Biography of Admiral Nakhimov: Achievements of an Incredible Man. Admiral nakhimov pavel stepanovich biography briefly

Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich(1802-1855), Russian naval commander, admiral, hero of the Sevastopol defense and just a man who is strong in spirit, a man of legend.

Born June 23 (July 5) 1802 in the village. A small town (modern village of Nakhimovskoye) of the Vyazemsky district of the Smolensk province in a poor and large noble family (eleven children). His father was an officer and, even under Catherine, retired with the modest rank of second-major. Childhood had not yet left Nakhimov when he was enrolled in the Naval Cadet Corps. He studied diligently and brilliantly, was an example to follow, and at the age of fifteen he received the rank of midshipman and was assigned to the Phoenix brig, sailing in the Baltic Sea.

And already here a curious feature of the Nakhimov nature was revealed, which originated in him from childhood. Immediately attracted the attention of his comrades, and then colleagues and subordinates. This trait, noticed by others already in the fifteen-year-old midshipman, remained dominant in the graying admiral until the moment when a French bullet pierced his head. This trait, one might say, determined his fate, his life and all the events in it. This trait can be characterized as follows: naval service was not the most important business of life for Nakhimov, as it was, for example, for his teacher Lazarev or for his comrades Kornilov and Istomin, but the only business, in other words: he was not he knew and did not want to know, he simply refused to admit for himself the possibility of existence not on a warship or not in a naval port. For lack of time and too much absorption in sea interests, he forgot to fall in love, forgot to marry, forgot part of himself, devoting himself to an important cause. He was a fanatic of the maritime business, according to unanimous opinions of eyewitnesses and observers. That was how Nakhimov could be characterized: he found himself in life, his business, his place in the sea.

In 1817 he was among the best midshipmen in the "Phoenix" brig and sailed to the shores of Sweden and Denmark. After graduating from the Corps in January 1818 sixth in the list of graduates, in February he received the rank of midshipman and was sent to the 2nd naval crew of the Petersburg port. In 1821 he was transferred to the 23rd naval crew of the Baltic Fleet. Diligence and zeal, some fanaticism and love for his work ... and so he enthusiastically accepts the invitation of MP Lazarev in 1822-1825 to serve on his frigate, which was then named by the new name "Cruiser". Upon his return, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree. Years fly by, first he sailed as a midshipman, and from March 22, 1822 as a lieutenant. Here he became one of Lazarev's favorite students and followers, a good student from a good teacher.

After a three-year voyage around the world from the "Cruiser" frigate, Nakhimov moved (all under the command of Lazarev) in 1826 to the ship "Azov", on which he took an outstanding part in the Navarino sea battle in 1827 against the Turkish fleet. Of the entire united squadron of England, France and Russia, the Azov came closest to the enemy, and the navy said that the Azov had crushed the Turks from a distance, not with a cannon shot, but with a pistol shot. Courage, not otherwise. Nakhimov was wounded. There were more killed and wounded on the Azov on Navara day than on any other ship of the three squadrons, but the Azov did more harm to the enemy than the best frigates of the British Admiral Codrington, who commanded the united squadron. This is how Nakhimov began his military career, his first battle, his warrior and defender. Only great and strong people can do something more for this world in their lives, something important and meaningful. In December 1827 he received the Order of St. George, 4th degree and the rank of lieutenant commander. In August 1828 he became the commander of a captured Turkish corvette, renamed "Navarin". During the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829 he took part in the blockade of the Dardanelles by the Russian fleet.

Years passed, he was 29 years old and he became the commander of the frigate "Pallada" which had just been built then (in 1832), and in 1836 the commander of the "Silistria" and, a few months later, was promoted to captain of the 1st rank. "Silistria" sailed in the Black Sea, and during the nine years of its sailing under the flag of Nakhimov, the ship performed a number of difficult, difficult, heroic and responsible assignments. And he coped brilliantly throughout the entire time.

