Cron Printz Christian was the first Chinaman of the Danish Asiatic Company. A former Royal Swedish Navy ship of the line, HSMS Warberg, launched at Karlskrona in 1699, she was one of three Swedish naval ships captured by Tordenskiold at Marstrand in 1719 and subsequently included in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy as HDMS Kronprinsen af Danmark. In 1730, she was loaned out to the newly established Danish Asiatic Company for its first expedition to Canton.