Frederik Kaas (1730 - 1759)[1] was a Danish naval officer who also saw service with other navies. He died in the Battle of Pondicherry in a French warship.
Personal life
As the son of Admiral Ulrich Kaas (1677 - 1746) and Mette Sørensdatter Mathiesen, Frederik Kaas was christened at Holmens Kirke on 20 June 1730. He had four older brothers who would also become Danish naval officers. He never married.[2] His family was one of the ancient nobility of Denmark, the Mur-Kaas.
Career
From the age of twelve Frederik Kaas was enrolled as a cadet in the Royal Danish navy (officially from 1747) and was commissioned as a Junior Lieutenant on 27 December 1749. In 1750 he joined the Construction Committee[1][Note 1]
1751 -1754 he served on the ship-of-the-line Nellebladet in a voyage to the East Indies, at the end of which he was promoted to Senior Lieutenant and appointed adjutant to the head of the Holmen navy base, Admiral Suhm.[1]
Early in 1776 promotion to captain gave him command of Hvide Ørn (1753) which was active in a joint Danish-Swedish squadron in the North Sea
In 1757 Frederik Kaas was permitted to seek service in the French navy.[Note 2] He reported that he had arrived too late at Brest to join the squadron of Bois de la Motte, but in August he was posted to a warship of 74 guns which was sailing to the East Indies.[1]
Fate
Frederik Kaas was killed in a battle with a British warship off Pondicherry on 10 September 1759.[1]
Notes
^Frederik's older brother, Frederik Christian, also started training at the Construction Committee, but two years earlier. Neither went on to specialise in ship construction
^Service with foreign navies was a common occurrence for Danish officers to further their experience in times of peace for their home country
(in Danish)T. A. Topsøe-Jensen og Emil Marquard (1935) “Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og den danske Søetat 1814-1932“. Two volumes. Download hereArchived 2020-02-13 at the Wayback Machine.
