Michael Bille (1680–1756)

[2][Note 1] On return, after serving on the 50-gun Stiernen, Bille became captain of the frigate Ørnen[3] in the Baltic on whose cruise he reported in September 1709.

1711 found him back as recruitment officer in West Jutland, then as second in command of the ship-of-the-line Fridericus Quartus until the middle of August when the ship was severely damaged by a fire that claimed the lives of three men.

[1][2] Transferred to command the ship-of-the-line Havfruen[5] (the mermaid) in the Baltic fleet Bille was then ordered, in January 1716, to take charge of the sea batteries off Copenhagen.

Stralsund) his main task was to remove the timber and other materials for shipbuilding, and to prepare transport for repatriation of the Danish troops as the Swedes approached.

[2][Note 3] In 1721, Bille was sent with the Snow Hummeren (the lobster) to Danzig and Riga to buy and load a cargo of hemp for the fleet.

In consideration of the many extra expenses he incurred on this voyage in the monarch’s interest, he was awarded a special daily allowance plus the services of a personal secretary and a servant.

[1] In the same year, he commanded a squadron of ten ships-of-the-line until it was recalled and the ships laid up on the grounds that the danger of war was past.

Together with a similar sized British squadron they instituted a blockade of the Russian fleet in Reval (modern day Tallinn).

It was after this period that the head of the Danish navy, Count F Danneskjold-Samsøe instituted the court martial process against fabrikmester Knud Benstrup in relation to the building of HDMS Christianus Sixtus, during which Bille was found to have been negligent in the performance of his duties and lost the confidence of the Danish King, Christian VI.