Alexander Javakhishvili ( ka, ალექსანდრე ჯავახიშვილი; russian: Александр Давидович Джавахишвили, translit=Aleksandr Davidovich Dzhavakhishvili; February 18, 1932 – July 31, 2017) was a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

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 regarded ...

and commander of the

Georgian navy The Georgian Coast Guard ( ka, საქართველოს სანაპირო დაცვა) is the maritime arm of the Georgian Border Police, within the Ministry for Internal Affairs. It is responsible for the maritime protection ...

from 1991 to 1996. A former Soviet navy submariner, he directed efforts at building the navy of independent Georgia in the 1990s.

Biography

Javakhishvili was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, the capital of then-

Soviet Georgia The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

in 1932. After serving his compulsory military service as a

Radioman Radioman (RM) was a rating for United States Navy and United States Coast Guard enlisted personnel, specializing in communications technology. History of the rating The rating was created originally in 1921. In 1997, under the direction of Chi ...

on board the

Soviet cruiser Molotov ''Molotov'' (russian: Молотов) was a Project 26bis of the Soviet Navy that served during World War II and into the Cold War. She supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Sevastopol, the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation and the amphibious ...

between 1949 and 1952, he was trained at the Caspian Maritime College in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, and commissioned as an officer in the Soviet Navy, becoming Captain 1st Rank, and in 1970 commander of the Pacific Fleet ''Navaga''-class ballistic missile submarine ''К-415'', with which he conducted, from January to March 1972, a trans-Pacific submerged

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

. He served as Deputy Chief of the 55th Naval Infantry Division between 1974 and 1977, as Vice Director of the A. A. Grechko Naval Academy between 1977 and 1980, as Commanding Officer of the 2nd Submarine Squadron of the Baltic Fleet between 1980 and 1982, as Principal of

Nakhimov Higher Naval School (Sevastopol) The Admiral Nakhimov Higher Naval School is a higher naval education institution of Russia which prepares future officers for the Russian Navy. It was created in the basis of both the Black Sea Red Banner Higher Naval Institute "Admiral Pavel Na ...

between 1982 and 1985. He served as Chief of Logistics of the Far East Fleet from 1985 till retirement in 1989 After Georgia's independence in 1991, Javakhishvili became a commander of the embryonic Georgian navy. With the outbreak of hostilities in Abkhazia, he personally led a successful rescue operation of Georgian civilians trapped in the Abkhaz-controlled resort town of

Pitsunda Pitsunda ( ab, Пиҵунда, russian: Пицунда) or Bichvinta ( ka, ბიჭვინთა ) is a resort town in the Gagra District of Abkhazia/Georgia (country), Georgia. Founded by Greek colonists in the 5th century BC, Pitsunda became ...

on August 18, 1992. He was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral on July 10, 1996, becoming the first person to have been awarded with the rank of admiral by Georgia. By that time, Javakhishvili's relations with the country's defense minister Vardiko Nadibaidze soured. In November 1996, he was fired for "failing to eradicate financial irregularites and raise the combat efficiency of the service", accusations which Javakhishvili rejected. He was succeeded by Captain 1st Rank Otar Chkhartishvili, a 47-year-old officer from the Russian navy, in March 1997. Javakhishvili has since lived in retirement. He gave an interview to the Georgian service of the

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

in 2008, critical of Georgia's decision to merge the navy with the coast guard under the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Javakhishvili, Alexander 1932 births Military personnel from Tbilisi Soviet submarine commanders 2017 deaths