The names Norway and Denmark are old and predate 1847 by centuries. “German Ocean” is an old term for the North Sea.
Norway was independent from Denmark at that point in time. So it was off the coast of Norway in the German Ocean (North Sea). And the expedition was sent by the king of Denmark, a nearby seafaring nation.







Just imagine it entered common use through a Looney Toons skit where they had to “hold down” their inflatable fort or it would blow away. It’s not true, but it’s plausible enough you could just decide to believe it.