Steen Andersen Bille (1797–1883)
| Steen Andersen Bille | |
|---|---|
Steen Bille in later life
|
|
| Born |
5 December 1797 Copenhagen |
| Died | 2 May 1883 (aged 85) Copenhagen |
| Buried at | Holmens Cemetery, Copenhagen |
| Allegiance |
 Denmark,  France
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Danish Navy
|
| Years of service | 1809–1851 |
| Rank | Vice admiral |
| Battles/wars | First Schleswig War |
| Relations | Great Great Grandson of Steen Andersen Bille (1624–1698) Son of Admiral Steen Andersen Bille (1751–1833) |
Steen Andersen Bille, (5 December 1797 – 2 May 1883) was a Danish vice-admiral and minister for the navy. He was famous for his service in the Danish Royal Navy, particularly during the First Schleswig War, 1848-51.
Influenced by his father’s role in the defence of Copenhagen in 1807, and the visits of many leading naval figures to his parents’ house, he became a cadet (midshipman) in 1809 at the age of 12, and seven years later a junior lieutenant with an honorary position at the royal court. In this time he saw service in Minerva in both the Mediterranean and the Danish West Indies. In 1823 he was promoted to senior lieutenant.
In 1820, Bille returned from the cruise in the West Indies in the frigate Minerva and entered French service along with his older brother Lieutenant Ernst Bille (who died the following year), serving in the ship-of-the-line Colosse in Brazilian waters and on South America’s west coast where there was civil turmoil in both Chile and Peru. Returning via Rio de Janeiro (where the republic was declared while he was in harbour), he returned to France in October 1821 and to Denmark early in 1822. His maps and sailing notes on the various South American harbours and on Cape Horn were submitted to the Danish admiralty.
As tensions between France and Spain heightened two years later, Bille again sailed with the French. On board l’Hermione he was in command of a division of bomb vessels at Cadiz, when the city was captured by the Duke of Angoulême in the Battle of Trocadero in 1823. Thereafter in Galathea to Smyrna, he continued to Greek waters where the war of independence (from Turkey) was in full swing. Here he could observe the war at close quarters, and had close personal contact with the Turkish leaders Ibrahim Kapudan Pasha and Ismail Gibraltar.
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Wikipedia