He was not afraid of the sea or the authorities. As the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral N.O. Essen saved the capital of Russia in 1914
Admiral N.O. acted at his own peril and risk. Essen, deciding to throw mines in the Gulf of Finland in advance and thereby prevent a breakthrough of the German linear fleet to Petersburg. This saved the Russian capital from destruction by heavy Krupp guns already in the first hours of the Great War ...“Congratulations to the Baltic Fleet on the great day for which we live, waited and prepared for” are the chased lines of the order of the Baltic Fleet commander Admiral Nikolai Ottovich Essen, published by him on July 19 (August 1) 1914 of the year in connection with the start of the First World War.
Its official announcement was still in the air; diplomats from Russia, Germany, France and Austria-Hungary made desperate efforts to find at least some kind of compromise and keep the world on the brink of the British Empire, one of the culprits of the outbreak of the catastrophe. And the Baltic naval commander already understood that the enemy is at the gate, and he is obliged to fulfill his sacred duty to the Fatherland and sovereign. This debt, as Essen understood it, was to immediately, on its own initiative, bring the fleet into full combat readiness and take preventive steps. Those steps that will not allow the German naval forces in the Baltic to implement the plan for the destruction of Russia, born in the naval headquarters of Prince Henry - a relative of the German emperor.
The German plan was as cunning as it was uncomplicated. Using the factor of surprise and more than double the number of Krupp guns, which included 15-inch trunks of the main caliber towers, German dreadnoughts and destroyers are rapidly breaking through into the Gulf of Finland and with their firepower in a matter of hours sweep the Earth from the face of the Earth Tsarskoye Selo . In order Kaiser Wilhelm II could immediately dictate the humiliating world to his cousin Nicky, I mean, Nicholas II ...
And now let us return to the wise lines of the order of Admiral Essen: “The officers and crew (Nikolay Ottovich, and by his example other Baltic Fleet leaders turned to the lower ranks, seeing in them not dumb performers of their will, but, above all, welded by discipline and a sense of duty selfless assistants to the officers. - A.P.)!
From this day, each of us must forget all our personal affairs and concentrate all our thoughts and will on one goal - to defend the Motherland from the enemy’s encroachments and to fight with it without hesitation, thinking only of delivering the hardest blows to the enemy, which are only for us. are possible.
War is decided by the battle. Let each of you (just so, with a capital letter, in the text of the order! - A.P.) strain all your strengths, spiritual and bodily, apply all your knowledge, experience and skills on the day of the battle so that all our shells and mines would contribute death and destruction in enemy battle formation and ships. "
Fulfilling this order, the destroyers and the mine cruisers of the Baltic Fleet in just four and a half hours tightly plugged all approaches from the sea to the Gulf of Finland, setting more than 2 thousands of mines in the 8 lanes and thereby immediately eliminating the possibility for the German fleet to conduct combat operations against St. Petersburg and its suburbs .
And at that very hour, when the German ambassador Count Pourtales handed over to the Russian foreign minister Sazonov’s note about declaring war on our Fatherland as the second reich of war, the Russian capital was practically inaccessible to Krupp iron.
And Prince Heinrich, who ferociously learned about Russian mine performances in the Baltic straits and skerries, excluded for his armada any kind of prospect of active operations against the Russian coast, nothing remained as if from impotent rage to fall into a multi-day binge
... Nikolai Ottovich von Essen was born in St. Petersburg 11 December 1860 of the year. His ancestor was the offspring of an ancient Dutch county family Kurt Essen. He was accepted to the Russian Navigational Service in the year 1707. As the family tradition reads, 27 July 1714 of the year, in connection with the courage and skill in the naval battle with the Swedes manifested in Peter the Great, personally presented him with a personal boarding dirk. For two centuries, the Essenov family gave 12 to Russia brilliant naval officers, seven of whom became the Georgians' cavaliers.
The father of Nikolay Ottovich, Otto Vilgelmovich, went through the civil part and by the time of the birth of his offspring was already a real secret adviser and state secretary. He sympathized with the choice of his son, who wished to continue the family tradition of serving the Fatherland under the flag of St. Andrew. Nikolay, with the blessing of his father in 1875, entered St. Petersburg Marine Corps. During his years of study, he showed remarkable perseverance and hard work and became the best midshipman on his course. His name was stamped in gold letters on a marble honor roll.
Many years later, already addressing his son, Nikolay Ottovich so formulated the main condition for success in any career: “to work hard, not knowing rest.”
