Nikolai Ivanovich Nebogatov

Nikolai Nebogatov (1905)

Nikolai Iwanowitsch Nebogatow ( Russian: Николай Иванович Небогатов , scientific transliteration Nikolaj Ivanovič Nebogatov ; born April 20, 1849 , † August 4, 1922 in Moscow) was a Russian admiral .

Life

Military career

Nikolai Nebogatow made an early decision to pursue a career as an officer in the Russian Navy . In 1871 he had already achieved the rank of sergeant . Nebogatow received his first command in 1888 as the captain of a smaller gunboat. From 1891 to 1899 he held successively the captain's posts on the cruisers Krejser , Admiral Nachimow and Minin . He was then appointed head of artillery training for the Russian Baltic Fleet . He was later promoted repeatedly within the fleet.

Russo-Japanese War

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/1905, the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet was relocated to the Far East as the 2nd Pacific Squadron under the command of Admiral Roschestvensky to support the 1st Pacific Squadron, which was captured by the Japanese in Port Arthur . The Russian captain Nikolai Klado meanwhile demanded the formation of a 3rd Pacific Squadron . However, only outdated cruisers or unsuitable coastal defense ships were available for this. In addition, the ships could only be manned with poorly trained sailors, most of whom were also criminally transferred.

After several Russian admirals had already refused command of this squadron, Nebogatov was entrusted with the task. Even though he knew the squadron's shortcomings, he took command.

Nebogatow assembled the squadron and supervised the equipment of the ships. There were several incidents with revolting teams. In February 1905 all ships were equipped and manned. Its flag continued the Admiral on the battleship Imperator Nikolai I . After traveling through the Suez Canal , his fleet reached the Indian Ocean , where it was to meet with Roshestvensky's squadron. This had chosen the longer route around Africa. On May 9, 1905, both squadrons met in Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam .

Nebogatov's fleet was integrated into the fleet as the 3rd division . Roschestvensky did not inform Nebogatov of his intentions regarding the route or the upcoming battle, nor did he inform him of the impending death of the seriously ill leader of the 2nd Division , Admiral von Fölkersahm . At the beginning of the Battle of Tsushima , Nebogatov did not know that he was in second position in the chain of command after Roshestvensky.

Battle of Tsushima

During the battle, Japanese fire was initially concentrated on Admiral Roschestvensky’s First Division. Nebogatov's ships therefore survived the first day of the battle relatively unscathed. In the evening the First Division was almost completely destroyed and Admiral Roschestwensky had to be rescued, seriously wounded, by his flagship Knjas Suvorov , which was sunk shortly afterwards . At this time, Admiral Nebogatow took over the command of the Second Pacific Squadron. During the night, the Russian ships were able to evade detection and destruction by darkening all navigation lights. On the morning of May 28, 1905, the remaining ships were placed by the Japanese fleet under Admiral Tōgō . The cruiser division under Admiral Oskar Enkwist had already moved to Manila in the meantime . Nebogatow therefore faced the enemy with his outdated ships alone and had no chance against the overwhelming force of the Japanese. So after the Japanese opened fire, he decided to surrender . In a brief address to the team, he said:

“ My life won't last long. I am not afraid of dying. I didn't mean to kill you guys. I take all the shame on myself, I should be judged. I also take the death penalty on myself. "(Quoted from: Nowikow-Priboi : Tsushima , p. 425, Aufbauverlag Weimar, 1954)

Some officers were dissatisfied with this decision and still tried to sink the ships themselves. However, they were prevented from doing so by the sailors. Admiral Nebogatow boarded Admiral Tōgō's flagship, the Mikasa . He signed the deed of surrender while taking full responsibility for the surrender.

Condemnation

The Russian admiralty released Nebogatov from the army on August 21, 1905 , while the admiral was still in Japanese captivity. After Nebogatov was allowed to return to Russia, he and 77 of his subordinate officers were tried in December 1906 before a court martial . The charges were unjustified surrender and extradition of Russian state property to the enemy. The Russian government had expected the admiral to have fought honorably to the death. The admiral defended himself by saying that his weapons could no longer reach the enemy and that he would have sent the Russian sailors to a useless death. Nevertheless, he and three of his captains were sentenced to death by shooting on December 25, 1906 . However, the Russian Tsar Nicholas II converted the sentence into a ten-year prison sentence. Nebogatow remained in custody until May 19, 1909, when he was pardoned prematurely by the tsar .

Further life

After his release, Nebogatov moved to Moscow , where he lived in seclusion until his death in 1922. Nikolai Nebogatov was married and had two daughters.

Web links

Commons : Nikolai Iwanowitsch Nebogatow  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Biography on Russojapanesewar.com