Carl Wilhelm Jessen
| Carl Wilhelm Jessen | |
|---|---|
Carl Wilhelm Jessen
|
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| Born |
10 July 1764 Fredensborg, Denmark |
| Died | 30 March 1823 (aged 58) St Thomas, Danish West Indies |
| Buried at | St Thomas, later re-interred at Holmens Kirke, Copenhagen (55°40′36″N 12°35′0″E / 55.67667°N 12.58333°ECoordinates: 55°40′36″N 12°35′0″E / 55.67667°N 12.58333°E) |
| Years of service | 1776–1822 |
| Rank | Rear admiral |
| Commands held |
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| Battles/wars |
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| Other work | Governor of St Thomas |
Carl Wilhelm Jessen (10 July 1764 – 30 March 1823) was a Danish naval officer and Governor of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies.
Carl Wilhelm Jessen was a Danish naval officer and the son of Councillor of State Nicolai Jacob Jessen and Marie Christine Jacobi.
Jessen became a naval cadet in 1776. He was commissioned as a junior lieutenant in the navy in 1782, and then was promoted senior lieutenant in 1789, commander in 1796, captain in 1803, senior captain in 1810, and commodore in 1815. He left naval service as a rear admiral in 1822. He then became Governor of the island of St Thomas in the Danish West Indies.
Immediately after his lieutenant's examination, Jessen joined an expedition to the Caribbean with the small Lærken, where he participated in a successful battle against two English privateers.
Between 1784 and 1786 Jessen participated in commercial trading voyages with (Danish) West India Company ships as first mate.
In 1789 he was a tutor at the Naval Cadet Academy and commander of a gunboat in Admiral Conrad von Schindel's squadron in the Baltic Sea. In 1790, as captain of Makrellen, he performed reconnaissance for the squadron.
During the period 1793–94 he was the deputy commander of the brig Lougen (built 1791) under Captain H. Kaas. They operated in the Caribbean, where Jessen also participated in battles against privateers.
In 1795, Jessen was second-in-command of the frigate Thetis. For at least part of the period 1795 to 1799 Thetis was active in the Mediterranean protecting Danish shipping interests. Although Thetis was not present at the battle of 16 May 1797, she had been at Tripoli before – with a bribe for the Bey – and later with a squadron.
In 1799 and 1800 Jessen was second in command of the Naval Academy, and later served in a cutter in Norwegian waters protecting the country's neutrality. As captain of Lougen he again sailed to the West Indies. There he also had the schooners Iresine and Den Aarvaagne under his command. On 1 September 1800 he captured the British privateer Eagle, which had been molesting Danish merchant shipping for a long time.
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