In a similar way, the whole service of the future admiral was formed, the main life principle of which was the motto of serving the Fatherland faithfully ...
As a midshipman, he left for a two-year foreign voyage on the frigate Herzog Edinburgh, during which he received the first officer rank of midshipman. Then in 26 years he graduated from the mechanical department of the Nikolaev Maritime Academy. From 1892 to 1896, he served on ships of the Pacific and Mediterranean squadrons, having been in the rank of lieutenant for almost 14 years and visited almost all the northern seas of the world. Produced in 2 rank captains, he was appointed in 1902 year as commander of the light cruiser (also 2 rank) “Novik”, deployed along with other Russian naval forces to the Far East.
Prior to this, he served as flag captain for the commander of 1 Pacific squadron, Vice Admiral S.O. Makarov - an outstanding naval commander and scientist, leader of two voyages around the world, the hero of the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, the creator of the tactics of the Russian armored fleet. Their joint service taught von Essen a school that, in his own words, "it is simply impossible to forget, and it is criminal to neglect." Together with Stepan Osipovich, Nikolay Ottovich formed a squadron, first in Kronstadt, then in Revel and Libau. Its transition to the Far Eastern shores of Russia proved to be very difficult, because there was not a single naval base on all this way, and the ports of some states that were encountered along the way, under pressure from the obstinate Russian to England, refused to supply the ships sailing under the St. Andrew’s flag with food. and fuel ...
It is noteworthy that already in those years Essen firmly determined the inevitability of a military clash between Russia and Germany. In 1898, he repeatedly appeared in the “Sea Collection” with articles about the German navy and even started a file on it, which he added to the end of his days.
The years of the Russian-Japanese war became a high point for Nikolai Otovich. He met her in Port Arthur. After a surprise Japanese attack on the night of January 27, 1904, captain 2 of rank von Essen, was the first to launch his cruiser towards the enemy. In the morning, when Russian ships intact with Japanese torpedoes were just leaving the raid, the Novik had already attacked the enemy twice. According to eyewitnesses to these attacks, the future admiral "on the weakest ship showed that the spirit of courage in the personnel has not yet been killed."
When Novik returned to Port Arthur, the whole harbor was greeted by a gallant crew with an enthusiastic “Hurray!”. For courage in a fight with an overwhelmingly opposing enemy, the cavtorang was awarded the Golden St. George saber with the inscription “For Bravery”, and 12 crew members of the “Novik” received St. George's crosses.
The heroic nature of Essen was discerned not only by friends, but also by future enemies. So, the German naval attache in Port Arthur, later the admiral, E. Gopman made in those days such a portrait of Nikolay Ottovich:
“I was presented with a small tight captain of 2 rank, who was walking in small, quick steps along the embankment. A clean round face, big smart bluish-gray eyes ... This is the face and the eyes of those that last a long time in memory. They say a crystally disinterested, extremely independent person. ”
Soon, Admiral Makarov ordered the intrepid officer to command the battleship Sevastopol. On it, Essen fought until the last days of the defense of the port-arthur fortress. Leaving Novik, Nikolay Ottovich wrote: “I part with regret with the vessel on which I received the baptism of fire and on which I experienced so many different events and endured so many tests both in peacetime and in war.”
The death of Admiral Makarov, who died in a mine under the battleship Petropavlovsk 31 in March (April 13) 1904, was a heavy blow to Essen. The passing away of this outstanding naval commander, a supporter of active naval operations, had an extremely negative effect on the position of the Russian squadron in the port-arthur harbor. After the death of Makarov, the fleet was headed by the governor, Admiral E.I. Alekseev and admiral V.K. Vitgeft believed that the actions of warships should be only auxiliary, defensive in nature. They almost completely abandoned the offensive, with the exception of two incompetent attempts to break through the blockade of Port Arthur. Essen remained indifferent to watch the color of our fleet die in passive defense ...
All of his proposals for the withdrawal of ships at sea and a serious blow to the Japanese ships were met with hostility by the command. But when the direct execution of the Russian ships began in the harbor, Nikolay Ottovich, contrary to the ban on going out to sea on a stormy night, rammed the undiscovered coupons and transferred “Sevastopol” to the White Wolf bay. There he continued to fight the Japanese fleet, drowned or seriously damaged several enemy destroyers, and even fired at the Japanese infantry, advancing in the area of Pigeon Bay.