Trust is sometimes unlimited, so Lazarev trusted his student. In September 1845, Nakhimov was promoted to rear admiral, and Lazarev made him commander of the 1st brigade of the 4th naval division of the Black Sea Fleet. For success in combat training of crews, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 1st degree. His moral influence on the entire Black Sea Fleet was so enormous in those years that it could be compared with the influence of Lazarev himself. The student has grown to be a teacher. He devoted days and nights to the service. He looked at service in peacetime only as preparation for war, to the moment when a person must fully demonstrate all his strength, skills, all his endurance. All life is like a fight, like a fight for justice, for world peace.

He always believed that sailors are the main military force of the fleet... This is who, in his opinion, needs to be elevated, taught, aroused in them courage, heroism, the desire to work, the desire to perform feats for the sake of the Motherland. Nakhimov simply refused to understand that the naval officer might have any other interest besides service, because he himself lived only for the sake of the cause. He said that it was necessary that the sailors and officers were constantly busy, that idleness on the ship was not allowed, that if work was going well on the ship, then new ones had to be invented ... Officers should also be constantly busy. We must always go forward, work on ourselves, so as not to break in the future. Eternal improvement for the opportunity to be.

The year came 1853. The terrible memorable events of world history are looming forever. February 25 (March 9) 1855 appointed commander of the Sevastopol port and temporary military governor of the city; promoted to admiral in March. Under his leadership, Sevastopol heroically repelled the attacks of the allies for nine months. Thanks to his energy, the defense acquired an active character: he organized sorties, waged counter-battery and mine warfare, erected new fortifications, mobilized civilians to defend the city, and personally traveled around the front lines, encouraging the troops. He was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

On June 28 (July 10), 1855, he was mortally wounded by a bullet in his temple at the Kornilov bastion of the Malakhov Kurgan. He died on June 30 (July 12) without regaining consciousness. The death of P.S. Nakhimov predetermined the imminent fall of Sevastopol. He was buried in the admiral's tomb of the Naval Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Sevastopol next to V.A.Kornilov and V.I. Istomin, next to great people.

P.S. Nakhimov possessed those features that are almost, one might say, a rarity, a great rarity. He was distinguished by courage, courage, intelligence, courage, originality and the ability to get out of any difficult and doomed situations. Life did not remain in debt to him. During the Great Patriotic War on March 3, 1944, they were approved, making Nakhimov a legend, an important and significant person in history.

The famous naval commander of the Russian Empire Fedor Fedorovich Ushakov was born into the family of a poor Yaroslavl nobleman in 1745. The biography of Admiral Ushakov is very interesting and replete with wonderful events that left an imprint not only on his fate, but also on the history of all of Russia.

From a young age, Fedor was fond of naval affairs and in 1766 he successfully graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps. Ushakov began his service with the Baltic Fleet, then took part in the battles against the Ottoman Empire as part of the Azov flotilla. Having distinguished himself in battles against the Turks, he was appointed captain of a frigate, and then of an imperial yacht. Under his command, the battleship (battleship) successfully deterred the activities of British pirates on the routes from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, ensuring the safe movement of Russian and European merchants.

In 1783 Fyodor Fedorovich began building the Black Sea fleet. Under the command of Ushakov in Sevastopol, which became the main naval base of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea, fortifications were erected and modern weapons were installed. At the head of the Black Sea Fleet, FF Ushakov defeated the Turks in battles near the Kerch Strait, Tendra Island and Cape Kaliakria.

Ushakov's military victories were based on tactics that had been worked out over the years, which consisted of a lightning-fast attack on the enemy and the full inclusion of all available weapons in the battle, due to which the Russian ships were able to catch and stun the enemy already in the first minutes of the battle. Ushakov ordered his ships first of all to attack the flagship (the ship on which the commander of the formation is located) in order to deprive the enemy of leadership and to undermine the enemy's morale.

For his services in the development and strengthening of the Russian navy, for outstanding victories over the enemy, in 1799 Fyodor Fedorovich Ushakov was promoted to admiral. Leading at this time the Mediterranean campaign (1798-1800), Admiral Ushakov, using naval artillery as a cover, managed to capture a well-fortified fortress on the island. Corfu, which was formerly occupied by the French. After the capture of this fortress, Admiral Ushakov, remaining a convinced monarchist to the last, using his diplomatic skills and international respect, contributed to the establishment of the democratic Greek Republic of the Seven Islands.

