Nikolai Nebogatov
| Nikolai Nebogatov | |
|---|---|
Nikolai Nebogatov
|
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| Native name | Николай Иванович Небогатов |
| Born | April 20, 1849 |
| Died | August 4, 1922 (aged 73) Moscow |
| Allegiance |
 Russian Empire
|
| Service/branch |
 Imperial Russian Navy
|
| Years of service | 1869-1905 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Commands held | 3rd Pacific Squadron |
| Battles/wars | Russo Japanese War |
Nikolai Ivanovich Nebogatov (Russian: Николай Иванович Небогатов occasionally transliterated as Nebogatoff, (April 20, 1849 – August 4, 1922) was a Rear-Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his role in the final stages of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
Nebogatov was born into the family of a career naval officer in the vicinity of St Petersburg and graduated from the Sea Cadets Corps in 1869. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1874. In 1882-86 he was executive officer aboard the cruiser Razboinik and in 1888 was given command of the gunboat Groza, followed in 1889, by the gunboat Grad. He was in command of numerous Russian warships during his career, including the cruisers Krejs, Admiral Nakhimov (1896), and Minin. He was then appointed head of naval artillery training for the Russian Baltic Fleet, and was promoted to rear admiral in 1901.
During the Russo-Japanese War, the bulk of the Russian Baltic Fleet was renamed the "Second Pacific Squadron", and set sail under the command of Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky on an epic journey to relieve the Russian Pacific Fleet, trapped at the Battle of Port Arthur by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Largely for political reasons, calls were made for a "Third Pacific Squadron", consisting of mostly obsolete cruisers and coastal defence battleship to supplement the Second Pacific Squadron. Realizing that the ships were highly unsuited for the task, and faced with untrained crews, a number of Russian admirals refused the command; however, Nebogatov accepted the challenge. Despite several incidents of sabotage by pro-revolutionary or anarchist elements within the crews, Nebogatov sailed in February 1905 with the old battleship Imperator Nikolai I (as flagship), cruiser Vladimir Monomakh, and coastal-defense battleships Admiral Ushakov, Admiral Seniavin, and General Admiral Graf Apraksin, as well as numerous transport ships. The squadron passed through the Suez Canal and crossed the Indian Ocean to rendezvous with the Second Pacific Squadron at Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina. Rozhestvensky, who had opposed the sailing of the Third Pacific Squadron from the beginning, did not share with him his future strategy and routing even at this late date, and also neglected to advise him of the death of Admiral Dmitry von Fölkersam on May 24, an event which effectively made Nebogatov second-in-command of the fleet after Rozhestvensky.
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