Abraham Duquesne Abraham Duquesne , marquis du Bouchet ( c . 1610 – February 2 , 1688 ) was a French naval officer , who also saw service as an admiral in the Royal Swedish Navy . He was born in Dieppe , a seaport , in 1610 , and was a Huguenot . He was the son of a naval officer and therefore became a sailor himself , spending his early years in merchant service . Service in the French navy . In 1635 , he was " capitaine de vaisseau " ( captain ) in the French navy . In 1636 , he was appointed to the " Neptune " squadron . In May 1637 he gained some fame for capturing the island of Lerins from the Spanish . Around this time , his father died in a conflict with the Spanish , which permanently increased his animosity towards them and he sought revenge . He fought them viciously at the Battle of Guetaria in 1638 , during the expedition to Corunna in 1639 , and in the battles at Tarragona in 1641 , Barcelona and the Cabo de Gata . Service in the Royal Swedish navy . Duquesne then left to join the Royal Swedish navy in 1643 . On the side of the Swedes , he fought the Danish fleet at the Battle of Colberger Heide where King Christian IV himself was in command of the Danish fleet , in the frigate " Regina " 34 . Later at Fehmarn , the Danes were decisively defeated , their admiral Pros Mund killed and his ship taken . After a peace had been reached between the Danes and the Swedes in 1645 , he returned to France . Return to French service . He suppressed a revolt at Bordeaux ( which was materially supported by his most hated foe , the Spanish ) in 1650 , during the Fronde outbreaks . During that same year , he created at his own expense a squadron with which he blockaded the Gironde , forcing that city to surrender . This earned him a promotion in rank to " chef d ' escadre " ( Rear - Admiral ) , a castle , and a gift of the entire isle of Indre , Loire - Atlantique . The French and the Spanish made peace in 1659 , which left him to fight pirates in the Mediterranean Sea . In 1667 he was promoted " ' Lieutenant - Général " ( Vice - Admiral ) . He distinguished himself in the Third Dutch War , fighting as second in command of the French squadron at the Battle of Solebay and later supporting the insurgents in the revolt of Messina from Spain , fighting Admiral Michel Adriaanzoon de Ruyter , who had the united fleets of Spain and the United Provinces under his command . He fought the combined Dutch - Spanish fleet at the Battle of Stromboli and the Battle of Agosta where De Ruyter was mortally wounded . On 2 June he was present as second in command when the French fleet under Comte and Vivonne attacked and partly destroyed the Spanish - Dutch fleet at the Battle of Palermo , which secured French control of the Mediterranean . For this accomplishment he received a personal letter from Louis XIV and was given , in 1681 , the title of marquis along with the estate of Bouchet , even though he was a Protestant . Duquesne also fought the Barbary pirates in 1681 and bombarded Algiers between 1682 and 1683 . In response the Algerians tied the French consul Jean Le Vacher to their huge Baba Merzoug cannon and blasted him towards the French fleet in July 1683 . Another French consul received the same treatment in 1688 , and the cannon became known as La Consulaire . Duquesne bombarded Genoa in 1684 . Last years . In that same year , 1684 , he retired from poor health . He may have foreseen the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 , though he was exempted from the proscription . He died in Paris on 2 February 1688 .