Fedor Fedorovich Ushakov, having retired in 1807, devoted his work to charity and assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church, for which in 2011 he was canonized. All sea battles of Ushakov were brilliantly won. Admiral Ushakov took care of his subordinates, appreciating the life of every sailor. And in response, the sailors loved their admiral, trusting him and unquestioningly carrying out all his orders. The sailors were confident in the righteousness and military genius of Ushakov, who did not lose a single soldier prisoner. In the spirit of A.V. Suvorov, F.F. Ushakov built the fleet on the principles of value and maximum efficiency of every ship and sailor.

Russian politician, Vice Admiral of the Russian Imperial Fleet (1916) and Admiral of the Siberian Flotilla (1918). Polar explorer and oceanographer, participant of expeditions in 1900-1903 (awarded the Great Constantine Medal by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society). Member of the Russian-Japanese, World War I and Civil War. Leader and leader of the White movement in the East of Russia. The Supreme Ruler of Russia (1918-1920), was recognized in this position by the leadership of all white regions, "de jure" - by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "de facto" - by the Entente states.

The first widely known representative of the Kolchak family was the Crimean Tatar military leader Ilias Kolchak Pasha, the commandant of the Khotin fortress, captured by Field Marshal Kh. A. Minikh. After the end of the war, Kolchak Pasha settled in Poland, and in 1794 his descendants moved to Russia.

Alexander Vasilievich was born into the family of a representative of this family, Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak (1837-1913), a staff captain of the naval artillery, later a major general in the Admiralty. V.I.Kolchak served his first officer rank with a severe wound during the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War of 1853-1856: he turned out to be one of the seven surviving defenders of the Stone Tower on Malakhov Kurgan, whom the French found among the corpses after the assault. After the war, he graduated from the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg and until his retirement served as an inspector of the Naval Ministry at the Obukhov plant, having a reputation as a direct and extremely scrupulous person.

Alexander Vasilyevich himself was born on November 4, 1874 in the village of Aleksandrovskoye near St. Petersburg. The birth document of their firstborn son shows:

“... in the metric book of 1874, the book of the Trinity Church of the village of Aleksandrovsky, St. Petersburg Uyezd, number 50 shows: Naval artillery at staff captain Vasily Ivanov Kolchak and his legal wife Olga Ilyina, both Orthodox and first-wed, son Alexander was born on November 4, and baptized December 15, 1874. His successors were: Marine Staff Captain Alexander Ivanov Kolchak and the widow of the collegiate secretary Daria Filippovna Ivanova "[source not specified 35 days].

Studies

The future admiral received his primary education at home, and then studied at the 6th St. Petersburg classical gymnasium.

In 1894, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps, and on August 6, 1894 he was assigned to the 1st rank cruiser "Rurik" as an assistant to the chief of watch and on November 15, 1894 was promoted to the rank of midshipman. On this cruiser, he departed for the Far East. At the end of 1896, Kolchak was assigned to the 2nd rank cruiser "Cruiser" as the chief of watch. On this ship, for several years, he went on campaigns in the Pacific Ocean, in 1899 he returned to Kronstadt. On December 6, 1898, he was promoted to lieutenant. In the campaigns, Kolchak not only performed his official duties, but was also actively engaged in self-education. He also became interested in oceanography and hydrology. In 1899 he published an article "Observations of surface temperatures and specific gravity of sea water, made on the cruisers" Rurik "and" Cruiser "from May 1897 to March 1898".

Toll's expedition

Upon arrival in Kronstadt, Kolchak went to the Vice-Admiral S.O. Makarov, who was preparing to sail on the icebreaker "Ermak" in the Arctic Ocean. Alexander Vasilyevich asked to be admitted to the expedition, but was refused "for official reasons." After that, for some time entering the personnel of the ship "Prince Pozharsky", Kolchak in September 1899 transferred to the battleship "Petropavlovsk" and on it went to the Far East. However, while staying in the Greek port of Piraeus, he received an invitation from the Academy of Sciences from Baron E.V. Toll to take part in the aforementioned expedition. From Greece through Odessa in January 1900, Kolchak arrived in St. Petersburg. The head of the expedition offered Alexander Vasilyevich to lead the hydrological work, and in addition to be the second magnetologist. Throughout the winter and spring of 1900, Kolchak was preparing for the expedition.

