Wilgelm Vitgeft
Wilgelm Karlovich Vitgeft | |
|---|---|
Russian Pacific Fleet | |
| Battles/wars | Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War |
Wilhelm Withöft (
Russia-German admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his service in the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904-1905.
Biography
Withöft was born in
Russian Baltic Fleet. In 1885, as a captain of the second rank, he was assigned his first command, that of the gunboat Groza. He subsequently served as an inspector of works for the Marine Technical Committee, and as the Assistant Chief Inspector of Mines, was responsible for testing naval mines
.
In 1892, Vitgeft took over command of the cruiser Voyevoda and was promoted to captain 1st rank in 1894. On 26 October 1899 Withöft was promoted to rear admiral and was transferred to the
chief of staff to Viceroy, Yevgeny Alekseyev
, from 1900 to 1903.
After the outbreak of the
Port Arthur by the Japanese blockade. Vitgeft made one aborted attempt to break out of Port Arthur on 23 June. On 7 August, he suffered from a leg wound caused by a shell splinter during the Japanese bombardment of Port Arthur.[1]
decisive battle
.
Alekseyev appealed to
Tsar Nicholas II replied that he fully shared the Viceroy's opinion. Faced with an Imperial writ and threat of legal action, Admiral Vitgeft was ordered to sail for Vladivostok immediately.[3]
By 06:15 hours, on 10 August 1904, Admiral Vitgeft, flying his flag in the battleship Tsesarevich, began leading his fleet from the harbor.
The Russian fleet consisted of the battleships
bridge of the Russian flagship Tsesarevich. The shell also jammed the flagship's steering into a shaft port turn, which threw the Russian line of battle into confusion. Five battleships, a cruiser and nine destroyers escaped back to Port Arthur; however, the damaged Tsesarevich and three escorting destroyers sailed to Qingdao, where they were interned by Imperial German authorities under Governor Oskar von Truppel and his chief of staff Korvettenkapitän Felix Funke.[4]
Honors
- Order of St. Anne2nd degree 1893
- Order of St Vladimir4th degree, 1893 .
- Order of St Vladimir3rd degree, 1898 .
- Order of St. Stanislaus1st degree with swords, 1900
Order of the Redeemer, 3rd degree, 1896 (Greece)
Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd degree, 1900 (Japan)
Order of the Crown, 2nd degree with star and swords, 1900 (Prussia)
References
- Forczyk, Robert. Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship, Yellow Sea 1904-05. 2009 Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-330-8.
- ISBN 0-8108-4927-5
- Nish, Ian (1985). The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War. Longman. ISBN 0-582-49114-2
- Sedwick, F.R. (1909). The Russo-Japanese War. The Macmillan Company
- Corbett, Sir Julian. "Maritime Operations In The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905" (1994) Originally a classified report, and in two volumes. ISBN 1-55750-129-7
Footnotes
| International | |
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| National | |
