Capn, I have been fascinated by this amazing boarding axe since you got it! and while I know little on these, I have been trying to catch up. It seems as you point out, the Scandinavian navies were primarily focused on boarding axes over cutlasses much longer than other European navies.
It seems that Norwegian sailors were prevalent among the ranks of these Scandinavian navies, and understandably the Norse/Viking tradition of the battle axe was well in place.
While serving as a deadly weapon in close quarters fighting, the important utilitarian use of these in the days of fighting sail were key in their presence.
Obviously useful in clearing decks of fouled rigging, rope and debris was essential, and even more so, digging out 'hot shot' imbedded in the timbers of the vessel was immediately necessary. The pronounced 'pick' on these was ideal, and also this pick could be used much in the way of a mountaineers axe in required climbing.
The deadly use of either blade or pick in such a hefty weapon of course quickly became formidable in boarding combat.
In the Battle of Copenhagen of 1807, there were so many Danish vessels captured, one can imagine how many weapons were acquired. With the British favor of cutlasses in the larger 'armory' equipment, one would wonder how many of these were kept in service with naval vessels.
It seems likely that these kinds of axes easily found use in the private sector for utility use as well as many fire brigades adopted them. The later versions of fire axes following the features of these were smaller.
Whatever the case, these are notably rare naval weapons as evidenced by descriptions and of course, prices, in auction and sale venues.
Magnificent example, and well placed in the Eley Maritime Museum
