Nikolai Reitsenstein

Nikolai Karlovich Reitsenstein
Nikolai Karlovich Reitsenstein
Born	(1854-08-07)August 7, 1854 St Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	November 26, 1916(1916-11-26) (aged 62) Petrograd, Russian Empire
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service	1870-1916
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	Russo-Japanese War

Nikolai Karlovich Reitsenstein (Russian: Николай Карлович Рейценштейн August 7, 1854 - November 26, 1916) was a career naval officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.^[1]

Biography

Reitsenstein was born in St Petersburg as the son of a privy councilor to the Tsar. In September 1870, he entered the Sea Cadets and entered active duty as a midshipman in March 1873 and was promoted to ensign in September 1875. He graduated from the Naval Staff College in 1877 as a specialist in mine warfare and was promoted to lieutenant in 1880. He was given his first command in 1882, the torpedo boat Chaika. Reitsenstein subsequently served as mine officer on the frigate Knjas Poscharsky. He commanded the destroyer Raketa in 1883, and was mine officer on the cruiser Admiral Kornilov in 1885. From 1886 to 1889, he served on the staff of Vice Admiral Schmidt in the Russian Pacific Fleet, and returned to the Baltic in 1889 to command the torpedo boat Narva. Reitsenstein was promoted to captain, 2nd rank, in 1891, and chief mine officer on the staff of the Baltic Fleet from 1895 to 1898. In 1899, he was sent to Germany to oversee the completion of the cruiser Askold and was promoted to captain, 1st rank the same year. ^[1]

At the start of the Russo-Japanese War, Reitsenstein was appointed commander of the small squadron based at Vladivostok. However, on March 15, 1904, Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov reassigned him to command the cruiser squadron based at Port Arthur and promoted him to rear admiral. At the Battle of the Yellow Sea, Reitsenstein made Askold his flagship. During the battle, he noticed that the battleship Tsesarevich had been badly hit and was out of control, and was unable to signal the battleline as her signal masts had been destroyed. Reitsenstein attempted to assume control, but his signals were either missed or ignored by the more senior commanders, and ultimately he was forced to break out of the Japanese entrapment with only the cruiser Novik and escaped to Shanghai, where the ship and crew were interned until the end of the war. ^[1]

After the end of the war, Reitsenstein was director of naval artillery training for the Baltic Fleet and was promoted to vice admiral in 1909. From 1910 to 1912 he headed a special committee to oversee the Amur Military Flotilla, and from 1912 to 1916 headed a special committee to oversee improvements to Russian coastal defenses. He was promoted to admiral on April 14, 1913 and appointed to the Admiralty Board at the end on 1915. He retired from active service on June 21, 1916 and died on November 27 in Petrograd. His grave was at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Honors

Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd degree, April 16, 1878
Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree, January 1, 1882
Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd degree, April 22, 1888
Order of St. Anne, 2nd degree, December 6, 1894
Order of St Vladimir, 4th class with bow, September 22, 1897
Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd degree, March 9, 1900 (Prussia)
Legion of Honor, Officer, 1902 (France)
Order of St Vladimir, December 6, 1903
Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree, 1907
Order of St. Anne, 1st degree, 1910
Order of St Vladimir, 2nd class, 1913
Order of the White Eagle, July 30, 1915

References

Connaughton, Richard. Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War with Japan . Cassell (2003). ISBN 0-304-36657-9
Jukes, Jeffery. The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905．Osprey 2002. ISBN 1-84176-446-9
Kowner, Rotem (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. ISBN 0-8108-4927-5: The Scarecrow Press.
Stafford, Julian. Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Naval Institute Press (1997). ISBN 1-55750-129-7
Warner, Dennis & Peggy. The Tide at Sunrise; A History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 . Charterhouse. (1974)

Notes

1 2 3 Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 316-317.

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