard, the frigate HMS Quebec , the two sloops Falcon and HMS Lynx, and the gunbrig Constant, formed up and live bullocks were transferred from Stately to Quebec and to Lynx.

[3][4] The smaller ships patrolled the northern approaches to the Great Belt and the Øresund, within sight of the squadron or separately, investigating any strange sail.

At 2 [pm] the sloop, Falcon, who recorded the signal from Quebec "Danish Line-of-battle-ship to windward", joined them and cleared for action.

[7][8] By 8:05pm Nassau had drawn level and began returning broadsides, but forty minutes later she was in danger of blocking Stately's field of fire.

Action continued with the two British ships-of-the-line alternating their attacks until Prinds Christian Frederik struck.

[9][2] Throughout the morning of 23 March the squadron's boats transported prisoners, and the ships' companies knotted, spliced, and ran new rigging.

Christian Mølsted has painted a somewhat romanticised scene from the battle in which Willemoes is dying in the arms of second in command C. A. Rothe.