Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kedrov (russian: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович Ке́дров) (13 September 1878 – 29 October 1945) was a Russian naval officer who served in the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

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 ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

Early life

Kedrov graduated from the

Sea Cadet Corps Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

in 1899 at the top of his class and served as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

on the cruiser ''Gerzog Edinburgski''.

Russo-Japanese War

During the

Kedrov served as

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...

to Admiral

Stepan Makarov Stepan Osipovich Makarov (russian: Степа́н О́сипович Мака́ров, uk, Макаров Степан Осипович; – ) was a Russian vice-admiral, commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, oceanographer, member of the R ...

. He was not on the battleship ''Petropavlovsk'' when that ship was sunk (with the loss of the admiral and his staff) as he was detached to the destroyer ''Boyevoy'' at the time. Subsequently, Admiral

Wilgelm Vitgeft Wilhelm Withöft (russian: Вильгельм Карлович Витгефт, tr. ; October 14, 1847 – August 10, 1904), more commonly known as Wilgelm Vitgeft, was a Russia-German admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his servic ...

appointed Kedrov as his flag captain. Kedrov was wounded aboard the battleship ''Tsesarevich'' during the

battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea ( ja, 黄海海戦, Kōkai kaisen; russian: Бой в Жёлтом море) was a major naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 A ...

. After recovering in hospital in

Tsingtao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

he made his way to

Cam Ranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay ( vi, Vịnh Cam Ranh) is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilom ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

, joining up with the Second Pacific Squadron. He fought at the

battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

aboard the cruiser ''Ural'', surviving her sinking. Kedrov completed the Mikhailov Artillery Academy in 1907 and was promoted to Captain Lieutenant and served aboard the training ship ''Petr Velikiy'' as a gunnery instructor eventually becoming her commander in 1913 and deputy chief gunnery officer of 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) ...

World War I

In 1914 Kedrov was the flag captain of the 2nd Battleship Squadron of the Baltic Fleet. In 1914 he was tasked with bringing the codebooks salvaged from the German cruiser to Britain and was attached to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the ...

until 1915, serving aboard the cruiser and the battleships and . In November 1915 Kedrov was appointed to command the battleship ''Gangut''. In February 1916 he was summoned to Russian general headquarters to explain directly to the tsar,

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

, the causes of disturbances in the Russian fleet. Kedrov then was made commander of the destroyer division of the Baltic Fleet, and later was then 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 ...

in the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

of the

in the autumn of 1916. In 1917 he was appointed commander of the battleship squadron of the Black Sea Fleet. After the abdication of the tsar and the beginning of the

, Admiral Kedrov served with the White forces during the

and was a Vice admiral in the White Russian naval forces. He helped

Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...

lead the White naval evacuation known as

Wrangel's fleet Wrangel's Fleet was the last remnant of the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy and existed from 1920 until 1924. This squadron was a "White" (anti-communist and anti-revolutionary) unit during the Russian Civil War. It was known also as ...

in its November 1920 flight from the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and then

Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...

. The evacuation allowed 145,693 people, plus the ship crews, to escape the approaching Bolsheviks.On the trails of the past, in search of the future, The Voice of Russia, July 14, 2010
/ref> In November 1920 Kedrov relinquished command of the fleet to Admiral

Mikhail Berens Mikhail Andreyevich Berens (russian: Михаил Андреевич Беренс) (January 16, 1879 – January 20, 1943) was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy and the White Navy during the Russian Civil War. Biography Mikhail Beren ...

Life in Exile

Kedrov settled in France and retrained as a civil engineer at the

École des Ponts et Chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. He worked as an engineer and became chairman of the Federation of Russian engineers in Paris. He played a significant role in the Russian military emigration, and was chairman of the Naval Union, which consisted of more than 30 departments and groups in different countries. Since 1930 he was the second deputy chairman of the Company's Russian Military Union (EMRO) under General

Yevgeny Miller Eugen Ludwig Müller (russian: Евге́ний-Лю́двиг Ка́рлович Ми́ллер, tr. ; 25 September 1867 – 11 May 1939), better known as Yevgeny Miller, was a Russian general of Baltic German origin and one of the leaders of th ...

. After the kidnapping of Miller by Soviet agents in 1937, he served as chairman of EMRO for a short time and then withdrew from political activity. From 1938 he was the Second Vice-President of the Union of Knights of St. George. He died in Paris and was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kedrov, Mikhail Alexandrovich 1878 births 1945 deaths Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian admirals Russian Provisional Government admirals White movement admirals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Russian Civil War Wrangel's fleet Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Burials at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery Naval Cadet Corps alumni