On July 21, 1901, the expedition on the schooner Zarya moved along the Baltic, North and Norwegian Seas to the shores of the Taimyr Peninsula, where the first wintering was to come. In October 1900, Kolchak took part in Toll's trip to the Gafner fjord, and in April-May 1901, the two of them traveled along Taimyr. Throughout the entire expedition, the future admiral was actively involved in scientific work. In 1901, E. V. Toll immortalized the name of A. V. Kolchak, naming him after the island in the Kara Sea and a cape discovered by the expedition. As a result of the expedition in 1906, he was elected a full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

In the spring of 1902, Toll decided to head north of the New Siberian Islands on foot with the magnetologist FG Zeberg and two mushers. The rest of the expedition members, due to a lack of food supplies, had to go from Bennett's Island to the south, to the mainland, and then return to St. Petersburg. Kolchak and his companions went to the mouth of the Lena and through Yakutsk and Irkutsk arrived in the capital.

Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Alexander Vasilyevich reported to the Academy about the work done, and also reported on the enterprise of Baron Toll, from whom no news had been received either by that time or later. In January 1903, it was decided to organize an expedition, the purpose of which was to clarify the fate of Toll's expedition. The expedition took place from May 5 to December 7, 1903. It consisted of 17 people on 12 sledges, harnessed by 160 dogs. The trip to Bennett Island took three months and was extremely difficult. On August 4, 1903, reaching Bennett Island, the expedition discovered traces of Toll and his companions: documents of the expedition, collections, geodetic instruments and a diary were found. It turned out that Toll arrived on the island in the summer of 1902 and headed south with only 2-3 weeks of provisions. It became clear that Toll's expedition had died.

Wife (Sofya Fedorovna Kolchak)

Sofia Fedorovna Kolchak (1876-1956) - wife of Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak. Sofia Fedorovna was born in 1876 in Kamenets-Podolsk, Podolsk province of the Russian Empire (now Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine).

Kolchak's parents

Father is a real privy councilor V. I. Kolchak. Mother Olga Ilyinichna Kolchak, nee Kamenskaya, was the daughter of Major General, Director of the Forestry Institute F.A.Kamensky, sister of the sculptor F.F.Kamensky. Among the distant ancestors were Baron Minich (brother of the field marshal, Elizabethan nobleman) and General-in-Chief M.V. Berg (who defeated Frederick the Great in the Seven Years' War).

Upbringing

A hereditary noblewoman of the Podolsk province, Sofya Fedorovna was brought up at the Smolny Institute and was a very educated girl (she knew seven languages, she knew French and German perfectly). She was beautiful, strong-willed and independent in character.

Marriage

By agreement with Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, they were to get married after his first expedition. In honor of Sophia (at that time, the bride), a small island in the Litke archipelago and a cape on Bennett Island were named. The wait stretched over several years. They were married on March 5, 1904 in the Holy Kharlampievsky Church in Irkutsk.

Children

Sofya Fedorovna gave birth to three children from Kolchak:

the first girl (c. 1905) did not live even a month;

daughter Margarita (1912-1914) caught a cold while fleeing the Germans from Libava and died.

Emigration

During the Civil War, Sofya Fedorovna waited for her husband to the last in Sevastopol. In 1919, she managed to emigrate from there: the British allies provided her with money and provided the opportunity to travel by ship from Sevastopol to Constanta. Then she moved to Bucharest, and then left for Paris. Rostislav was brought there too.

Despite the difficult financial situation, Sofya Fedorovna managed to give her son a good education. Rostislav Aleksandrovich Kolchak graduated from the Higher School of Diplomatic and Commercial Sciences in Paris, served in an Algerian bank. He married Ekaterina Razvozova, daughter of Admiral A. V. Razvozov, who was killed by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd.

