Makarov S.O. (1848-1904), oceanographer, vice-admiral

Categories / Army. Navy/Personalia
Categories / Science. Education/Personalia
MAKAROV Stepan Osipovich (1848-1904), fleet commander, naval scientist, Vice-Admiral (1896). Graduated from Naval School in Nikolaevsk- Na-Amure (1865). Served on the Baltic Fleet from 1869. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78, he attacked Turkish ships with pole mines, then commanded a torpedo ship unit on the Baltic Sea. He was the flag-captain of the Executive Squadron of the Baltic Fleet. He sailed around the world as a captain of the Vityaz corvette in 1886-89. He was junior flagman with the Baltic Fleet from 1890, and the major inspector of naval artillery from 1891, into which he introduced smokeless powder and shells with armour-piercing ends. He undertook his second world tour in 1894-96. From 1896, he commanded the Executive Squadron of the Baltic Fleet, and from October, 1899 was a senior flagman of the Baltic Fleet's First Division. In December, 1899, he became major commander of the Kronstadt port, and the city's Military Governor. There is a memorial plaque at Makarov's residence (1 Kommunistov Street, Kronstadt). He developed the framework for a theory on the resistance to flooding, contributed to armour-plated ship construction, to the development of theoretical and practical principles for torpedoes and other explosives in the navy's artillery, and to strategies for naval engagements. He wrote over 50 academic papers. He initiated the Russian icebreaker fleet, directed the Ermak icebreaker's construction, on which he travelled to the Arctic in 1899 and 1901. At the beginning of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-05, he was appointed commander of the First Pacific Squadron, which was blocked at Port Arthur. He died during an explosion at the Petropavlovsk armour-clad on 30 March 1904. A monument to Makarov (architect L.V. Shervud) was installed at Yakornaya (Anchor) Square on 24 July 1913. An embankment in St. Petersburg and the Naval Academy were named after Makarov (see Makarova Embankment).

References: Врангель Ф. Ф. Вице-адмирал С. О. Макаров: Биогр. очерки: В 2 ч. СПб., 1911-13; Деятельность вице-адмирала С. О. Макарова в судостроении. Л., 1977; Семанов С. Н. Адмирал Макаров. Калининград, 1997.

A. N. Lukirsky. Makarov Stepan Osipovich
Shervud Leonid Vladimirovich
Kommunisticheskaya St./Kronshtadt, city, house 1
Makarova Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Yakornaya Square/Kronshtadt, city
Врангель Ф. Ф. Вице-адмирал С. О. Макаров: Биогр. очерки: В 2 ч. СПб., 1911-1913
Крылов А. Н. Вице-адмирал Макаров. М.; Л., 1944
Деятельность вице-адмирала С.О. Макарова в судостроении. Л., 1977
Семанов С. Н. Адмирал Макаров. Калининград, 1997 Baltic Fleet
Admiral Makarov Sea Academy