Corfits Ulfeldt ( naval officer ) Corfits Mogensen Ulfeldt ( died 1644 ) was a Danish naval officer , a cousin of the much more famous traitor Corfitz Ulfeldt ( 1606 – 1664 ) . He is known in the annals of whaling as the man who drove the French out of Spitsbergen . Ulfeldt later fought ( and died ) in the Torstenson War . Family . Ulfeldt was the son of Council of State member and Rigsadmiral ( High Admiral ) Mogens Ulfeldt ( 1569 - 1616 ) and Anne Christensdatter Lange ( Munk ) . He had a sister and at least two brothers : Anne Mogensen Ulfeldt ( 1598 - 1655 ) , Jacob Mogensen Ulfeldt and Christian Mogensen Ulfeldt . He was married to Else Andersdatter Thot ( d . 1652 ) , widow of Hans Lindenov . Career . In 1624 the king , Christian IV , wrote to Ulfeldt and his brothers , encouraging them to travel abroad . In order to cover travel expenses , they had to sell their father ' s Selsø estate . In 1631 Ulfeldt sold a manor in Bonderup ; two years later he pledged his mother ' s Tvis and Krogsdal estates . On July 9 , in the same year he sold the latter estates , he was commissioned as a ship ' s captain . In July 1634 he was made Admiral of the Elbe , and was ordered to seize any Hamburg ships he came across between Øresund and Helgoland . In October he was ordered to remain on the Elbe through the winter with " Nældebladet " and " Skiens Galej " , while " Hummeren " ( " The Lobster " ) , " Havhesten " ( " Sea Horse " ) and " Kronegalej " were to return to Copenhagen . In 1635 he spent a month recruiting seamen . In March 1637 Ulfeldt received orders to convoy the Danish whaling fleet to Spitsbergen in the man - of - war " De To Løver " ( " The Two Lions " ) , as well as to reassert Christian IV ' s claim of sovereignty over the land . Ulfeldt , with support from the fleet , seized some 600 barrels of whale oil and 60 barrels of baleen from the French ships under Petrissans de Larralde anchored in Port Louis ( Hamburgbukta ) before driving them out of their harbor . In July of the same year he also met a French ship on the open sea at 78° N , the " Fleur " of Ciboure , under Dominique Daguerre , which had been hunting whales between 73° and 76° N . Ulfeldt brought it to Copenhagen Bay ( Kobbefjorden ) , where about 400 barrels of blubber and 100 quintals of baleen were confiscated . The following spring he again received orders to convoy the fleet , this time with three ships : " De Tre Løver " , " Lammet " , and " Stokfisken " . He again seized the French ships ’ goods ( 559 casks of oil and over 9 , 000 lbs of baleen ) and drove them out of Port Louis , which the Danes renamed " Ulfeldt ' s Bay " in his honor . His actions led the French to temporarily abandon Hamburgbukta . Ulfeldt also detained two Dutch ships , the " Sanct Pieter " , under Claes Melchiorsz , and the " Eenhoorn " , under Adriaen Ollebrantsz , for over a month in Copenhagen Bay , but they were later released after a brief battle between Ulfeldt and the rest of the Dutch whaling fleet . The Dutch complained bitterly against this treatment . Three years of negotiations followed , resulting in the two countries agreeing to cease hostilities in Spitsbergen . Ulfeldt ' s cruises were the last in a two - and - a - half decade long struggle between European whalers there . In May 1640 he was appointed captain of " Lindormen " , and on August 5 was made Admiral of the former ship and " Lammet " , which were to sail to England with envoys . At Flækkerø ( present - day Flekkerøya , an island off Kristiansand ) " Lammet " struck a rock ; later a storm separated the two ships for three days and nights . Ulfeldt was able to ride it out anchored off the English coast . He received a pay raise of 50 dalers later the same month . In 1641 , from April 17 to September 13 , Ulfeldt was at sea . In the Battle of Colberger Heide ( July 1 , 1644 ) , in which the king so famously lost an eye , Ulfeldt served aboard " De Tre Kroner " ( " The Three Crowns " ) as Vice - admiral of Pros Mund ' s squadron . He again served under Mund in the Battle of Fehmarn off Lolland ( October 13 , 1644 ) as Rear - Admiral aboard " Stormarn " . During the battle his ship ran aground . Ulfeldt was killed while defending it against capture by the Swedes . He was buried at the Tapdrup Church near Viborg .