Kedrov, Mikhail Alexandrovich

He graduated from the 4th Moscow Cadet Corps , Naval Corps ( 1899 ; first in graduation), Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy ( 1907 ).

After graduating from the Naval Corps, with the rank of midshipman, he sailed abroad on the frigate “ Duke of Edinburgh ”. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1903.

Member of the Russian-Japanese war . Initially, with the rank of lieutenant, he was a personal flag officer under the command of the Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral S.O. Makarov . When Makarov and his headquarters died on March 31, 1904 on the battleship Petropavlovsk , Lieutenant Kedrov survived, because at that time he was in reconnaissance on the destroyer Battle . After that, he briefly served in the same position at the headquarters of the governor in the Far East .

Rear Admiral V.K. Vitgeft, the head of the 1st Pacific Squadron, appointed Kedrov the senior flag officer at his headquarters. He was wounded in the leg during one of the bombings of Port Arthur , but, despite the wound, he took part in the battle with the Japanese fleet in the Yellow Sea on July 28, 1904. He was on the flagship battleship “ Tsesarevich ”, was seriously wounded by the shell that killed Admiral Vitgeft ( he was shell-shocked, poisoned with gases, received a 2nd degree burn of the whole face and hand of his right hand, wounded in the head and right hand).

After the “Tsesarevich” arrived at the port of Kio-Chao after the battle, Kedrov was treated at a German hospital for two months. Then, wishing to continue participating in the war, he reached Kampang Bay, where the 2nd Pacific Squadron arrived under the command of Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky . He was appointed an artillery officer to the auxiliary cruiser " Ural ". Participated in the Tsushima battle : when the cruiser was flooded, Kedrova picked up the Anadyr transport at sea.

In 1907, Kedrov graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy and the following year was promoted to the rank of captain-lieutenant . In 1908 - 1909 - senior officer of the training ship Peter the Great . In 1909-1910 - commander of the Voyevoda messenger ship, he was in charge of students in the artillery officer classes of the Training Artillery Unit of the Baltic Fleet. In 1910-1912 - the flagship artillery officer of the headquarters of the commander of the Baltic Fleet. In 1911-1913 - commander of the destroyer " Border Guard ". In 1913-1914 - commander of the training ship Peter the Great, assistant commander of the Training Artillery Unit of the Baltic Fleet.

In July 1913, Emperor Nicholas II praised the level of artillery training of the ships of the Baltic Fleet and granted Kedrov his adjutant wing . This difference was also a consequence of the fact that Kedrov was able to establish good relations with Adjutant General Admiral K. D. Nilov , one of the emperor’s confidants.

Kedrov was a theoretician of the artillery type of the Russian dreadnought, the author of scientific works on the tactics of linear combat of heavy artillery ships. He studied the problems of using artillery in naval combat, shooting, control and massaging fire . Minister of the Sea I.K. Grigorovich , who did not treat him very favorably (he considered Kedrov to be a participant in an intrigue against him), nevertheless called him in his memoirs "a very talented naval officer."

Member of World War I , in 1914 - flag captain of the headquarters of the chief of the 2nd brigade of battleships. Since September 1914 he was seconded to the British "Big Fleet", delivered to the command of this fleet a signal book and codes from the sunken German cruiser " Magdeburg ", raised by Russian sailors. In 1914-1915 was on the British cruiser Theseus, battleships Conkeror , Emperor of India . In 1915 he was appointed commander of the newest battleship Gangut . He was the chairman of the Commission for the development of rules and instructions on the tactical and organizational part of naval artillery, developed a set of proposals for improving the design of installations of future battleships based on the experience of operating three-gun towers.

In 1915 , a performance by sailors took place at Gangut, which, however, did not affect Kedrov’s fast career. On June 28, 1916, he was promoted to the rank of retinue of His Imperial Majesty Rear Admiral and was appointed head of the Mine Division of the Baltic Fleet, replacing A.V. Kolchak at this post. October 20, 1916 awarded the St. George Arms

for directing the operation on the night of October 4-5, 1916, he set up an important mine mine barrier behind enemy lines.

After the February Revolution , in March 1917 Kedrov was appointed assistant naval minister. In fact, he headed this department under the conditions when A. I. Guchkov combined the leadership of the military and naval ministries and was not an expert in naval affairs. In April 1917, Kedrov was simultaneously appointed chief of the Naval General Staff . Shortly after the appointment of A.F. Kerensky as military and naval minister, Admiral Kolchak suggested Kedrov take the post of commander of the battleship brigade in the Black Sea Fleet . The proposal was accepted, but did not take office, as Kolchak resigned from the post of commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

In June 1917, Kedrov was appointed to the Minister of the Sea. Two weeks later he became authorized by the Ministry of the Sea at the Russian Government Committee in London , coordinated the actions of Russian naval agents in London and Paris .

During the civil war in Russia, he served as a member of the Special Meeting at the Russian Embassy in London on the operation of the Russian merchant fleet by the Allies. The supreme ruler of Russia, Admiral Kolchak, entrusted him with the organization of transports to supply the White armies, and also appointed S. D. Sazonov, the Russian authorized representative at the allies in Paris, as a sea expert.

From October 12, 1920 - the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, he was invited to this post by the commander of the Russian Army, General P.N. Wrangel . He was promoted to vice admiral. He led the Black Sea Fleet’s transition from Sevastopol and other Crimean ports to Constantinople in October 1920. During this transition, parts of the Wrangel’s white army and civilian refugees were evacuated in an organized manner. In his memoirs, Wrangel wrote that

Kedrov had a reputation as an exceptionally intelligent, determined and knowledgeable sailor. On a personal acquaintance, he made the best impression on me. After some hesitation, Admiral Kedrov agreed to accept the position. This choice has been extremely successful. Unprecedented in history, the exceptionally successful evacuation of Crimea is largely due to its success to Admiral Kedrov.

After arriving in Constantinople he brought the Russian squadron to Bizerta ( Tunisia ). On December 31, 1920, he transferred command to Rear Admiral M.A. Behrens and left for Paris.

In exile, Kedrov lived in France, where he successfully graduated from the School of Roads and Bridges (L`Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees). This is one of the rare cases when the senior rank of the white army was able to get a civilian specialty and a second higher education, being in exile. He worked as an engineer, published in Paris the monograph "The Modern Course of Reinforced Concrete." In 1920-1930, he was chairman of the Federation of Russian Engineers in Paris, which united emigrant engineering organizations and was part of the All-Slavic Association of Engineers. He achieved that at the events of this association, Russia was represented by emigrants, and not Soviet engineers.

He played a significant role in the Russian military emigration, was chairman of the Naval Union, which included more than 30 departments and groups in various countries. Since March 22, 1930 - Second Deputy Chairman of the Russian All-Military Union (RVS) General E.K. Miller . After the abduction of Miller by Soviet agents in 1937, he briefly acted as chairman of the ROVS, then retired from political activity. He participated in an attempt to detain General Skoblin , whom the investigation considered an agent of the NKVD on the basis of a note to General P.A. Kusonsky ^[1] . Since 1938 - the second vice-chairman of the Union of St. George Knights. He was an opponent of Nazi Germany, he spoke of the unsuccessful attempts of the Nazis to persuade the Russian emigration to cooperate with them: “Only a few went after them [the Germans], naively dreaming that they, conquering Russia for themselves and preparing the Russian people for the role of fertilizer for the“ great German people ” will return the lost estates to them ” ^[2] .

In 1945 he became part of the delegation of Russian emigrants who visited the Soviet embassy and welcomed the military successes of the Red Army, but did not accept Soviet citizenship. He died in Paris, was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois .

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