Dekres, Denis

He entered the Navy on April 17, 1779, and already in 1780 became a midshipman. In the early 1780s, he served on board the frigate Richmond under the command of the Count de Grasse and successfully fought against the British in many battles in the Caribbean, including distinguishing himself at the All Saints islands in 1782. March 25, 1786 received the rank of lieutenant of the fleet. He enjoyed the great confidence of , who was the Minister of the Sea in 1785, and carried out several of his important missions.

He returned to France in 1789, shortly after the start of the French Revolution , and almost immediately was sent to serve in French India , where he fought with the Maratha pirates. Having reached the captain, in January 1793 he was sent to Europe with a report on the state of Ile de France, was arrested, but was soon freed.

Until 1795 he lived in seclusion, then was again accepted for service in his former rank and on board the Formidable was to participate in an expedition to Ireland, which ultimately failed. After that, before the start of the French expedition to Egypt, he was practically inactive.

In 1798 he was promoted to rear admiral. At the battle of Abukir, Dekres commanded an observational squadron from aboard the William Tell ; became famous for the leadership of the resistance during the in 1798, despite the fact that he was finally forced to surrender to the British.

Upon returning to France, was appointed in 1801 by Napoleon as Minister of the Sea and commander of the squadron in Rochefort. Despite the fact that at that time, the naval forces of France were significantly increased, 93 battleships and 63 frigates were launched, large-scale work was carried out in the port of Cherbourg, Antwerp shipyards and an arsenal were built, and so on, its management caused many rebukes, the reason for which there were defeats in several naval battles, the failures of various expeditions.

After the fall of Napoleon, Dekres on April 3, 1814 resigned as minister and first went into private life, but again took up his post during the Hundred Days in 1815; after the second abdication of the emperor, he finally left politics.

He died as a result of a fire set up by his servant who wanted to rob Decres. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery .

• Dekre, Denis // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Biography (Fr.)