Michael Bille

Disambiguation: See Steen Andersen Bille for relationships to other naval officers in the family

Michael Bille

Michael Bille (Michael John Petronius Bille) was a Danish-Norwegian, and Prussian naval officer born 8 November 1769 in Stege on the Danish Island of Møn into a naval family which had produced and would produce Danish admirals.

Michael was sailing on the Danish frigate Bornholm (captained by his father) when it was caught in a hurricane off the Danish West Indies Islands. After days of struggle, the ship ran aground off Newport, County Mayo, Ireland on March 17, 1782. Mathias died in the affair. Bille became an officer in the Danish-Norwegian Navy in 1789 and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, where he commanded the lower battery of the Prøvesteenen which fired the first shot at the English.

Over fifteen years he also served as a teacher of mathematics and astronomy at the Seekadettenakademiet (Dansk Søværnets Officersskole). From 1807-1811, he served as a captain stationed in Kristiansand in charge of the gunboat squadron (Roflotillen). In 1812-1813 he commanded a French warship in the Scheldt. From 1815 he served as pilot inspector in Helsingor until he entered Prussian service in 1820.

In 1821 he began a very fruitful career as director of the Prussian Navigationsschule in Danzig. After three years he moved the school into a building that lay outside Danzig at the mouth of the Radaune River because the St. Jacob Church was inadequate. The school was then assigned to the above-mentioned war schooner "Stralsund" commanded by Longé. From 1825 the school also had the gunboat "Danzig. Bille and the vessels were under the authority of the Ministry of War in Berlin. This may be seen as the beginning of the Prussian Navy.

The number of students increased from 40 in 1827 to 115-120 in 1831.

He resigned from Prussian service 3 May 1838 because he had become a Rear Admiral the Danish Navy. He had performed excellently and was well remembered: “A better leader for this branch of navigation at that time would have been difficult can be found. The Danish origin was not an obstacle to him, his official duties with pleasure and zeal.”

As Rear Admiral from 1838 he busied himself with writing and research in natural sciences. In 1840 he published a book on navigation Tankar om och i navigationen. He died in Copenhagen March 27, 1845.

Writings

Tankar om och i navigationen: Bille, Michael von, Carl Deleen Publisher, 1840.

References

• "Norsk forfatter-lexikon, 1814-1880. Paa grundlag af J. E. Krafts og Chr. Langes "Norsk forfatter-lexikon 1814-1856"" http://www.archive.org/stream/norskforfatterl14kohtgoog/norskforfatterl14kohtgoog_djvu.txt

• Seeoffizieranwärter – ihre Ausbildung von 1848 bis heute, Karl Hinrich Peter, 2009, pp. 12–13 http://www.pkgodzik.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Geschichte_und_Politik/Karl_Peter__Seeoffizieranwaerter.pdf

Persondata
Name	Bille, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1769
Place of birth
Date of death	1845
Place of death