Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Karl Johann Peter Jessen (, tr. ; 30 June 1852 – 30 November 1918) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

admiral in the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

Biography

Jessen was of Danish descent, born in

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

, where his father, Hans Peter Boje Jessen was a doctor of

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

. He graduated from the

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a cadets youth program sponsored by a national naval service, aimed for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or ...

in 1875 and was commissioned as a lieutenant on 18 July 1879. He graduated from the school of

mine warfare Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices: *Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to disable or destroy vehicles * Minelaying, deployment of explosive mines at sea **Naval min ...

in 1881, and for

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. ...

in 1884. He was assigned as mine warfare officer on several vessels, and was briefly assigned as a

military attache A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

to Germany. In 1890, he was given command of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

''Adler'' with the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Between 1891 and 1893, Jessen was

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

on the

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

, assigned to the

Russian Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet was inherited ...

and the Far East. From 1894 to 1895 he was commander aboard the steamship ''Neva''. From 1895 to 1896 he commanded the cruiser . In 1897, Jessen was promoted captain, 1st rank. From 1898 to 1905 he assumed command of the cruiser , which was assigned to the

Russian Pacific Fleet The Pacific Fleet () is the Russian Navy fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Established in 1731 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the fleet was known as the Okhotsk Military Flotilla (1731–1856) and Siberian Military Flotilla (1856–1918), for ...

. On 1 January 1904, Jessen was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. With the start of the

on 8 February, he was appointed deputy commander of Port Arthur and used the battleship as his

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

. However, on 10 March Vice Admiral Makarov reassigned Jessen to command the cruiser squadron based at

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, and he transferred his flag to the

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

. This cruiser squadron conducted

commerce raiding Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering is a fo ...

and other offensive operations while the remainder of the Russian Pacific Fleet remained bottled in Port Arthur by a Japanese blockade.Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 167-151-152. Jessen's operations threatened Japanese shipping and supply lines, and resulted in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

appointing Admiral Kamimura Hikonojo to command the

IJN 2nd Fleet The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) created as a mobile strike force in response to hostilities with Russia, and saw action in every IJN military operation until the end of World War II. History Established on 27 October 1903, ...

to track down and destroy his squadron. Jessen evaded the Japanese on several occasions, sinking a number of vessels in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. From 12 June he was briefly replaced by Vice Admiral

Petr Bezobrazov Pyotr Alekseyevich Bezobrazov (; 29 January 1845 – 17 July 1906) was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. Early career Born into an old Bezobrazov noble family, Pyotr began his naval service as a midshipman on the frigate ''Dmitry Donskoy' ...

. On August 14, 1904, during the

Battle off Ulsan The naval Battle of Ulsan (Japanese: 蔚山沖海戦 ''Urusan'oki kaisen''; Russian: Бой в Корейском проливе, ''Boi v Koreiskom prolive''), also known as the Battle of the Japanese Sea or Battle of the Korean Strait, took pl ...

, he fought an inconclusive engagement against the Japanese fleet under Admiral Kamimura. During the engagement, ''Gromoboï'' was badly damaged, with 94 crewmen killed and 182 wounded and ''Rurik'' forced to scuttle, with 204 crewman killed and 305 wounded. In recognition of his efforts in the battle, he was awarded the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

(fourth grade). On 9 November 1904 Jessen was appointed commander of the 1st Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. However, with the fall of Port Arthur to the Japanese, he played no further offensive role, and concentrated on coastal defense of the region around Vladivostok with his much depleted forces. In November 1905 he led the remaining Russian ships back to Baltic Sea, where they arrived in April 1906. After his return to

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, he was reprimanded and faced a

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

, accepting a promotion to the rank of vice admiral and an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the navy in 1908. In 1912, he became owner of the Myulgrabenskoy shipyard near

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. In 1913, his firm received a contract to build nine new destroyers as part of the program to rebuild the Russian Baltic Fleet. Karl Petrovich Jessen died in 1918 in Petrograd.

Honors

Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree, (01/01/1889). *

Order of St Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'. Grades The order had four ...

, 4th degree in 18 companies, (17/01/1895). * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 2nd degree, (06/12/1897). * RUS Order of Saint George 3rd class ribbon 2000

, 4th degree (09/27/1904). * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree, (06/07/1904).

References

*Connaughton, R.M (1988). ''The War of the Rising Sun and the Tumbling Bear—A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904–5'', London, . *Jukes, Geoffry. ''The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905''. Osprey Essential Histories. (2002). . * *Warner, Denis & Peggy. ''The Tide at Sunrise, A History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905''. (1975). .

External links

Biography in Russian Language

* [http://militera.lib.ru/tw/stepanov_tsvetkov/03.html Степанов Юрий Григорьевич, Цветков Игорь Федорович. Эскадренный миноносец «Новик». Глава 3, Собратья «Новика»]
Фото

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessen, Karl 1852 births 1918 deaths Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian people of German descent Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Naval Cadet Corps alumni