Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Edouard Suenson (13 April 1805 – 16 May 1887) was a Danish naval officer known for his participation in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

. He served as the main Danish commander at the Battle of Heligoland in the latter.

Biography

Family

Edouard Suenson was the son of Captain Jean Isaac Suenson and Anna Susanne née Lütken. He married Ottilia Uldall, daughter of chamberlain Johan Joachim Uldall and Anna Christiane Nellemann, in Copenhagen on September 11, 1837.Th. Topsøe-Jensen: Edouard Suenson (1805–1887). In: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. 3. Auflage. Gyldendals Boghandel and Nordisk Forlag, Kopenhagen (Danish
denstoredanske.dk
accessed on March 13, 2018). Their son Edouard Suenson Jr. would also become a naval officer. He also served as managing director of the

Great Northern Telegraph Company GN Store Nord A/S is a Danish manufacturer of hearing aids (GN ReSound/GN Hearing), speakerphones, videobars and headsets ( Jabra (GN Audio) and SteelSeries). GN Store Nord A/S is listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen (ISIN code DK0010272632). Histo ...

Military career

He entered military service in 1817 as a cadet and was promoted to lieutenant on September 14, 1823.Flådens Historie (Danish Naval History): ''Edouard Suenson'' (dänisch, ) Around 1825, he sailed for the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

on the corvette Diana, and was granted admission to serve in the

French Royal Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in the world recognised as being a blue- ...

. He was aboard the brig Alcyone when the combined British-French-Russian fleet destroyed the Ottoman navy at the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O.S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied ...

. He later served on board the frigate Thetis during the

Invasion of Algiers in 1830 The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers. Algiers was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1529 after the capture of Algi ...

from 1830 to 1831 under Admiral

Guy-Victor Duperré Admiral of France Guy-Victor Duperré (20 February 1775 – 2 November 1846) was a French Navy officer. He is known for commanding French naval forces in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 and was victorious in the Battle of Grand Port, whe ...

. In autumn of 1831, he returned home from French service and later sailed with the brig St. Jan to the Danish West Indies. He was then promoted to First Lieutenant at Sea. In 1840, he was given command of the steamship Kiel and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on February 13, 1841. From 1840 to 1841, he sailed with the frigate Bellona to the east and west coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. From 1842 to 1844, he was in command of the steamship ÆgirIn. In 1846, he sailed as commander with the bri''g St. Croix t''o

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, and in 1847 became commander of the

Trekroner Fort Trekroner Søfort (literally ''Three Crowns Sea Fortress'') is a sea fort at the entrance to the Copenhagen harbour. From 1713 until after World War I, Trekroner Fort was part of the fortifications of Copenhagen. The original location of Tre ...

First Schleswig War

In 1848, the

First Schleswig War The First Schleswig War (), also known as the Schleswig-Holstein uprising () and the Three Years' War (), was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig–Holstein question: who should control the Du ...

broke out when Suenson was commander of the schooner Pilen, a guard ship near

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,990 (2025). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

in the

Great Belt The Great Belt (, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Belt ferries fr ...

. In 1849, he became commander of the corvette Diana, a guard ship near

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

. In 1850, he became commander of the steamship Hekla in the Baltic Sea Squadron. In the bay of Neustadt, there was a battle with the steam cannon boat Von der Tann on July 20 and 21 in 1850, during which the Von der Tann ran aground and was abandoned by its crew and set on fire. The ship was later repaired and incorporated into the Danish fleet under the name Støren. On August 16, 1850, Edouard Suenson led a battle between the Danish ships Hekla and Løwe with four Schleswig-Holstein gunboats in the

Bay of Kiel The Bay of Kiel or Kiel Bay (, ; ) is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, ...

Interwar Period

In 1851, he became a member of the Construction and Regulatory Commission after the war. In May 1851, he became commander of the Naval Cadet Corps. He held this position until 1863 and was also in command of the cadet ships and corvettes Flora, Valkyrien, Heimdal, and Jylland. Throughout his service in this period, he was promoted to corvette captain, frigate captain, and sea captain.

Second Schleswig War

Admiral Suensons Hjemkomst efter Slaget ved Helgoland

Suenson had been in command of the Danish squadron in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

with frigates Niels Juel and

Jylland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

, and corvettes Dagmar and Heimdal since the spring of 1864. Their task was to arrest German merchant ships in the English Channel and the North Sea to ensure a sea blockade in Germany, and to prevent the penetration of the Austrian squadron into Danish waters. On May 9, 1864, the Battle of Heligoland began as the Danish fought the Austrian squadron. The battle ended in a draw, but both sides later claimed victory for themselves.

Accolade and commemoration

On May 15, 1864, Suenson received the Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. Suenson is buried in

Holmens Cemetery Holmen Cemetery (Danish language, Danish: Holmens Kirkegård) is the oldest cemetery still in use in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was first located next to the Royal Danish Navy, naval Church of Holmen in the city centre but relocated to its current si ...

in Copenhagen. The Edouard Suenson Memorial at

Nyboder Nyboder (English language, English: New mallHouses) is a historic row house district of former Royal Danish Navy, Naval barracks in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was planned and first built by Christian IV of Denmark, Christian IV to accommodate a ...

in Copenhagen was inaugurated in 1886. It incorporates a bust of him by

Theobald Stein Theobald Stein (7 February 1829 – 16 November 1901) was a Danish sculptor. He was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and served as its director from 1883 to 1886. Among his most well-known works are the Niels Juel statue ...

. The nearby street Suensonsgade is also named after him. A number of ships of the Royal Danish Navy have also been named after Suenson. An 1881 oil on canvas portrait painting of him by

Otto Bache Otto Bache (21 August 1839 – 28 June 1927) was a Danish Realist painter. Many of his works depict key events in Danish history. Biography At age eleven he received a dispensation and was admitted into the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, ...

is on display in the Museum of National History at

Frederiksborg Castle Frederiksborg Castle () is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for Christian IV of Denmark, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II ...

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 36,604 (1 January 2025)Christian Mølsted, H. Nik. Hansen, Erik Henningsen, and

August Jerndorff August Andreas Jerndorff (25 January 1846 – 28 July 1906) was a Danish painter who is best known for his portraits. Biography August Jarndorff was born in Oldenburg in Lower Saxony. His parents were Just Ulrik Jerndorff (1806-1847), painter t ...

Taxon named in his honor

*The Seagrass eel '' Chilorhinus suensonii'' Lütken, 1852

References

Bibliography

* Th. A. Topsøe-Jensen: ''Det Danske Søofficerskorps 1801–1919.'' Gyldendals Boghandel and Nordisk Forlag, Copenhagen 1919. * Th. A. Topsøe-Jensen, Emil Marquard: ''Officerer i den Dansk-Norske Søetat 1660–1814 og den Danske Søetat 1814–1932.'' Band I und II, H. Hagerups Forlag, Copenhagen 1935. * H. Degenkolv: ''Oplysninger vedrørende den danske flaades skibe i sidste aarhundrede.'' Copenhagen 1906. * Th. Topsøe-Jensen: ''Edouard Suenson (1805–1887).'' In: ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon.'' 3. Auflage. Gyldendal (dänisch
denstoredanske.dk
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Suenson, Edouard 1805 births 1887 deaths 19th-century Royal Danish Navy admirals People of the First Schleswig War Danish military personnel of the Second Schleswig War Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog French Navy officers French people of the Greek War of Independence