"Peter Jansen Wessel better known as Tordenskjold (lit. "thundershield"), (October 28, 1691 – November 12, 1720), was an eminent Norwegian naval officer in the service of the King of Denmark-Norway. He rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral in the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy for his services in the Great Northern War. His was an unusually successful rise in rank, considering he died when he was only 29 years old.

On July 26, 1714, he encountered a frigate under English flag near Lindesnes (most southern point of Norway), while flying a Dutch flag himself. The other frigate was De Olbing and carrying 28 guns (vs. his own 18-gun frigate), which had been equipped in England for the Swedes and was on its way to Gothenburg under the command of an English captain named Bactmann. De Olbing signalled for Tordenskjolds frigate to come closer and as Tordenskjold raised the Danish flag, Bactmann fired a broadside at him.

In the English captain, Tordenskjold met a tough match. The combat lasted all day, and when Bactman tried to escape in the evening, Tordenskjold set more sails and continued the duel. The fight was interrupted by nightfall, and renewed again indecisively the following morning. Both ships were badly damaged after around 14 hours of fighting, when Tordenskjold was running out of ammunition. He then sent an envoy to the English ship, cordially thanking the English for a good duel, and asked if he could borrow some of their ammunitions in order to continue the fight. His request was denied, and the captains drank to each other's health, before the ships dispersed.

Is it dead?