In these tragic days, the heroism of the captain of the 1 rank of Essen gained great fame in Russia. The Sea Collection Magazine wrote: “Colorful postcards with a portrait of the commander of Sevastopol differ by thousands of copies, written by people of different classes. An officer who is inconspicuous on peaceful days becomes the personification of the fortress of the sea spirit. ”
A vivid reminder of the heroism of the impudent commander and his combat comrades is the order of the commander of the Kwantung fortified, Lieutenant General A.M. Stessel from 5 December 1904 of the year: “Be proud, glorious warriors, with the feat of the battleship Sevastopol, with the feat of the commander of the captain 1 of Essen rank, officers and teams! Let each of you proudly pass on to the Motherland and to descendants how, as Sevastopol, one ventured to go on a raid on the night of November 26 and, being attacked for five nights in a row, with the glory heroically fought off the attacks of the enemy destroyers. This feat should never be blotted out of your memory! .. Cheers to the heroes of the battleship "Sevastopol!"
After that, the heroic ship remained on the outer roads for three weeks and repelled the mine attacks of the enemy. And on the night of 6 (19) of December 1904, Essen, who by then took command of one of the defense areas (the ground forces stationed there, were under command), ordered the destruction of Sevastopol and all the batteries. The sinking of the ship on the day of the surrender of Port Arthur was the greatest shock for Nikolay Otovich.
In those hours, he apparently decided to die along with the ship, which he commanded. The battleship was already sinking into the sea, when a group of officers returned to the sinking ship - after the commander.
Essen's hands were literally torn off from the railing by force and carried him away from the captain’s bridge in order to transport him in tow ...
After the surrender of the fortress, the captain of her last battleship, together with other Portarturians, was held captive, but as early as March 1905 returned to Russia. For the Russian-Japanese war, Essen "in rewarding special deeds of courage and orderliness" received the Order of St. George 4 degree. Behind him also approved the rank of captain 1 rank, obtained before the fall of Port Arthur.
“Fleet and work!” - that was Nikolai Ottovich’s half-laughable motto, which he proclaimed shortly after returning from Japanese captivity. In essence, he followed him all his life. He began the difficult task of reviving the Baltic Fleet, the best ships of which disappeared at Tsushima and in other battles with the Japanese. Appointed head of the Strategic part of the newly created Naval General Staff, he organized a great work on studying the experience of the past war, analyzing numerous publications of military specialists from all over the world. Of course, the richest experience of personal observations and reflections of Essen about the lost campaign also did not remain in vain ... Watching the work of their subordinates and colleagues (they will enter history Russian fleet with the somewhat ironic name "Young Fleet"), Nikolai Ottovich demanded from them fruitful ideas to prevent such tragedies in future wars.
In March, 1906, he traveled to England to take command of the Rurik cruiser under construction. However, six months later he was returned home and began to command the First Squad of mine cruisers, most of which were built on voluntary donations. Seeing in his detachment a reduced prototype of the new Baltic Fleet, he considered his main task to lay down in his organization and livelihood those ideas and principles that he had learned in Port Arthur and as head of the Strategic Section. Along with the creation of progressive tactics of the mine fleet, he had to ensure that the personnel mastered equipment and combat means to perfection, as well as educate such officers who would be free, as he wrote, from “pre-Susim’s limitations”.
On the eve of the Russian-Japanese war, being himself in a low rank and in a rather modest position, von Essen shared amazingly bold judgments with the readers of The Sea Collection: “All old belongings must be removed, young, energetic commanders must be put forward and can be found if this belongings will not wipe them and will not force them to turn gray in a lieutenant rank. "
Having reached the commanding heights, Nikolay Ottovich actively sought out the same, similar to him, with his lack of complacency and falling in love with the service of seafarers and tried to promote them to key posts related to combat training, organizational innovations and long-term strategic planning.
So, from his light hand, the commanding staff of the Baltic Fleet was enriched by such bright personalities as A.V. Kolchak (a remarkable polar explorer who subsequently manifested talent as a naval commander), I.I. Rengarten (his name is associated with excellent successes in organizing communications services, radio intelligence and direction finding of enemy ships), Prince A.A. Liven (future commander of the First Mine Division), Baron VN Ferzen (led by the Second Mine Division) and others. By the way, Nikolai Ottovich always treated his officers with paternal benevolence, often visited ships, and certainly encouraged people who distinguished themselves with a thank-you word, presentation to the order or a money prize.
