The Russian Baltic Fleet In The Time Of War And Revolution 1914 1918

The first English-language edition. “A useful read for anyone interested in early 20th century Russia and naval operations in the Great War.” —StrategyPage Rear Admiral S. N. Timiryov, was well placed to make observations on the character of many of the significant commanding officers and also many of the operations of the Baltic Fleet from the beginning of the war in 1914 up to exit from it in 1918. He trained with many of the key figures and shared battle experience with them in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and the siege of Port Arthur; and he spent a year in Japan as a prisoner of war with a number of them. In his subsequent career in the Navy he had roles which brought him into contact with new recruits as well as with many serving officers, and as the Executive Officer on the imperial yacht Shtandart for some years, he came into contact with senior members of the navy establishment and of the government, including the imperial household. The translation of these memoirs brings an important and authoritative historical source to those interested in Russian or naval history who are unable to access them in the original Russian. “An excellent addition to the historiography of the Imperial Russian Navy during the twilight of its existence. A key resource for scholars of the Baltic Fleet and naval aspects of the Russian Revolution.” —The Northern Mariner “The coverage of Russian operations, command structure dynamics, and their impact on operational capability make it worthy of recommendation.” —Australian Naval Institute

The translation of these memoirs brings an important and authoritative historical source to those interested in Russian or naval history who are unable to access them in the original Russian. Their author, Rear Admiral S N Timiryov, was well placed to make observations on the character of many of the significant commanding officers and also many of the operations of the Baltic Fleet from the beginning of the war in 1914 up to exit from it in 1918. He trained with many of the key figures and shared battle experience with them in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and the siege of Port Arthur; and he spent a year in Japan as a prisoner of war with a number of them. In his subsequent career in the Navy he had roles which brought him into contact with new recruits as well as with many serving officers, and as the Executive Officer on the imperial yacht Shtandart for some years, he came into contact with senior members of the navy establishment and of the government, including the imperial household. His memoirs also exhibit an unusual degree of self-awareness. Written in Shanghai in 1922, these memoirs remained unknown to scholars for several decades. Since their publication in New York in 1961, in the absence of access to authoritative archives, many historians in the West used them as a source for the study of the role of the Navy in the Russian revolution, particularly as it unfolded in the north. They have also been used as a source in numerous studies of the naval war in the Baltic, and following the fall of the Soviet Union they were re-published in Russia and are regarded there as an authoritative source on the history both of the revolution and of the Russian Navy in the First World War. This first English-language edition, complemented by extensive notes and commentary on issues which may not be familiar to many, will fascinate scholars and naval historians alike.

Originally published in 1923, the author was a Commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, and First-Officer of the Destroyer "Novik."My work has two objects: first to show the activity of our Baltic Fleet during the past war. Of course I shall speak only of the events which concerned the operation of my own ship, the destroyer "Novik." I passed nearly all the war in the "Novik," and it is there that 21 chapters of my book were written; the last four I wrote later...The second object of my book is to state, so far as I know, all that happened in the Navy from the beginning of the February revolution, and to describe the tragedy it lived through during that time up to its complete collapse...All the facts, dates and names stated by me may well serve as historical information. For as the Russian Navy passed through a period of complete decay after the revolution, during which many historical documents were undoubtedly lost, the present work will perhaps explain much to the future historian. The events in which I took no personal part, I have gathered from the documents and recollections kindly supplied to me by men who had been directly connected with them.

Nekrasov breaches a long-taboo subject and provides an overview of the Black Sea Fleet's strategy and tactics.