Born on 23 November 1723, the son of Admiral Michael Bille and Karen Lasson, Bille married the widow of a medical doctor in Glückstadt while on extended leave there in 1762 but separated three years later. The marriage was childless.
Career
Starting as a cadet in 1733, Bille was commissioned as a junior lieutenant in 1741. He served on the ship-of-the-line Oldenborg in the Danish squadron off Algiers in 1746 and three years later as a senior lieutenant in command of the galley Achilles. During a year as recruitment officer in Helsingør, he was further promoted in August 1754 and sailed as second-in-command of the ship-of-the-line Ditmarsken in 1756. Promoted to captain in 1758, Bille was in command of the Turensen-designed frigate convoying to and from the Danish West Indies. A series of reports sent by him to Copenhagen dealt with the Spanish seizure and plundering of a smaller royal ship which had called at Puerto Rico for fresh water. The commissariat noted that captain Bille was a good manager of his ship’s expenses. In 1762 he captained the frigate Falster and was head of naval supplies at Glückstadt. He was further promoted in 1767 and in command of the ship-of-the-line Prinsesse Wilhelmine Caroline in 1771 when this ship was sent to reinforce the Danish squadron in the Mediterranean during the Danish–Algerian War. On 30 January 1772 in Gibraltar harbour during a severe winter storm his ship dragged its anchor, colliding with the bow of HMS Trident before running aground. The ship was warped off when the storm subsided, with only minor damage. In 1774 and 1775 Bille was in command of the ships laid up but ready for active service in Trosvig, Fredrikstad from where he delivered ship-of-the-line Neptunus to Copenhagen. In December 1775. He was promoted to the rank of commodore and posted to Trondheim as head of recruitment and chief pilot for Trondheim district, positions he held until his death. In 1781 Bille achieved flag rank as rear admiral.
Death
Bille died in Frederik’s hospital in Copenhagen on 5 October 1784. He is buried near the entrance to the chapel of the Church of Holmen
Citations
Project Runeberg: C With on in Danish Biographical Lexicon Vol 2 page 211
T. A. Topsøe-Jensen og Emil Marquard “Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og den danske Søetat 1814-1932“. Two volumes. Download .
