Edvard Christian Danielsen (14 April 1888 – 30 January 1964) was a Norwegian naval officer. He held the rank of Vice admiral in the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, 3 ...

and was chief of the admiral staff in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Personal life

Danielsen was born at

Mandal A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

, Norway. He was the son of Daniel D. Danielsen (1842-95) and Margrethe Cecilie Jensen (1855-1939). He married Julie Lie Torjussen in 1915.

Military career

Danielsen started as a cadet in the

Royal Norwegian Naval Academy The Royal Norwegian Naval Academy (RNoNA, ''Sjøkrigsskolen'' in Norwegian) is located at Laksevåg in Bergen. It was formally established 27 October 1817 in Frederiksvern. The institution educates officers for the Royal Norwegian Navy. History ...

in 1906 and graduated in 1909. Danielsen entered the

and was in continuous submarine service from 1917 until 1936. He was appointed to captain in 1924 and was chief of the submarine division from 1934 to 1936. After the

German invasion of Norway German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

in 1940, he worked on behalf of the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...

in cooperation with the British

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

(

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

). After

Henry Diesen Henry Edward Diesen (3 April 1883 – 7 January 1953) was a Norwegian naval officer. He was born in Trondhjem as a son of telegrapher Edward Diesen (1852–1909) and Johanne Christophine Stenersen (1855–1936). He was a first cousin of Emil Dies ...

resigned his position in August 1941, Danielsen was promoted to

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

and served chief of the admiral staff in

. After the liberation of Norway in 1945, Danielsen was appointed Vice Admiral and served as naval chief from May 1949 until he sought leave during 1951.

References

Other sources

* Bjørn Rørholt; Bjarne Thorsen (1990) ''Usynlige soldater – Nordmenn i Secret Service forteller'' (Oslo: Aschehoug Forlag) 1888 births 1964 deaths People from Vest-Agder Royal Norwegian Naval Academy alumni Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Royal Norwegian Navy World War II admirals Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) {{norway-mil-bio-stub