Danish Navy Admiral. Born in Trondheim as Peter Jansen Wessel. As a child he was wild and unruly, and at the age of thirteen he ran away to sea on a ship bound for Copenhagen in Denmark where in 1709 he was admitted as a midshipman in the Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy. He rose quickly through the ranks, was appointed lieutenant-commander in 1712, and drew attention to himself in the Great Northern War. In 1716 he was ennobled under the name Tordenskjold ("Thundershield"). That same year he destroyed the Swedish fleet in the narrow Dynekilen Fjord on the west coast of Sweden, thus forcing the Swedish king Charles XII to abandon his intention to invade Norway with 40,000 soldiers. In 1718 he was appointed vice-admiral. At the end of war in 1720 he went on a tour of Europe. He died in Germany, killed in a duel by a German Count von Holstein. In Denmark and in Norway Tordenskjold is considered a national hero.
Danish Navy Admiral. Born in Trondheim as Peter Jansen Wessel. As a child he was wild and unruly, and at the age of thirteen he ran away to sea on a ship bound for Copenhagen in Denmark where in 1709 he was admitted as a midshipman in the Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy. He rose quickly through the ranks, was appointed lieutenant-commander in 1712, and drew attention to himself in the Great Northern War. In 1716 he was ennobled under the name Tordenskjold ("Thundershield"). That same year he destroyed the Swedish fleet in the narrow Dynekilen Fjord on the west coast of Sweden, thus forcing the Swedish king Charles XII to abandon his intention to invade Norway with 40,000 soldiers. In 1718 he was appointed vice-admiral. At the end of war in 1720 he went on a tour of Europe. He died in Germany, killed in a duel by a German Count von Holstein. In Denmark and in Norway Tordenskjold is considered a national hero.
Bio by: Find a Grave
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