Karl Petrovich Jessen

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Karl Petrowitsch Jessen , also Karl Johann Peter Jessen , Russian Карл Петрович Иессен , (born June 30, 1852 in Dorpat , † April 28, 1918 in Petrograd ) was an admiral of Baltic German descent in the Imperial Russian Navy .

Life

Jessen was born in Dorpat in 1852, where his father Hans Peter Boje Jessen (1801–1875) taught as director and professor at the newly established veterinary school.

After his training from 1869–1875, Jessen initially served as a mine officer and artillery officer on various units in the Black Sea . In 1890 he received his first command on the newly put into service 164-ton torpedo boat Adler ("Адлер") of the Black Sea Fleet , the first deep-sea torpedo boat of the Russian Navy and, when it was completed, the fastest ship in the world. 1891-1893 he was first officer on the protected cruiser Admiral Kornilov ("Адмирал Корнилов") in the Baltic and Pacific , 1894-1895 captain of the steamer Neva ("Нева"), and 1895-1896 captain of the cruiser Asia ("Азия »). In 1897 he was promoted to captain 1st rank ( sea ​​captain ). From 1898 to 1902 he was the captain of the armored cruiser Gromoboi ("Громобой"), with which he was assigned to the Pacific Fleet.

Jessen was promoted to Rear Admiral on January 1, 1904 and then held various positions in quick succession. First he was on February 3, 1904, Deputy Commander of the Russian Pacific Squadron on the ship of the line Sevastopol and shortly thereafter commander of the cruisers stationed in Port Arthur . Five weeks later, on March 10, 1904, the new commander of the Pacific Squadron, Vice Admiral Makarov , appointed him commander of the cruiser division in Vladivostok , consisting of the armored cruisers Rossija , Gromoboi and Rurik as well as the armored cruiser Bogatyr , where he raised his flag on March 16. March 1904 sat on the Rossija .

Russian armored cruiser Gromoboi

The next few weeks were marked by short training trips, both with individual ships and in formation, as Admiral Makarow did not allow any major actions.

Russian armored cruiser Rurik

Only after Makarov's death did Jessen repeatedly lead his cruisers along the Korean coast into the Sea of ​​Japan , where he threatened Japanese merchant shipping and troop transports. He sank several merchant ships and, on April 25, 1904, off Gensan, the coal transporter Kinshu Maru , on which Japanese infantry were located. Jessen had bad luck on May 15, 1904, when he ran the Bogatyr in the fog near Possiet Bay on a rock and the cruiser was so badly damaged that it was out of action for the rest of the war. His voyage attracted worldwide attention in July 1904, when he advanced on the east coast of Japan to Tokyo Bay .

On August 14, 1904, four days after Russia lost the naval battle in the Yellow Sea , Jessen commanded the Russian armored cruisers on the Rossiya in the naval battle near Ulsan , also known as the sea battle in the Sea of ​​Japan. Although he lost against an clearly superior opponent and lost one of his three ships that Rurik, however, gained through his long and selfless efforts that Rurik to save the respect of his opponents and his own crews. Jessen received the 4th grade St. George's Cross from the Tsar for this commitment , but the Russian Commander-in-Chief in the Far East, Alexejew, forbade him to make further trips of more than a day's journey.

After that, his career was less glamorous. In November 1904 he became commander of the 1st Squadron of the Pacific Fleet, which had been trapped in Port Arthur since the lost naval battle in the Yellow Sea . On January 2, 1905, after the surrender of Port Arthur, he was again in command of the remaining cruisers in the Pacific Fleet. In July 1905 he was seconded to the defense of Ussuri Province , where he saw the end of the war. In November 1905 he led the remaining Russian ships back to the Baltic Sea, where they arrived in April 1906. Jessen was officially reprimanded soon after, but after a change at the top of the Navy Ministry in 1908 he was rehabilitated, promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed Deputy Commander of the Baltic Fleet . After the appointment of Admiral Nikolai von Essen as Commander in Chief of the Baltic Sea Fleet in 1909, Jessen was put in charge of the supervision of shipbuilding work.

Vice Admiral Jessen died in Petrograd in 1918.

literature

  • Peter Brook: Armored Cruiser versus Armored Cruiser, Ulsan, August 14, 1904 . In: Antony Preston (ed.): Warship 2000-2001 , Conway's Maritime Press, ISBN 0-85177-791-0
  • Julian Corbett : Maritime Operations in The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Two volumes, 1994, ISBN 1-55750-129-7 .
  • Rotem Kowner : Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War . Scarecrow 2006 ISBN 0-8108-4927-5
  • PM Мельников: Рюрик был первым. Л .: Судостроение, 1989. (RM Melnikov: The "Rurik" was the first . Leningrad, Sudostroenie Publishing Company, 1989)
  • Charles A. Repington: The War in the Far East, 1904-1905 . London, 1905
  • FR Sedwick: The Russo-Japanese War . Macmillan Company, 1909
  • Denis and Peggy Warner: The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War ', 1904-1905 . New York, 1974

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Karl Petrowitsch Jessen. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
  2. ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Hans Peter Boje Jessen. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
  3. ↑ Helga Tödt: The Krupps of the East. Schichau and his heirs: an industrial dynasty on the Baltic Sea. Pro Business, Berlin, 2012, ISBN 978-3-86386-345-6 , p. 54
  4. ^ Franz Maria Feldhaus:  Schichau, Ferdinand . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 54, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, p. 6 f.
personal data
SURNAME Jessen, Karl Petrovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Иессен, Карл Петрович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Admiral of Livonian-Danish descent in the Imperial Russian Navy
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Dorpat
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1918
Place of death Petrograd