Mikhail Koronatovitsch Bakhirev (russian: Михаил Коронатович Бахирев) (17 July 1868 in

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk (russian: Новочерка́сск, lit. ''New Cherkassk'') is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as t ...

– 9 January 1920 in Petrograd) was a Russian naval officer and

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. Bakhirev was born into a

Don Cossack Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До� ...

family near Novocherkassk. His father was a

sotnik Sotnik or sotnyk (, uk, сотник, bg, стотник) was a military rank among the Cossack ''starshyna'' (military officers), Strelets Troops (17th century) in Muscovy and Imperial Cossack cavalry (since 1826), the Ukrainian Insurgent Arm ...

in the cossacks of the Imperial Russian Army. He joined in 1888 as a cadet in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and was on the gunboat ''Bobr'' the Far Eastern Fleet. In January 1898 he was transferred to the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

, but only a year later, he returned to the Far East. During the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

he commanded the gunboat ''Gilyaks''. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

In 1904/05 he commanded Port Arthur torpedo boat ''Silny''. Bakhirev participated in the defense of Port Arthur. Despite many casualties in the most difficult situations, he managed to impose calm and discipline. Between 1911 and 1914 he was commander of the armoured cruiser Rurik.

World War I

At the start of World War I, Bakhirev served as the captain of the powerful armored cruiser , at that time the fleet

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

. On December 24, 1914 Bahirev was promoted to

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 regarde ...

given command of the 1st Cruiser Brigade. Between December 19, 1915 to May 23, 1917 he exercised command of the battleship squadron of the

. During this period, he commanded Russian forces at the

Battle of Åland Islands The Battle of Åland Islands, or the Battle of Gotland, which occurred in July 1915, was a naval battle of World War I between the German Empire and the Russian Empire, assisted by a submarine of the British Baltic Flotilla. It took place i ...

. Two years later he was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral and the following year (August 21, 1917) he became chief of the naval forces in the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main con ...

(see

Operation Albion Operation Albion was a World War I German air, land and naval operation against the Russian forces in October 1917 to occupy the West Estonian Archipelago. The land campaign opened with German landings at the Tagalaht bay on the island of S ...

and

Battle of Moon Sound The Battle of Moon Sound was a naval battle fought between the forces of the German Empire, and the then Russian Republic (and three British submarines) in the Baltic Sea during Operation Albion from 16 October 1917 until 3 November 1917 durin ...

). On January 12, 1918 Bakhirev was dismissed from service and denied the right to collect a pension.

Russian Revolution

After his dismissal from the Navy, Bakhirev exercised the profession of chief accountant in an industrial society. At the beginning of August 1918 he was arrested by

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s, but released again on March 13, 1919. The April 1, 1919, he started writing about the fighting in the Gulf of Riga between 1915 and 1917.

Death

After the defeat of General

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War. Biography Early life Yuden ...

against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

, a new wave of arrests took place in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Bakhirev refused to flee to Finland. On November 17, 1919 he was accused of complicity with Yudenich, and he was again imprisoned. At January 9, 1920 he was shot as a hostage.

Honours and awards

Russia

Order of St. Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

(first class) (October 30, 1895) *

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

(Fourth Class) (October 19, 1900) * Order of St. Anne (third class) (December 6, 1901) *

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

(Fourth Class) (1902) * Order of St. Stanislas (Second Class with Swords) (October 11, 1904) *

Gold Sword for Bravery The Gold Sword for Bravery (russian: Золотое оружие "За храбрость") was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished ...

(December 19, 1905) * Order of St. Anne (Second Class with Swords) (March 19, 1907) * Order of St. Vladimir (third class) (December 6, 1913) * Order of St. Vladimir (Third Class with Swords) (December 24, 1914) * Order of St. Stanislas (first class with swords) (August 10, 1915) * Order of St. Anne (first class with swords) (January 11, 1916)

Foreign

* Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(France; 1902) *

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

(fourth class) (Japan; 1902) * Officer of the Legion of Honour (France; 1909)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakhirev, Mikhail 1868 births 1920 deaths Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th class Victims of Red Terror in Soviet Russia People from Novocherkassk Executed people from Rostov Oblast Executed Russian people People executed by Russia by firearm Admirals of World War I