| James Robbins | |
| Death Date: | 1680 |
| Death Place: | Copenhagen |
| Nationality: | English |
| Other Names: | Jakob/Joakim/Johan Rubbens/Rubbenis/Rubberts/Rubbing |
| Citizenship: | Danish |
| Occupation: | The King of Denmark's Master Shipwright |
| Years Active: | 1641-1680 |
| Known For: | Builder of Sophia Amalia and other ships for the Danish navy |
James Robbins, died 1680, was an English shipbuilder in Danish service who built Sophia Amalia and other ships for the Danish navy.
Robbins began his professional life as a ship's carpenter in the Royal Navy. From 1635 he was employed as the King's Purveyor of Timber in Hampshire. King Charles I granted Christian IV of Denmark the right to recruit shipbuilders in England, and in 1641 Robbins accepted an offer to join the Danish service.[1]
Robbins began his Danish career in 1642 as a master shipwright at Bremerholm, the Danish main naval station, with the obligation to teach his craft to persons in "His Royal Majesty's service".[2] One of his first assignments, was in 1642 to control if the upper deck of the ship Trefoldighed, being built in Neustadt, was done according to pattern.[3] In 1645 Robbins was ordered to Norway to build ships from timber supplied by Hannibal Sehested, the Danish statholder.[4] The timber purveyor, Frederik Bøjsen, a burgher of Christiania, was the government contractor for the building of the ships.[5] In the shipyard on Hovedøya, in the Oslo Fiord, he successively built the naval ships Hannibal, a two-decker with 60 gun ports, launched in 1647; Sophia Amalia, a three-decker with 100 gun ports, launched in 1650; and Prins Christian, a two-decker with 91 gun ports, launched in the same year.[6] [7] Robbins returned to Denmark and remained in service at Bremerholm until 1665. He continued to live in Copenhagen, re-entered royal service in 1668, and died while active in 1680.[4]