Nikolai Essen

Nikolai Essen
Nikolai Essen
Born	11 December 1860(1860-12-11) Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died	7 May 1915(1915-05-07) (aged 54) Tallinn, Estonia
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service	1880-1915
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Baltic Fleet
Battles/wars	Russo-Japanese War World War I
Awards	Order of St. George Order of the White Eagle

Nikolai Ottovich (von) Essen (Russian: Николай Оттович фон Эссен) (11(23) December 1860, Saint Petersburg – 7(20) May 1915, Tallinn) was a Russian naval commander and admiral from the Baltic German Essen family. For more than two centuries his ancestors had served in the Navy, and seven had been awarded the Order of St. George, the highest military award of the Russian Empire.

Biography

Essen entered the Imperial Russian Navy after graduating from the Naval Cadet Corps in 1880. He graduated from the Nikolayev Naval Academy, technical branch, in 1886 with the rank of lieutenant. 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) in the Black Sea and the Mediterranian, followed by the cruiser Novik (1902–1904), which was stationed at Vladivostok with the Russian Pacific Fleet at the start of the Russo-Japanese War.

Essen was placed in command of the Russian battleship Sevastopol in Port Arthur by order of Admiral Stepan Makarov in mid-1904. 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 (3rd degree). After the end of the war he became the first captain of the British-built armoured cruiser Rurik.

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. He was promoted to Admiral in 1913. Essen, from lessons learned in the catastrophic war against Japan and the mutiny of the Black Sea Fleet, urged far-reaching reforms and moderization of the Russian Navy. He recognized early the importance of submarines and aircraft, and sought to promote younger officers based on their knowledge of modern strategy and tactics, also establishing a naval training academy at Kronstadt. Above all, he pushed for operational autonomy of the Baltic Fleet.

Widely regarded as the most able of Russian admirals in World War I, Essen led the Baltic Fleet energetically during the first year of the war. His forces at the time consisted of four battleships, five cruisers, four light cruisers, 62 torpedo boats, 12 submarines and numerous smaller and specialty units. His superiors preferred but a cautious defensive position in the Baltic Sea, forcing Essen to concentrate his forces in the Gulf of Finland to protect Petrograd, with older units at the Gulf of Riga, and effectively abandoning Liepāja to the Germans. Nevertheless, on 9 August 1914 Essen led part of his fleet towards Gotland to contain the Swedish navy and deliver a note of his own making which would have violated Swedish neutrality and may have brought Sweden into the war. He was ordered back before his plan could be executed. However, on 27 August 1914, he assigned the Rurik and Pallada to commerce raiding operations in the Baltic. Although of little success, the mission went far to maintaining the morale within the Baltic Fleet.

Essen died unexpectedly after a short bout with pneumonia in May 1915. He is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery (Saint Petersburg). He was succeeded by his wife, Mary, and son Anton (who was later killed in action as commander of the submarine AG-14 on 24 October 1917), and two daughters who married naval officers.

Awards and Commemoration

• Golden gun "for courage" (14 March 1904)
• Order of St. George (4th class), (17 April 1905)
• Order of White Eagle with Swords (12 December 1914)

The second ship of the Admiral Grigorovich class frigates will be named Admiral Essen to commemorate the admiral

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
• Flodin, Matz (2005). Flottans underrättelsetjänst 1887-1914 (The Swedish Naval Intelligence 1887-1914). Karlskrona: Marinmuseum.  ISSN 1404-0581 http://libris.kb.se/bib/10297983

Persondata
Name	Essen, Nikolai
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 December 1860
Place of birth	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Date of death	7 May 1915
Place of death	Tallinn, Estonia

Category:Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery