Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kedrov () (13 September 1878 – 29 October 1945) was a Russian naval officer who served 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 ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

Early life

Kedrov graduated from the

Sea Cadet Corps 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 1899 at the top of his class and served as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

on the cruiser ''Gerzog Edinburgski''.

Russo-Japanese War

During the

Kedrov served as

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a " captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "Firs ...

to Admiral

Stepan Makarov Stepan Osipovich Makarov (, ; – ) was a Russian vice-admiral, commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, oceanographer, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. He was a pioneer of insubmersibility theory (the ...

. He was not on the battleship ''Petropavlovsk'' when that ship was sunk (with the loss of the admiral and his staff) as he was detached to the destroyer ''Boyevoy'' at the time. Subsequently, Admiral

Wilgelm Vitgeft Wilhelm Withöft (; October 14, 1847 – August 10, 1904), commonly known as Wilgelm Vitgeft, was a Russo-German admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his service in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Biography Withöft was born ...

appointed Kedrov as his flag captain. Kedrov was wounded aboard the battleship ''Tsesarevich'' during the

battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea (; ) was a naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 August. The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Lüshunkou (Port ...

. After recovering in hospital in

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

he made his way to

Cam Ranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay () is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) nor ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

, joining up with the

Second Pacific Squadron The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...

. He fought at the

battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...

aboard the cruiser ''Ural'', surviving her sinking. Kedrov completed the Mikhailov Artillery Academy in 1907 and was promoted to Captain Lieutenant and served aboard the training ship ''Petr Velikiy'' as a gunnery instructor eventually becoming her commander in 1913 and deputy chief gunnery officer of the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, 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 w ...

World War I

In 1914 Kedrov was the flag captain of the 2nd Battleship Squadron of the Baltic Fleet. In 1914 he was tasked with bringing the codebooks salvaged from the German cruiser to Britain and was attached to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...

until 1915, serving aboard the cruiser and the battleships and . In November 1915 Kedrov was appointed to command the battleship ''Gangut''. In February 1916 he was summoned to Russian general headquarters to explain directly to the tsar,

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

, the causes of disturbances in the Russian fleet. Kedrov then was made commander of the destroyer division of the Baltic Fleet, and later was then promoted to

Rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

of the

in the autumn of 1916. In 1917 he was appointed commander of the battleship squadron of the Black Sea Fleet. After the abdication of the tsar and the beginning of the

, Admiral Kedrov served with the White forces during the

and was a

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 ...

in the White Russian naval forces. He helped

Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (, ; ; 25 April 1928), also known by his nickname the Black Baron, was a Russian military officer of Baltic German origin in the Imperial Russian Army. During the final phase of the Russian Civil War, he was c ...

lead the White naval evacuation known as Wrangel's fleet in its November 1920 flight from the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and then

Bizerte Bizerte (, ) is the capital and largest city of Bizerte Governorate in northern Tunisia. It is the List of northernmost items, northernmost city in Africa, located north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under Fr ...

. The evacuation allowed 145,693 people, plus the ship crews, to escape the approaching Bolsheviks. In November 1920 Kedrov relinquished command of the fleet to Admiral Mikhail Berens.

Life in Exile

Kedrov settled in France and retrained as a civil engineer at the

École des Ponts et Chaussées École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

. He worked as an engineer and became chairman of the Federation of Russian engineers in Paris. He played a significant role in the Russian military emigration, and was chairman of the Naval Union, which consisted of more than 30 departments and groups in different countries. Since 1930 he was the second deputy chairman of the Company's Russian Military Union (EMRO) under General

Yevgeny Miller Yevgeny-Ludvig Karlovich Miller (; – 11 May 1939) was a Russian general of Baltic German descent and one of the leaders of the anti-communist White Army during the Russian Civil War. After the civil war, he lived in exile in France. Kidnapped b ...

. After the kidnapping of Miller by Soviet agents in 1937, he served as chairman of EMRO for a short time and then withdrew from political activity. From 1938 he was the Second Vice-President of the Union of Knights of St. George. He died in Paris and was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kedrov, Mikhail Alexandrovich 1878 births 1945 deaths Imperial Russian Navy admirals Russian Provisional Government admirals White movement admirals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Russian Civil War Wrangel's fleet Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Burials at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery Naval Cadet Corps alumni