Stepan Makarov
Stepan Osipovich Makarov | |
---|---|
Russian Pacific Fleet | |
Battles/wars | Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Russo-Japanese War † |
Awards | Order of St. George |
Stepan Osipovich Makarov (
Makarov saw service in the
Early life
Stepan Makarov was born in Nikolaev (present-day
In 1870 Makarov invented a design for a collision mat to seal holes in a ship's
Russo-Turkish War
Makarov was highly decorated for his service as a captain of the Russian torpedo boat tender Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. He was one of the first to adopt the idea of using flotillas of torpedo boats and had combat experience as a torpedo boat commander. On 14 January 1878 he launched torpedoes from a boat (which itself was launched from a tender) sinking the Ottoman Navy vessel Intibakh at Batumi in the world's first successful attack using the self-propelled Whitehead torpedo.[1]
From 1879 to 1880, Makarov was part of the maritime contingent during the Russian conquest of Central Asia. He was promoted to captain, 1st rank, on 1 January 1881.
Over the next two decades, Makarov specialized in naval research, publishing over fifty papers on oceanography and naval tactics.
Lake Baikal icebreakers
Makarov also designed two icebreaking steamships to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway across Lake Baikal: the train ferry SS Baikal built in 1897 and passenger and package freight steamer SS Angara built in about 1900,[5][6] based upon his study of similar vessels on the North American Great Lakes.
Baikal was burnt out and destroyed in the Russian Civil War.[5][6] Angara survives, has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where she serves as offices and a museum.[5]
Russo-Japanese War
After the
Upon his assumption of command in early 1904, Makarov greatly increased the activity in the Russian squadrons, as well as the general defense of Port Arthur.[8] Until then the Russian fleet had generally done nothing[9] but exist, as a fleet in being.[10] Under Makarov's leadership, "Russian squadrons put to sea nearly every day, constantly on the move, and ensuring that it was never taken by surprise outside the protection of Port Arthur's" shore batteries.[11]
Unlike his predecessors, Makarov sought engagements with the Japanese,[12] and kept his vessels in an order of battle in the roadstead of Port Arthur.[13] When Japanese cruisers bombarded Port Arthur from the Yellow Sea in March, his cruisers returned fire with such intensity that the Japanese ships were forced to withdraw.[8] That same month the Japanese Navy tried to seal the port's entrance by sinking a number of old steamships as blockships in the harbor's channel. Russian cruisers assigned to protect the entrance pursued the escorting Japanese warships and quickly put them to flight.[14]
On 13 April 1904 the Russian destroyer Strasny returning from patrol, tried to re-enter the mouth of the Port Arthur but was intercepted by Japanese destroyers.[15] An engagement began between the opposing destroyers, and when observed by Makarov he immediately sent the cruiser Bayan to assist Strasny, while he led three battleships, four cruisers, and a group of destroyers into the Yellow Sea to seek battle with the surrounding enemy warships led by Japanese Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō.[16] While rushing out of the harbour, Makarov failed to check for mines, but ordered that the area be swept for mines before his return.[17]
The Japanese warships withdrew with Makarov in pursuit. As Makarov caught up to the Japanese fleet, the thick fog that blanketed the sea lifted to reveal the Japanese trap: Admiral Togo was waiting with his capital ship and five additional battleships, plus six additional first-class cruisers bringing up the rear. Makarov quickly turned his force around and fled back to the safety of Port Arthur's harbour.[18] As Petropavlovsk moved closer to the harbour's entrance, she detonated a Japanese mine that his men had failed to clear as he had instructed.[19] Secondary explosions followed quickly in succession and Petropavlovsk sank, taking Admiral Makarov with her.[20][21][22]
The admiral's remains and those of five of his officers were recovered from the wreck of Petropavlovsk by Japanese salvage teams, and in 1913, as a gesture of good will, the officers and crew of the Japanese cruiser Akitsushima presided over the funeral for the admiral in the military cemetery of Port Arthur.[23]
Monuments
There are monuments to Makarov in his native Mykolayiv, Ukraine, and in Vladivostok and Kronstadt, Russia. A number of ships have been named Admiral Makarov. An island in the Tsivolk group of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago was named after him. National University of Shipbuilding in Mykolaiv and State Maritime Academy in Saint Petersburg are named after him.
Three icebreakers have been named after Makarov. The first was a steam-powered icebreaker built in 1941 as V. Molotov that was renamed Admiral Makarov in 1956. The second Admiral Makarov was built in 1975 and remains in service as of 2015[update]. The third one, Stepan Makarov, is an icebreaking standby vessel that was completed in 2016.
There were two streets named after Makarov in the central Ukrainian city Dnipro. On 22 February 2023 the city council of Dnipro renamed these streets.[24]
Makaroff, Manitoba, Canada is named after Admiral Makarov. Five miles west in Saskatchewan is the community of Togo, which is named after the Japanese Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō.
Notes
- ISBN 9780870215704.
- ^ a b c d Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 217.
- ^ Port Huron (MI) Daily Times, April 14, 1904. p. 1
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36041. London. 17 January 1900. p. 9.
- ^ a b c d e "Irkutsk: Ice-Breaker "Angara"". Lake Baikal Travel Company. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Babanine, Fedor (2003). "Circumbaikal Railway". Lake Baikal Homepage. Fedor Babanine. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Grant, p. 131
- ^ a b Grant, p. 93
- ^ Grant, p. 121
- ^ Mahan, p. 456
- ^ Grant, p. 120
- ^ Grant, p. 126
- ^ Grant, p. 115
- ^ Grant, p. 116
- ^ Grant, p. 125
- ^ Grant p. 126
- ^ Warner p. 255
- ^ Warner, p.257
- ^ Watts, p. 20
- ^ Grant, p. 127, 128
- ^ Spector, p. 2
- New York Times. August 30, 1905. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ Taras, p. 27.
- ^ Stas Rudenko (22 February 2023). "Marshal Malinovsky remains: 26 streets were renamed in Dnipro". Informator (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 22 February 2023.
References
- Grant, Captain R. (1907). Before Port Arthur in a Destroyer: The Personal Diary of a Japanese Naval Officer. London: John Murray.
- Mahan, Captain Alfred Thayer (June 1906). "Reflections, Historic and Other, Suggested by the Battle of the Japan Sea (Tsushima)". Proceedings. XXXVI (2). United States Naval Institute.
- ISBN 0-8108-4927-5.
- OCLC 123102596.
- Taras, Alexander (2000). Корабли Российского императорского флота 1892–1917 гг [Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy 1892–1917]. Library of Military History (in Russian). Minsk: Kharvest. ISBN 978-985-433-888-0.
- Watts, Anthony J. (1990). The Imperial Russian Navy. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-912-1.
- MPHK Catalogue of collectible silver coins 2012-13 p. 37., p. 81 http://asia-business.ru/netcat_files/Image/COINS/Catalog%202012-2013%20MPHK.pdf
- Warner, Denis (1974). The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War: 1904-1905. New York: Charter House.
External links
- Admiral Makarov (in Russian)
- Biography at peoples.ru (in Russian)