Mikhail Bakhirev

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Koronatovich and the family name is Bakhirev.

Mikhail Koronatovich Bakhirev (Russian: Михаил Коронатович Бахирев, romanized: Mihail Koronatovič Bahirev; 17 July 1868 – 9 January 1920) was a Russian naval officer and admiral.

Mikhail Koronatovich Bakhirev
Born	(1868-07-17)July 17, 1868 Novocherkassk
Died	January 9, 1920(1920-01-09) (aged 51) Petrograd
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service / branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service	1888-1917
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands	Battleship squadron of the Baltic Fleet
Battles / wars	Russo-Japanese War World War I
Awards	Order of St. George Order of Saint Stanislaus (Imperial House of Romanov) Order of St. Anna Order of St. Vladimir Légion d'honneur (France) Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan)

Bakhirev was born into a Don Cossack family near Novocherkassk. His father was a sotnik in the cossacks of the Imperial Russian Army.

He joined in 1888 as a cadet in the Navy and was on the gunboat Bobr the Far Eastern Fleet. In January 1898 he was transferred to the Baltic Fleet, but only a year later, he returned to the Far East. During the Boxer Rebellion he commanded the gunboat Gilyaks.

During the Russo-Japanese War 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.^[1]

World War I

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

On December 24, 1914 Bahirev was promoted to Rear Admiral given command of the 1st Cruiser Brigade. Between December 19, 1915 to May 23, 1917 he exercised command of the battleship squadron of the Baltic Fleet. During this period, he commanded Russian forces at the Battle of Åland Islands.^[2][3]

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^[4] in the Gulf of Riga^[5] (see Operation Albion and Battle of Moon Sound).^[6]

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 Bolsheviks, but released again on March 13, 1919. On 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 against the Red Army, a new wave of arrests took place in Petrograd. Bakhirev refused to flee to Finland. On November 17, 1919 he was accused of complicity with Yudenich, and he was again imprisoned. On January 9, 1920 he was shot as a hostage.^[7]

Honours and awards

Russia

• Order of St. Stanislaus (first class) (October 30, 1895)
• Order of St. George (Fourth Class) (October 19, 1900)
• Order of St. Anne (third class) (December 6, 1901)
• Order of St. Vladimir (Fourth Class) (1902)
• Order of St. Stanislas (Second Class with Swords) (October 11, 1904)
• Gold Sword for Bravery (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 (France; 1902)
• Order of the Sacred Treasure(fourth class) (Japan; 1902)
• Officer of the Legion of Honour (France; 1909)

References

1. STAFF, GARY (2018). Battle on the Seven Seas: German Cruiser Battles 1914-1918. South Yorkshire, United Kingdom: PEN & SWORD MARITIME. p. 105. ISBN 9781526743855. OCLC 1035400526.
2. Sondhaus, Lawrence (2014). The Great War at sea : A Naval History of the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-107-03690-1. OCLC 892542583.
3. History of World War I. New York: Marshall Cavendish. 2002. p. 398. ISBN 9780761472315. OCLC 45861997.
4. Mawdsley, Evan (1978). The Russian Revolution and the Baltic Fleet: War and Politics, February 1917-April 1918. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-349-03759-9. OCLC 1084341475.
5. Dowling, Timothy C; Menning, Bruce (2014). Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond. Vol. 1–2. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-59884-948-6. OCLC 897907100.
6. Barrett, Michael B (2008). Operation Albion: the German conquest of the Baltic Islands. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00353-9. OCLC 608514681.
7. Staff, Gary (2008). Battle of the Baltic Islands 1917: Triumph of the Imperial German Navy. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-78303-318-8. OCLC 1100848313.