Lieutenant Mikhail Ivanovich Safonov (13 November 1893 – May 1924) was a

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 ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with five aerial victories. He began his naval service on 20 September 1909, when he entered

Saint Peterburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

's Imperial Russian Naval Academy. When Safonov applied for aviation training in September 1915, he was a professional sailor with six years naval training and seagoing service. On 1 December 1915, he soloed. On 2 April 1916, he was classified as a naval pilot. He was posted to pilot Grigorovich M-9

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

s that mounted a

Madsen machine gun The Madsen is a light machine gun that Julius A. Rasmussen and Theodor Schouboe designed and proposed for adoption by Colonel Herman Madsen, Vilhelm Herman Oluf Madsen, the Minister of War (Denmark), Danish Minister of War, and that the Royal Da ...

. After two aerial victories while piloting

s, with consequent decorations for valor, Safonov was appointed to command his Glagol Detachment on 14 July 1917. He gained access to a

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

fighter, which he used for his third victory on 7 September 1917. After a promotion to Senior Lieutenant on 25 October, he married while on a brief leave. He returned to command the 2nd Fighter Detachment and score two more aerial victories with the Nieuport. He was mustered out in March 1918. Safonov then became an itinerant aerial

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

in the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

. In 1919, he changed loyalties to join the White Russians. After travelling with his wife through Persia and India, he joined Britain's

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. In May 1924, he was killed in a flying accident in China.

Biography

Early life and service

Mikhail Ivanovich Safonov was born into nobility on 13 November 1893 in

Ostrogozhsk Ostrogozhsk () is a town and the administrative center of Ostrogozhsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the Tikhaya Sosna River (a tributary of the Don), south of Voronezh, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 20 ...

, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He was a

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adherent. As a child, he was educated in the Ostrogozhsk Gymnasium. He entered

's Imperial Russian Naval Academy on 20 September 1909. He would serve on half a dozen ships while training. On 21 February 1913, he received a Bronze Medal marking 300 years rule by the

House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...

; in April 1913, he received another Bronze Medal commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the Fatherland War.Durkota 1995, pp. 98–101.

World War I service

He graduated as a

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

in May 1914, and was posted to the battleship Gromoboi on 2 August 1914. On 30 September 1914, he was transferred to another battleship, the

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

. In September 1915, he applied for a transfer to aviation service.Franks et al 1997, pp. 212–213. On 24 November 1915, he was assigned to the Officer's School of Naval Aviation for 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 ...

and forwarded to the Polytechnic Institute of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg to study

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

. After mastering this, he moved to the winter location of the school in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

to pass all the examinations to qualify as a pilot. On 1 December 1915, he soloed. On 24 February 1916, Safonov was posted to the Liaison/Signal Service Corps of the Baltic Fleet. During March, he polished his piloting skills at the

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Naval Air Station. He was then tasked to fly Farman MF.11

float plane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

serial no. 31 for the local Third Air Station. On 2 April 1916, he was classified as a naval pilot at the annual salary of 960 rubles. The Air Arm of the Baltic Fleet was organised into two Air Divisions. Safonov was assigned to the First Air Detachment (Glagol) of the 2nd Air Division on 11 August 1916. The Grigorovich M-9

s equipping this detachment mounted a

. After several air combats, including his first aerial victory on 9 September 1916, he was awarded the

Order of Saint Anne The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...

Fourth Class and the

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...

Third Class with Swords and Bow. He was wounded in action on 13 September 1916 while flying Grigorovich M-9 serial no. 39.Durkota 1995, p. 26. Safonov was appointed as a lieutenant on 10 July 1917. He was selected to command the Glagol Detachment on 14 July 1917. He scored his second aerial victory that day, this time using a Grigorovich M-15, even though the enemy plane was not seen to crash. At 1140 hours on 7 September, Safonov used

serial no. NR-1 in an attack on an enemy two-seater. He closed to 50 meters range, and fired a short burst for his third victory. On 25 October, Safonov was promoted to Senior Lieutenant and granted a short leave. He married Ludmila Tschebotarioff. Upon his return to duty, he was posted to command the 2nd Land Fighter Detachment at Kuivastoin. He scored two more aerial victories on successive days, 16 and 17 November 1917. However, the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

ended his war then; Safonov was inactive until discharged from the military by the Bolsheviks in March 1918. As Russia was wracked by revolution,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

declared its independence on 6 December 1917. Safonov was one of five Russian pilots approached by a cabal of Finnish activists; they offered 25,000 rubles and Finnish citizenship if the pilots would serve in General Mannerheim's air force. On 11 April 1918, the newly civilianised Safonov tucked his wife into a Nieuport 10 and took off to join the Finns. While flying reconnaissance flights in the

, he used the ''nom de guerre'' Mikko Vuorenheimo. However, by Summer 1918, the distrustful Finns had not kept their bargain, so Safonov wangled the permits needed to transit German-occupied Russia and join the White Russians'

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

Post World War I

By 1919, Safonov was serving in the

of the White Russians' under General

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

. After their defeat, continuing his career as an itinerant pilot, Safonov and wife moved on to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and India; Safonov joined the

in the latter. After that, he ended up in China in 1924, organising aviation training for the Chinese Navy. In May 1924, while testing a flying boat over the Ming River, he was killed in a flying accident. Some years later, his widow and two orphans would resettle in the United States.

List of aerial victories

Honors and awards

* Bronze Medal marking 300 years rule by the

: 21 February 1913 * Bronze Medal commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the Fatherland War: April 1913 *

Fourth Class with inscription "For Bravery": 19 September 1916 * Order of Saint Stanilas Third Class with Swords and Bow: 19 October 1916 *

Fourth Class with Swords and Ribbon: 14 November 1916, by order no. 380 by Commander in Chief of the Naval Staff * Order of Saint Vladimir Third Class with Swords and Ribbon: 5 February 1917

Endnotes

References

* Allen Durkota; Thomas Darcey; Victor Kulikov. ''The Imperial Russian Air Service: Famous Pilots and Aircraft and World War I.'' Flying Machines Press, 1995. , 9780963711021. * Norman Franks; Russell Guest; Gregory Alegi. ''Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI''. Grub Street, 1997. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Safonov, Mikhail 1893 births 1924 deaths People from Ostrogozhsky District People from Ostrogozhsky Uyezd Russian aviators Aerial warfare pioneers Russian World War I flying aces Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in China Russian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Imperial Russian Air Service personnel Royal Air Force officers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1924 White Russian emigrants to China