Sofya Fedorovna survived the German occupation of Paris and the captivity of her son - an officer of the French army.

Demise

Sofia Fedorovna died in the Lunjumeau hospital in Italy in 1956. She was buried in the main cemetery of the Russian diaspora - Saint-Genevieve de Bois.

Russo-Japanese war

In December 1903, the 29-year-old lieutenant Kolchak, exhausted by the polar expedition, set off on the return journey to St. Petersburg, where he was going to marry his fiancée Sofya Omirova. Not far from Irkutsk, he was caught by the news of the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. He summoned his father and bride by telegram to Siberia and immediately after the wedding departed for Port Arthur.

The commander of the Pacific squadron, Admiral S.O. Makarov, invited him to serve on the battleship "Petropavlovsk", from January to April 1904, which was the squadron's flagship. Kolchak refused and asked to be assigned to the high-speed cruiser Askold, which soon saved his life. A few days later, "Petropavlovsk" was blown up by a mine and promptly sank, taking to the bottom more than 600 sailors and officers, including Makarov himself and the famous battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin. Soon after that, Kolchak achieved transfer to the Angry destroyer. He was in command of the destroyer. By the end of the siege of Port Arthur, he had to command a coastal artillery battery, as severe rheumatism - a consequence of two polar expeditions - forced him to abandon the warship. This was followed by injury, the surrender of Port Arthur and Japanese captivity, in which Kolchak spent 4 months. Upon his return, he was awarded the St. George weapon - the Golden Saber with the inscription “For Bravery”.

Revival of the Russian fleet

Freed from captivity, Kolchak received the rank of captain of the second rank. The main task of the group of naval officers and admirals, which included Kolchak, was the development of plans for the further development of the Russian navy.

In 1906, the Naval General Staff was created (including on the initiative of Kolchak), which took over the direct combat training of the fleet. Alexander Vasilyevich was the head of his department, was engaged in the development of the reorganization of the navy, acted in the State Duma as an expert on naval issues. Then a shipbuilding program was drawn up. To obtain additional appropriations, officers and admirals actively lobbied for their program in the Duma. The construction of new ships progressed slowly - 6 (out of 8) battleships, about 10 cruisers and several dozen destroyers and submarines entered service only in 1915-1916, at the height of the First World War, and some of the ships laid down at that time were already being completed. in the 1930s.

Taking into account the significant numerical superiority of the potential enemy, the Naval General Staff developed a new plan for the protection of St. Petersburg and the Gulf of Finland - in the event of a threat of attack, all ships of the Baltic Fleet, upon an agreed signal, had to go out to sea and put 8 minefields at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, covered by coastal batteries.

Captain Kolchak took part in the design of special icebreaking ships "Taimyr" and "Vaigach", launched in 1909. In the spring of 1910, these ships arrived in Vladivostok, then went on a cartographic expedition to the Bering Strait and Cape Dezhnev, returning to the fall back to Vladivostok. Kolchak in this expedition commanded the Vaigach icebreaker. In 1908 he went to work at the Maritime Academy. In 1909, Kolchak published his largest research - a monograph that summarized his glaciological research in the Arctic - "Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas" (Notes of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Series 8. Phys.-Math. Department. St. Petersburg, 1909. Vol.26, No. 1.).

Participated in the development of an expedition project to study the Northern Sea Route. In 1909-1910. the expedition, in which Kolchak commanded the ship, made the transition from the Baltic Sea to Vladivostok, and then sailed towards Cape Dezhnev.

Since 1910, at the Naval General Staff, he was engaged in the development of the shipbuilding program for Russia.

In 1912 Kolchak transferred to serve in the Baltic Fleet as flag captain for the operational part of the headquarters of the fleet commander. In December 1913 he was promoted to captain of the 1st rank.

World War I

To protect the capital from a possible attack by the German fleet, the Mine Division, on the personal order of Admiral Essen, set up minefields in the waters of the Gulf of Finland on the night of July 18, 1914, without waiting for the permission of the Minister of the Navy and Nicholas II.

