Frederikshavn Slipway is the youngest and only remaining of four small wooden shipyards in Frederikshavn.
When the slipway closed as an active shipyard in 2005 the Maritime Historical Society was established by the Coastal Museum of North Jutland (then Bangsbo Museum), W. Klitgaard, Frederikshavn Sport Diving Club (Sportsdykkerklub), the Society for Shipyard History (Værftshistorisk Selskab) and FDF Frederikshavn Søkreds.
Maritime Historical Society bought the shipyard in order to preserve it as an active environment of cultural history in the harbour and to preserve the slipway, the workshops and other facilities necessary for the work on old ships.
Today the shipyard is used a meeting place and clubhouse for various groups, as an active shipyard where old ships are renovated and as a cultural history communication platform where the maritime history of the shipyard, the harbour and the ships is presented in guided tours, open days with active workshops, lectures, exhibitions etc.
From1870 to 1904 four wooden shipyards were established in Frederikshavn. In particular they built ships for fishing – later large motorized fishing boats. The latest of these new shipyards, H.M. Mortensen’s Shipbuilding was established in 1904 in the old fishing harbour not far from where “Krudttårnet “ is today. When the new fishing harbour was built in 1958 Mortensen’s Shipbuilding moved over to the new harbour. At this time H.M. Mortensen’s two sons, Olav and Poul, had taken over and had changed the name to Brdr. Mortensen’s Shipbuilding.
In connection with move to a new fishing harbour the carpentry shop from around the turn of the century was taken down and rebuilt in the new slipway along with the plank sawwhich was made sometime in the 19th century. This saw built in wood is probably the only existing saw in Denmark. It is still used for cutting planks for the ships and it can be seen working in Frederikshavn Slipway.
The brothers Mortensen sold the shipyard in 1978 and it changed its name to Frederikshavn Slipway. The slipway was again sold in 1982 to Stig Davidsen. In the following years steel ships took over and the old craft of building wooden ships slowly disappeared from ship building and from Frederikshavn Slipway.
In 2005 Stig Davidsen wanted to retire but at the same time he also wanted to preserve the slipway, the old cultural environment as well as the old craft. He therefore sold the slipway to the newly formed Maritime Historical Society whose objective is to maintain and operate Frederikshavn Slipway