Nikolai Ottovich von Essen

Nikolai Essen
Nikolai Essen. 1900.
Allegiance	Template:Russia
Service/branch	Russian Navy
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	World War I

Nikolai Ottovich von Essen (Russian: Николай Оттович фон Эссен) (December 11(23), 1860, Saint Petersburg - May 7(20), 1915, Tallinn) was a Russian naval commander and admiral of German ethnicity.

Essen entered the Imperial Russian Navy as a Cadet in 1880. Graduating from the Nikolayev Naval Academy, technical branch in 1886. In the early part of his career he commanded the Minesweeper no 120 (1897-98), The gunboat Grozyachiy (1898-1900), The steamship Slavianka (1901-1902) and the cruiser Novik (1902-1904)

Essen commanded the Russian battleship Sevastopol in Port Arthur, during the Russo-Japanese War. He fought in the battle of the Yellow Sea. Despite general indiscipline in the Russian squadron, caught in harbour, during last weeks of the Japanese siege, he managed to keep his battleship in serviceable condition until last days, then scuttled her in a deep water, so that the Japanese could not raise her. He was awarded the Order of St. George. After the end of the war he became the first captain of the British-built armoured cruiser Rurik II.

He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1908 and appointed Commander in Chief of the Russian Baltic Fleet in 1909 when this position was created. Hew was promoted to Admiral in 1913. Widely regarded as the most able of Russian admirals in World War I, he led the Baltic Fleet energetically during the first year of the war before dying unexpectedly after a short bout with pneumonia in May 1915. He is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)

References

• Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. London: UCL Press. ISBN 1-85728-295-7.
• Spencer C. Tucker, Who's Who in Twentieth Century Warfare, Routledge, London & New York 2001 (pg. 92) ISBN 0415234972