In April, 1907, von Essen received the rank of Rear Admiral, and a year later he became de facto commander of the Russian Navy in the Baltic. Relying on the cadres of "his" mine division (formed on the basis of the First Mine Cruiser Detachment), he quickly achieved rapid progress in his undertakings. Thus, the Rear Admiral, as stated by the Maritime Collection magazine, “achieved submission to all port establishments for himself, thereby accomplishing the largest break in the organization of our naval forces and pursuing the idea that all coastal establishments should serve for the existence of the fleet, and not on the contrary. "
The next step of the commander was the introduction of swimming practice in all seasons of the year. Von Essen argued: “Walking five days a month with the 12,5 hub move (that is, at a speed slightly higher than 20 km / h. - A.P.) is not learning, but a waste of time and coal.”
With von Essen, Russian ships began to sail in the Baltic at any time of the year and in any weather. They appeared in the most unthinkable corners, in particular, in impassable skerries, making thousand-mile transitions. Gradually, Nikolay Ottovich increasingly complicated the conditions of navigation: the sailors were accustomed to walk, and even at the highest possible speed, in a storm and fog, at night and in the ice ... So the personnel gained invaluable nautical experience, got used courageously to endure the hardships and deprivations associated with long-distance hikes, understanding their importance for the defense of the Fatherland. Essen officers become virtuosos for controlling ships and combat means; they are distinguished by independence and self-confidence.
After all, the highest praise from the mouth of Nikolai Ottovich was such certification: "Not afraid of the sea, nor the authorities!"
Of course, in order for distant and complex voyages to turn from a dream into reality, von Essen had to fight a lot with the Navy Department, which was increasingly turning into a musty routine of nature. Admirals settled there preferred to change nothing, they were even satisfied with the hopelessly outdated 1853 Sea Charter of the year, written mostly for sailing ships. The commander of the Baltic Fleet, however, managed to achieve a revision of many obsolete theoretical positions and, in particular, the order for Morved from 1892 of the year, limiting training swimming "to save cars." He openly criticizes the position of the highest military and naval leaders of the country, who still believed and officially declared that “the fleet cannot be regarded as an active fleet in the broad sense of the concept, but should be limited to the highest defensive role”.
Being an active supporter of an offensive in a future war, Nikolay Ottovich did not neglect defense either. It was under his command that the naval defense plan was born, which he managed so brilliantly to bring to life, forcing Prince Heinrich of Prussia to immediately abandon attempts to break through to the Russian capital.
The "Plan of Operations of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces in the event of a European War" prepared in 1912, according to which the Baltic Fleet was deployed at the beginning of the Great War, provided for the solution of the most important operational and strategic task - to prevent the enemy fleet from entering the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, said military historian D .YU. Kozlov. - For this, with the announcement of mobilization in the narrowest part of the Gulf of Finland - between the island of Nargen and Cape Porkkala-Udd, it was planned to create a mine-artillery position, the basis of which was a massive mine fence, covered on the flanks by numerous coastal batteries with a caliber of up to 356 mm and drums deployed east of it and providing fleet forces ... In this operation, it was planned to use the entire Baltic Fleet - a linear and both cruising brigades, two mine divisions, a submarine brigade, forces and equipment eregovoy Defense, more than 40 ships and auxiliary vessels. It was assumed that at the turn of the central mine-artillery position, the Baltic Fleet would be able to detain the German High Seas Fleet for 12-14 days, sufficient for the deployment of the 6th Army, designated for the defense of the capital. The 1912 plan for the first time provided for the integrated use of diverse maneuvering forces - surface ships and submarines, as well as positional means and coastal defense - in their operational (in some cases, tactical) interaction. This circumstance ... allows us to consider it an important milestone in the development of Russian and world naval art ... The defense of the sea approaches to Petrograd throughout the war remained the most important task of the Baltic Fleet. The basis of her decision was the creation of a deeply echeloned system of mine-artillery positions (central, flank skerry, advanced, Irbensky and Moonsund) and defensive areas (Kronshtadt, Moonsund, Abo-Aland) at the theater. An important element of the system was defensive minefields (a total of 34 mines). In addition, 846 coastal batteries were built on the flanks of mine-artillery positions and on the coast west of Gogland Island, with 59 guns in caliber from 206 to 45 mm. The cover of defensive minefields was assigned to the naval formations of the fleet, coastal artillery and naval Aviation. Protection of the flanks of the positions was to be carried out jointly with the ground forces ... "
The defense of the Gulf of Finland was so tight that the Germans did not dare to strike at it with all the might of their forces.
