Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish admiral and a naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy. Background Niels Juel was born the son of Erik Juel and Sophie Sehested, both of whom were descended from Danish nobility, who lived in Jutland where the father had a career as a local functionary and judge. He was the brother of the diplomat Jens Juel (1631–1700). Niels Juel was born in Christiania, Norway, where his family sought refuge during the 1627 invasion of Jutland during the Thirty Years' War, while his father took part in the defense of the country at home. The following year after the occupation had ended, the family was reunited in Jutland. From 1635 to 1642, Juel was brought up by his aunt Karen Sehested (1606–1672) at the Stenalt estate near Randers. In 1647 Juel was enrolled at the Sorø Academy. Career In 1652 Juel entered Dutch naval service. He served his naval apprenticeship under Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp (1598–1653) and Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter (1607–1676), taking part in all the major engagements of the First Anglo-Dutch War, a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic. From 1654–56, he attended Admiral Michiel de Ruyter on two trips to the Mediterranean during engagements against North African pirates. During an indisposition at Amsterdam in 1655–1656 he acquired a thorough knowledge of shipbuilding. In 1656 he returned to Copenhagen and entered Danish service as a naval officer, and in 1657 he was appointed admiral. He served with distinction during the Dano-Swedish War (1658–60) and took a prominent part in the defence of Copenhagen against the forces of King Charles X of Sweden. During fifteen years of peace, Juel, as admiral of the fleet, labored assiduously to develop and improve the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy, though he bitterly resented the setting over his head in 1663 of Vice-Admiral Cort Adeler (1622–1675), on his return from service to the Republic of Venice during the Turkish wars. In 1675, at the outbreak of the Scanian War, he served at first under Adeler, but on the death of the latter in November 1675 he was appointed to the supreme command. Juel then won a European reputation, and raised Danish sea-power to unprecedented eminence, by the system of naval tactics, which consisted of cutting off