In the fall of 1914, with the personal participation of Kolchak, an operation for a mine blockade of German naval bases was developed. In 1914-1915. destroyers and cruisers, including those under the command of Kolchak, laid mines near Kiel, Danzig (Gdansk), Pillau (modern Baltiysk), Vindava and even off the island of Bornholm. As a result, 4 German cruisers were blown up in these minefields (2 of them sank - "Friedrich Karl" and "Bremen" (according to other sources, the submarine E-9 was sunk), 8 destroyers and 11 transports.

At the same time, an attempt to intercept a German convoy carrying ore from Sweden, in which Kolchak was directly involved, ended in failure.

In addition to successfully laying mines, he organized attacks on caravans of German merchant ships. From September 1915 he commanded a mine division, then the naval forces in the Gulf of Riga.

In April 1916 he was promoted to rear admiral.

In July 1916, by order of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Alexander Vasilyevich was promoted to vice admiral and appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

After swearing in the interim government

After the February Revolution of 1917, Kolchak was the first in the Black Sea Fleet to swear allegiance to the Provisional Government. In the spring of 1917, the Headquarters began preparations for an amphibious operation to capture Constantinople, but due to the disintegration of the army and navy, this idea had to be abandoned (largely due to the active Bolshevik agitation). Received gratitude from the Minister of War Guchkov for his quick and reasonable actions, with which he helped to maintain order in the Black Sea Fleet.

However, because of the defeatist propaganda and agitation that penetrated the army and navy after February 1917 under the guise and cover of freedom of speech, both the army and the navy began to move towards their collapse. On April 25, 1917, Alexander Vasilyevich spoke at a meeting of officers with a report "The state of our armed forces and relations with the allies." Among other things, Kolchak noted: We are facing the disintegration and destruction of our armed forces, [because] the old forms of discipline have collapsed, and new ones have failed to be created.

Kolchak demanded an end to the home-grown reforms based on the "conceit of ignorance", and to accept the forms of discipline and organization of internal life, already adopted by the allies. On April 29, 1917, with Kolchak's sanction, a delegation of about 300 sailors and Sevastopol workers left Sevastopol in order to influence the Baltic Fleet and the armies of the front, "so that they could wage the war actively with full exertion of forces."

In June 1917, the Sevastopol Council decided to disarm officers suspected of counter-revolution, including taking away from Kolchak his St. George weapon - the golden saber given to him for Port Arthur. The admiral preferred to throw the blade overboard with the words: "The newspapers do not want us to have weapons, so let him go to sea." On the same day, Alexander Vasilyevich handed over the files to Rear Admiral V.K. Lukin. Three weeks later, the divers raised the saber from the bottom and handed it to Kolchak, engraved on the blade with the inscription: "To the knight of honor, Admiral Kolchak from the Union of Army and Navy Officers." At this time, Kolchak, along with the General Staff of Infantry General L.G. Kornilov, was viewed as a potential candidate for military dictators. It is for this reason that in August A. F. Kerensky summoned the admiral to Petrograd, where he forced him to resign, after which he, at the invitation of the command of the American fleet, went to the United States to advise American specialists on the experience of Russian sailors using mine weapons in the Baltic and Black Seas. in the First World War.

In San Francisco, Kolchak was offered to stay in the United States, promising him a department of mine engineering at the best naval college and a rich life in a cottage on the ocean. Kolchak refused and went back to Russia.

Defeat and death

On January 4, 1920, in Nizhneudinsk, Admiral A. V. Kolchak signed his last decree, in which he announced his intention to transfer the powers of the "Supreme All-Russian Power" to A. I. Denikin. Until the receipt of instructions from A. I. Denikin, "the entire completeness of military and civil power throughout the territory of the Russian Eastern Outskirts" was provided to Lieutenant General G. M. Semyonov.

On January 5, 1920, a coup took place in Irkutsk, the city was captured by the Social Revolutionary-Menshevik Political Center. On January 15, A. V. Kolchak, who left Nizhneudinsk in a Czechoslovak train, arrived in a carriage under the flags of Great Britain, France, USA, Japan and Czechoslovakia to the suburbs of Irkutsk. The Czechoslovak command, at the request of the Socialist-Revolutionary Political Center, with the approval of the French General Janin, transferred Kolchak to his representatives. On January 21, the Political Center handed over power in Irkutsk to the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee. From January 21 to February 6, 1920, Kolchak was interrogated by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry.

