Witgeft, Wilhelm Karlovich

Wilhelm Witgeft was born on October 14, 1847 in the city of Odessa. At the end of the Naval Cadet Corps in 1868-1869, on the clipper " Horseman " made the transition to the Far East.

In 1870 he was promoted to midshipman , graduated from courses in rifle and military gymnastic schools. Since 1873, lieutenant .

In 1875-1878 he graduated from the course of sciences in the Training and artillery detachment and the Mine officer class , served as a mine officer on the ships of the Training and artillery and Mine training squads of the Baltic Sea .

Since 1885 - captain of the 2nd rank, commanded the gunboat " Thunderstorm " (1885), then was the inspector of work in the ports of the Marine Technical Committee , assistant to the chief inspector of mine affairs, was engaged in testing mine weapons.

Since 1892, V.K. Vitgeft commanded the Voyevoda mine cruiser , and in 1894, the rank-II cruiser Rider , promoted to captain of the 1st rank.

In 1895, he was the head of the destroyers and their teams on the Baltic Sea, then he commanded the rank I cruiser Dmitry Donskoy in the Far East , and since 1898 the Oslyabya squadron battleship under construction.

On October 26, 1899, he was appointed Acting Chief of the Maritime Branch of the General Staff Headquarters and Commander of the Kwantung Region and Pacific Naval Forces. Produced for distinction to rear admirals, awarded the Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree with swords for participating in the Russian-Chinese war of 1900.

Since February 1903 - the chief of the naval headquarters of the governor in the Far East. On April 3, 1904 he was appointed chief of the naval field headquarters of the governor (by the rank of commander in chief of the fleet in the Pacific Ocean ), since April 22, acting as senior flagship and commander of the 1st Pacific Squadron .

Wilhelm Karlovich Witgeft died in a battle with the Japanese fleet on July 28 ( August 10 ), 1904 in the Yellow Sea .

Memories

N.O. von Essen :

“Now the late Admiral Wilhelm Karlovich Witgeft was an honest and well-intentioned person, a tireless worker, but, unfortunately, his work was always stupid, and always all his orders led to all kinds of misunderstandings and even misfortunes. Having served in the Navy for many years, Admiral Wittgeft was not a sailor at all, let alone a military man. As a child, as he himself told, his father intended him for missionary work, and perhaps he would have been more capable of this than for maritime service, since he could not be denied the possession of the gift of speech and pen. Witgeft got into the maritime service as if by misunderstanding, and all his service was a complete misunderstanding.

Consisting for several years as chief of staff at Admiral Alekseev ... Vitgeft enjoyed great confidence from Admiral Alekseev because of his hard work and tirelessness; but the same Admiral Alekseev constantly argued with him and was angry for his views and opinions, and Witgeft was stubborn and intractable, and these two qualities, I think, were the main reason for his influence on the governor.

Among the personnel of the fleet, Admiral Witgeft did not enjoy sympathy. On the contrary, he was mistrusted and even hostile. Everyone knew that only thanks to the stubbornness and folly of Witgeft, our inpatients in Korea and Shanghai were not promptly warned and recalled, and with the outbreak of war, we thus lost the Varangian and Korean and lost our participation in the Manjur war (hospital in Shanghai ), and also lost transport with military and other supplies ("Manjuria"), which was going to Arthur before the war and taken by a Japanese cruiser. Witgeft, stubbornly denying the possibility of declaring war, did nothing to timely recall the inpatients and warn the transport of the political situation. Finally, the unfortunate attack for us by the Japanese destroyers on the night of January 26-27 can also be partly attributed to Admiral Witgeft’s fault ” ^[1]

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Russian Empire:

• Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree (1893);
• Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree (for 25 years of service in officer ranks) (1893);
• Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree (12/06/1898);
• Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree with swords (03/19/1901) - for participating in the suppression of the rebellion of boxers

Medals:

• Silver medal "In memory of the reign of Emperor Alexander III" (1896);
• Bronze medal "For the works of the first general census" (1897);
• Silver medal "In memory of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II" (1898).

Foreign countries:

• Order of the Savior Commander's Cross (Greece) (1896);
• Order of the Rising Sun , 2nd degree (Japan) (1902) - for participating in the suppression of the rebellion of boxers ;
• Order of the Crown of the 2nd degree with a star and swords ( Prussia ) (1902) - for participating in the suppression of the rebellion of boxers ;

Wilhelm Witgeft is the author of many articles in the specialized literature of his time. In the “ Marine collection ” his works were published:

• The position of mines in naval warfare (1888);
• Mine action in the current Sino-Japanese War (1895);
• About the size of the engine of modern ships;

other.

Witgeft's fiction works are also known:

• Happy and difficult minutes of the cruiser "Voivode"
• Cheerful midshipman's diary;

After Witgeft's death, his diary was found in which he describes the period of his command of the fleet. (General marine list, part XIII; Arch. Century 1904-05)

• Lovyagin R.M. Vitgeft Wilhelm Karlovich // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• A list of persons in the naval department and navy for admirals and staff officers. - SPb. , 1904.
• Kilichenkov A.A. Admiral Witgeft: admiral who destroyed the squadron (neopr.) . Website of the Russian State University for the Humanities . Date of treatment March 1, 2013. Archived March 9, 2013.