E W Stibolt's grandfather, Hans Andersen Stibolt, was Commandant on Christiansø, Denmark's most easterly point, with the army rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He had roots to German nobility. His father, Commander Caspar Henrik Stibolt, who became a naturalised Danish citizen in 1777, two years before his death, was also for many years Commandant of Christainsø. He was married twice, the second marriage giving issue to sixteen children of whom eight, including Ernst Wilhelm, became Danish naval officers. See Stibolt In 1791 Ernst Wilhelm Stibolt married Kirsten Güldencrone Kaas, the daughter of rear admiral Ulrik Christian Kaas.
Career
From a cadet in the Danish navy in 1760, Stibolt was promoted steadily to captain in 1781 and commander in 1790.
Early years
Immediately on receiving his first commission Stibolt chose to specialise in ship construction under the tutelage of master shipwright :da:Frederik Michael Krabbe and was given a junior position in the Construction Commission, which included in its remit the education of young naval officers. In 1768, together with Henrik Gerner, he embarked on a study tour to England, France and Holland. He returned in November 1773 to become, in March 1774, a lecturer in ship construction at the naval cadet college, and a member of the Construction Commission. Also in 1774, Stibolt undertook a journey to Christiansø, Frederiksværn, and Trosvig, with a view to planning improvements to those harbours. Shortly afterwards he produced the designs for two dredging barges, which were to work at Christiansand. In 1776 he became second-in-command of the ship-of-the-line Mars and a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters In the meantime, Gerner had been named the Danish navy's master shipbuilder, so there was no prospect for Stibolt for further promotion in the technical field. In 1778, therefore, he sought permission to go into the service of a foreign power, France, which at that time was engaged in hostilities with Britain during the American Revolutionary War.
French Service
In the period 1778 to 1782 Stibolt served in three French ships:
After 1782
Back in Copenhagen, Stibolt was appointed General Adjutant to the King and produced further reports on the defence works on Christiansø. He was also involved with ship building, but his career was overshadowed by disputes with the master shipbuilder Henrik Gerner, who was considered the better designer. Later disputes with Gerner's pupil Hohlenberg also affected Stibolt's health. With the death of Henrik Gerner in 1787, Stibolt was appointed interim master shipbuilder to the Danish navy in 1788 – a position that was confirmed in 1790. Some 39 ships of a variety of types plus 37 smaller boats are recorded, as designed and built by Stibolt, including four ships-of-the-line five frigates and many lesser ships. More ships, especially brigs, were built to Stibolt's design long after his death. Of these, the following are notable:
Lougen brig – the first Danish warship to be copper-sheathed
Brigs: Glommen, Nidelven, & Sarpen, and later Allart
Long after Stibolt's death, one of his designs for a new ship-of-the-line was used. Laid down in the year after the Battle of Copenhagen, launched in 1810 but not fully fitted out until 1813. This was appropriately named Phoenix.
Death
At the beginning of 1796, suffering from "weakness and a deep melancholy", Stibolt resigned his position, and shortly after on 29 February that year – committed suicide by jumping out of the window in his flat in Toldbodvejen. He is buried in the Assistens Cemetery