On the night of February 6-7, 1920, Admiral A. V. Kolchak and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Government V. N. Pepelyaev were shot on the banks of the Ushakovka River, by order of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee. The resolution of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee on the execution of the Supreme Ruler, Admiral Kolchak and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pepelyaev, was signed by Shiryamov, the chairman of the committee and its members A. Soskarev, M. Levenson and Otradny.

According to the official version, this was done out of fear that General Kappel's units breaking through to Irkutsk had the goal of freeing Kolchak. According to the most widespread version, the execution took place on the banks of the Ushakovka River near the Znamensky Women's Monastery. According to legend, sitting on the ice awaiting execution, the admiral sang the romance "Burn, burn, my star ...". There is a version that Kolchak himself commanded his execution. After the execution, the bodies of those killed were thrown into the hole.

Kolchak's grave

Recently, previously unknown documents were found in the Irkutsk region concerning the execution and subsequent burial of Admiral Kolchak. The documents labeled "secret" were found during the work on the performance of the Irkutsk city theater "The Star of the Admiral" based on the play by the former employee of the state security agencies Sergei Ostroumov. According to the documents found, in the spring of 1920, near the Innokentyevskaya station (on the bank of the Angara, 20 km below Irkutsk), local residents discovered a corpse in an admiral's uniform, carried by the current to the bank of the Angara. The arrived representatives of the investigating authorities made an inquiry and identified the body of the executed Admiral Kolchak. Subsequently, investigators and local residents secretly buried the admiral according to Christian tradition. The investigators drew up a map on which Kolchak's grave was marked with a cross. Currently, all documents found are under examination.

Based on these documents, the Irkutsk historian I.I.Kozlov established the alleged location of Kolchak's grave.

Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak - the famous leader of the White Movement in Siberia, Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Admiral, polar explorer and hydrographic scientist was born in the village of Aleksandrovskoye near St. Petersburg on November 16, 1874 in a family of a hereditary military man. Father - Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak, nobleman and major general of naval artillery, mother - Olga Ilyinichna Posokhova, Don Cossack. In 1888, after graduating from the St. Petersburg classical gymnasium for men, Kolchak entered the Naval Cadet Corps, from which he graduated in 1894 with the rank of midshipman. After graduation, Kolchak in 1895, as an officer of the watch on the cruiser "Rurik", went to Vladivostok across the southern seas. During the transition, he became interested in hydrology and hydrography, at the same time he had a desire to independently engage in scientific research.

Two years later, already being a lieutenant, Kolchak returned to the position of the Baltic Fleet on the "Cruiser" clipper. On his return to Kronstadt, he tries to join the polar expedition on the Ermak icebreaker under the leadership of Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, but the icebreaker's team was already complete. Kolchak decided not to give up and, having learned that the Imperial Academy of Sciences was preparing a project to explore the Arctic Ocean in the area of ​​the New Siberian Islands, he made efforts to become one of the expedition participants. Fortunately for Kolchak, the leader of the expedition, Baron Toll, was familiar with his scientific publications on hydrology and needed naval officers, so he agreed.

Polar Explorer - Lieutenant Kolchak

Under the patronage of the President of the Academy of Sciences, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, Kolchak was temporarily dismissed from military service, entered the order of the Academy and received the post of head of the hydrological work of the expedition. The plans of the researchers were to round Eurasia from the north, round Cape Dezhnev and return to Vladivostok. This was the first academic voyage of Russia in the Arctic Ocean, performed on its own ship. On June 8, 1900, the expedition schooner "Zarya" left St. Petersburg and headed for the Arctic waters, but already in September, leaning against the impassable ice, began to winter in the Taimyr Strait. On August 10, 1901, the ice began to move and the navigation of the Zarya continued, but less than a month later I had to settle for a second wintering near Kotelny Island. During the second wintering, Kolchak takes part in the exploration of the New Siberian Islands, conducting magnetic and astronomical observations. At the end of August, the expedition ended in Tiksi at the mouth of the Lena, and through Yakutsk and Irkutsk by December 1902, Kolchak returned to St. Petersburg.