The only attempt to break through the forward position taken by the flotilla of German destroyers on the night of 11 November 1915 of the year ended in complete failure - the death of seven of the eleven ships on the mines.
This bright victory of the Russian fleet, made possible by the close cooperation of the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet with Russian intelligence, through its collaborator Anna Revelskaya, who planted a “genuine” minefield installation scheme on the way to the Gulf of Finland to the Germans, is beautifully described in the Pikul novel Moonsund.
In addition, the Essen secret version of combat activities included a series of sabotage in the gates of Kiel. Thanks to them, the German open-sea fleet was firmly separated from the Kaiser naval forces in the Baltic, and the transfer of ships from the North Sea to the Russian theater of military operations became impossible. The plan also included a mine blockade of the entire German coast. And although these components of the Essen plan were not taken, during the years of the First World, the Baltic seamen, and above all, Rear Admiral Kolchak, after the death of Nikolay Ottovich conducted several bright offensive operations near the German shores ...
Finally, we are obliged to recall the remarkable role of von Essen in adopting the law “On the Imperial Russian Fleet”, thanks to which our naval forces in the Baltic, in less than three years, received the minimum necessary number of new ships capable of resisting German naval power. , second in the world after England.
In general, the law on the fleet and the associated shipbuilding program were the fruit of the efforts of the Special Military Committee under the State Duma. Essen, being a member of this committee, acted as the most important driving force. The archives preserved a record of one of his speeches: “The need for Russia to have a strong fleet was recognized before the outbreak of the 1904 war of the year by only a few. But shots rang out in Port Arthur and Chemulpo ... and the Russian fleet, which until that time had not attracted the attention of society and was sometimes considered too much luxury for Russia, became dear to the Russian heart. The urgent need for the fleet to be put in place in order to maintain the height of Russia's power presented itself with remarkable clarity. ”
At the suggestion of the Vice-Admiral in the Baltic during the 20 years, three squadrons were to be formed: two combat and one reserve. Each of these operational connections could consist of 8 battleships, 4 battleships and 8 light cruisers, 36 destroyers, 12 submarines. The first five years of construction stood out in a special period. According to the provisions of the Baltic Fleet Enhanced Shipbuilding Program on 1911 — 1915, during this time it was intended to build 4 linear and 4 light cruisers, 30 destroyers and 12 submarines. According to the calculations of Nikolay Otovich, this required a little more than half a billion rubles - an impressive amount, but for Russia the prewar period is quite feasible.
The proposals of the Essen Naval General Headquarters reported to the emperor. “Well done work,” Nicholas II concluded. “It can be seen that the compiler stands on solid ground, praise him for me.”
Nevertheless, the draft law, in the opinion of the inexcusably sluggish and apathetic Council of Ministers, should have been submitted to the Duma not earlier than the end of 1914, when the implementation of its first part “... would move forward significantly and give the Marine Ministry the reason to raise the question of continuing successfully started case. " It was only under pressure from Essen that legislative work began to move faster. Thus, the commander of the Baltic Fleet fell to the difficult and honorable mission of the collector (and in fact - the builder) of the new Russian Navy.
The implementation of the shipbuilding program was in the prewar period the most important work of Essen. He belonged to him, according to his colleagues, putting his whole soul. Often in the St. Petersburg Baltic Plant, he was personally present during the laying and descent from the stocks of ships, constantly consulting with the Naval Academy professor I.G. Bubnov and academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences A.N. Krylov. As a result, in the fall of 1913, Dreadnought-type battleships of the Sevastopol type were put into operation, not inferior to English and German ships of this type. They had speeds up to 23 nodes, autonomous navigation range over 1600 miles, had engines with a total capacity of more than 42 thousands of horsepower, carried 38 guns in caliber up to 305 millimeters. From the Putilov shipyard, the fleet received several destroyers of the destroyers, including the famous Novik Pikul, who inherited the name of the cruiser who died in the Russian-Japanese war. During sea trials, this ship set a world speed record - the 37,3 knot. And in September, 1913, a series of submarines of the Bars type was laid at the Baltic Shipyard.
In parallel with all other matters, von Essen also dealt with the operational equipment of the maritime approaches to the capital. The fortifications of the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland were then the fortifications of Kronstadt, which were armed with modern powerful weapons.
