Hans William von Fersen

Baron Hans William (Vasili) von Fersen
Baron Hans William (Vasili) von Fersen
	Vasili Fersen
Born	May 14, 1858
Died	May 6, 1937 (aged 78); Koze, Estonia
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service / branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service	1876-1917
Rank	Vice Admiral
Battles / wars	Russo Japanese War; World War I awardslaterwork=

Baron Hans William (Vasili) von Fersen (Template:Lang-ru) (May 14, 1858 – May 6, 1937) was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. Born in the Governorate of Estonia as Baron Hans William von Fersen, he was of Scottish ancestry, his forebears name being from clan McPherson.

Biography

Fersen graduated from the Sea Cadet Corps in 1875 and joined the Imperial Russian Navy in 1876. In 1878-80 he served aboard the cruiser Asia with the Russian Pacific Fleet, transferring to the cruiser Afrika from 1880-1883. On July 10, 1883 he was posted to Kronstadt. He was promoted to lieutenant on January 1, 1885, and served aboard the gunboat Bobr as officer of the watch later that year. He remained on the Bobr on its long distance navigational training voyage to the Far East from 1886-1888.

From 1889-90 Fersen attended the Russian navy mine warfare school and served in staff posts in the Russian Baltic Fleet from 1890 to 1896. In 1896 he commanded the destroyer Vzryv. In 1897-99 he was senior officer aboard the cruiser Afrika. On April 28, 1899 he was promoted to Captain 2nd Rank and served as naval attaché to the United States from September 1899 to 1902.

On October 7, 1902 Fersen was appointed to command the cruiser Izumrud under the Second Pacific Squadron based at Vladivostok. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he fought at the Battle of Tsushima. At the end of the battle, he refused to obey the order of Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov to surrender and broke through the Japanese blockade. The ship was however wrecked in the Gulf of Vladimir in the Russian Maritime Province. He received no punishment for his insubordination, and instead was promoted to Captain 1st Rank in 1905.

In early 1906, Fersten was sent to suppress uprisings in Estonia against Russian rule in the unsettled times after the 1905 Russian Revolution. From 1906-1907, he returned to Vladivostok as commander of the Imperial Russian Navy base. From March 1908 to January 1909 he returned to Petrograd to command the cruiser Aurora. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1910 and commanded the 2nd destroyer division of the Baltic Fleet between 1909 and 1911 and the cruiser squadron of the Baltic Fleet from 1911-1913. On April 14, 1913 he was promoted to vice admiral and given command of the battleship squadron of the Baltic Fleet. He served on the General Staff of the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I and retired from service on April 13, 1917.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, Fersen settled in his country house in Koze, Estonia where he died in 1937.

He had two sons; Valdislav Fersen (1892–1962) and Arvid Fersen (1892–1938) who also served as officers in the Imperial Russian Navy.

Awards

Silver medal to the memory of the reign of Alexander III of Russia, 1896
Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd degree, 6 December 1898
Order of St. Anne 2nd degree, 14 April 1902
Order of the Lion and the Sun (Persia), 1902
Order of St Vladimir, 3rd degree, 1906
Bronze medal commemorating the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, 1906
Order of St. Stanislaus 1st degree, 1912
Bronze medal commemorating 300 years reign of the House of Romanov, 1913
Order of St. Anne 1st degree, 1914
Order of St Vladimir, 2nd degree, 1915
Bronze medal commemorating the Battle of Gangut, 1915

References

This article is translated from Russian Wikipedia
site in Russian
Geraldica in Russian
cherez tri okeana in Russian
article from provoslavie in Russian