In 1904, having learned about the beginning of the war with Japan, Kolchak was transferred back to the Naval Department and sent to Port Arthur. There, for some time he commanded the destroyer "Angry", later for health reasons, he was transferred to land and was appointed commander of an artillery battery. After the capitulation of the garrison of Port Arthur, having been in Japanese captivity, in the summer of 1905 he returned to St. Petersburg. For his participation in hostilities, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anne, 4th degree and St. Stanislaus, 2nd degree. After the war, Kolchak was engaged in scientific activities, several of his studies on the hydrology of the northern seas were published. In 1908 he was awarded the rank of captain of the 2nd rank. In 1909-10. participates in the exploration of the sea area near Cape Dezhnev on the Vaigach and Taimyr icebreakers. Since the beginning of the First World War, at the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet, he has been developing defensive operations and installing minefields, taking into account the experience of Port Arthur. In June 1916, Kolchak was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet, thus becoming the youngest admiral among all the belligerent powers. At the same time, he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree. Being a convinced monarchist, Kolchak received with great grief the news of the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. Thanks to his leadership and skillful neutralization of the Bolshevik agitators, the Black Sea Fleet managed to avoid anarchy and maintain its combat capability for a long time. In June 1917, Kolchak was removed from office and recalled to Petrograd. As a result of intrigues in the Provisional Government, he was forced to leave the borders of Russia, leaving for the United States as part of a Russian naval mission.

Admiral Kolchak during the Civil War

In November 1917, Kolchak arrived in Japan, where he heard the news of the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. In May 1918, with the support of Britain and Japan in Chinese Harbin, he began to form anti-Bolshevik forces around him. In September, Kolchak arrived in Vladivostok, where he negotiated joint actions against the Bolsheviks with the leaders of the Czechoslovak corps. In October, he arrives in Omsk, where he was appointed Minister of War in the Government of the Directory. On November 18, 1918, as a result of a military coup, Kolchak was proclaimed the Supreme Ruler of Russia. His power was recognized by the entire white movement in Russia, including Denikin. Having received military-technical assistance from the United States and the Entente countries and, using the country's gold reserves, Kolchak formed an army of more than 400 thousand people and began an offensive in the West. In December, as a result of the Perm operation, Perm was captured, and by the spring of 1919 - Ufa, Sterlitamak, Naberezhnye Chelny, Izhevsk. Kolchak's troops reached the approaches to Kazan, Samara and Simbirsk, this was the peak of success. But already in June, under the onslaught of the Red Army, the front inevitably rolled eastward, and in November Omsk was abandoned. The surrender of the capital set in motion all forces hostile to Kolchak in the rear, chaos and disorganization began. At the Nizhneudinsk station, he was arrested by his Czechoslovak allies, and in January 1920 they extradited him to the Bolsheviks in exchange for a free return home. After his arrest, interrogations began, during which he detailed his biography. The protocols of Kolchak's interrogations in the 1920s were published as a separate book. On February 7, 1920, Alexander Kolchak, along with his associate Minister Viktor Pepelyaev, was shot on the banks of the Angara by the decision of the military revolutionary committee.

Repeated attempts at legal rehabilitation of Kolchak in the post-Soviet era were rejected by the court. In the waiting room of the Irkutsk railway station, there is a memorial plaque in memory of the fact that in this place in January 1920 Kolchak was betrayed by his Czechoslovak allies and surrendered to the Bolsheviks. And at the site of the alleged execution of Kolchak on the banks of the Angara near the Irkutsk Znamensky Monastery in 2004, a monument was erected to him by the work of the national sculptor of Russia Vyacheslav Klykov. The 4.5-meter-high figure of the admiral, made of forged copper, stands on a pedestal made of concrete blocks, on which are the reliefs of a Red Army soldier and a White Guard standing opposite each other with arms crossed. The Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore conducts excursions “Kolchak in Irkutsk”, including the “Museum of the History of the A.V. Kolchak ", in which the exposition of his former camera is equipped.