The special commission established by Essen, chaired by Major-General N.I., the head of this sea fortress. Artamonova was responsible for "... ensuring the protection of port facilities from bombing, blocking the enemy’s access to St. Petersburg, for providing protection from bombardment of the fleet's berths." According to the fleet commander, the forward line of defense of the fortress was moved to more distant maritime boundaries, which ensured the inaccessibility of St. Petersburg and its suburbs from Kaiser battleships even if they broke through minefields, the island's line of artillery batteries being built became the second defensive line. Already by the beginning of 1913, forts Nicholas, Alekseevsky, Obruchev and Totleben were ready for the installation of weapons. The number of guns in the Kronstadt fortress was increased to 322.
The construction of Fort Ino was promptly completed on the coast of Finland; the forts Krasnaya Gorka and the Gray Horse were in the southern part of the Gulf of Finland. They were distinguished by durable reinforced concrete casemates, comfortable and reliable premises for personnel, and autonomous power stations. Here were located gun batteries in caliber from 152 to 305 mm with a sufficiently large stock of shells.
Von Essen's words that “the fleet exists only for war, and therefore everything that is not related to combat training must be discarded, as not only unnecessary, but also harmful”, from the first hours of the First World War began to be fully implemented in life.
However, as early as October 1914, the commander of the Baltic Fleet felt himself “bound hand and foot” by an order banning hostilities off enemy shores and using new battleships. However, in violation of the ban, mining continued throughout autumn and winter, and the German Navy suffered significant losses from it. The emperor Nikolai Ottovich, the stubborn one, awarded the Order of the White Eagle, and then the Order of St. George of the 3 degree.
Continuing explosions on Russian mines of warships and transports completely disorganized shipping between Sweden and Germany, the oldest ferry crossing Zassnitz - Treleborg was closed. After the loss of 15 steamers, the German Union of Shipowners was in utter despair and even demanded the removal of one of the Kaiser fleet commanders, Admiral Bering, from the post of commander of the current detachment.
“The war in the Baltic Sea is too rich in casualties without corresponding success!” The Kaiser stated after hearing the grim report of Prince Heinrich of Prussia on the results of the Baltic Sea campaign infamous for the German fleet. Instead of the removed Bering, the rear admiral E. Gopman was appointed the flagship of the special assignment - the one that was the German naval attache in Port Arthur and looked into the cavtorang von Essen ... But the change of administration did not bring significant progress to the Kaiser fleet in the Baltic, even though on victories won on land.
Anticipating the attempts of the enemy to break through the Irbensky Strait, Nikolay Ottovich, who was accustomed to keep up with himself everywhere, made a series of exits on the destroyers to the Irbens.
Having caught a cold at the icy Baltic wind, he, despite his illness, continued to remain in the ranks until he was delivered with an aggravation of pneumonia to one of the Revel clinics. 7 (20) May 1915, he passed away. According to an eyewitness, the last words of the admiral were addressed to the beloved brainchild - the fleet: "Let's go, let's go ... Come on!"
The death of the admiral was the hardest hit for the entire Russian fleet. The general impression of the Baltic seamen is one of his closest associates, I.I. Rengarten said: "now there is no most important thing, the soul has died, there is no master."
The favorite destroyer of von Essen, “Pogranichnik”, accompanied by a guard of honor from the Knights of St. George, 9 (22) in May 1915, delivered the coffin of the commander of the Baltic Fleet to Petrograd, on the Promenade des Anglais. Here he was loaded onto a gun carriage and six horses, behind which lined up a huge procession of Petrograders who had come, delivered the admiral's body from the Church of the Savior on the waters where the funeral was performed, to Novodevichy cemetery. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna sent a huge wreath in the shape of a cross of fresh white flowers; her husband Nicholas II responded to the death of Admiral with a telegram filled with sad notes; The State Duma honored Nikolai Otovich’s memory with a mourning ribbon with the inscription “To the Glorious Defender of the Flag of St. Andrew, Pride of the Russian Fleet”. The coffin was lowered into the grave under the gun salute.
Maritime Minister Admiral I.K. Grigorovich then swore by the name of Essen to name the best of the new ships. But he did not keep his oath. In the soon-to-be social storms, the Baltic Fleet was again ravaged and almost destroyed. The naval commanders and officers who grew up under the authority of Essen perished or scattered around the world, and the name of the heroic admiral itself has been undeservedly forgotten for many decades.
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