Berend Jacobsen Karpfanger

Berend Jacobsen Karpfanger (1623 - 11 October 1683) was a German admiral of the Hamburg Admiralty known for fighting pirates.

Karpfanger first took command of the ship Leopoldus Primus, later called Leopold I, and later on Wapen von Hamburg, which launched in 1669.

Commissioned in 1668 to protect the merchant ships from the Barbary corsairs, the Wapen was a 40 metres (130 ft) long warship with a total of 54 cannons, ranging from four to 18 pounds.

Karpfanger himself refused to abandon the ship while efforts continued to save it and commanded the crew to return to further fight the fire.

In 1937 the Hamburg America Line bought the barque l'Avenir and renamed it Admiral Karpfanger in his honour.

Statue of Karpfanger in Hamburg, 1897
Stained glass window, destroyed in WWII, from the Hamburg town hall featuring Karpfanger