Kolchak’s Early Career and Scientific Activity↑
Aleksandr Kolchak (1874-1920) was born into a noble family of a military engineer who
had distant ancestors of Turkish origin and was of the Orthodox faith. He initially studied
in the sixth St. Petersburg Preparatory School, but transferred to the Naval College after
three years. After graduating from the Naval College in 1894, he entered the naval
service as an ensign. He served as assistant watch officer of the armored cruiser Riurik.
Between 1896 and 1899 he served on the ship Kreiser as watch officer. Later, he
served on the battleship Poltava. At his personal request and with the support
of Konstantin Konstantinovich, Grand Duke of Russia (1858-1915) he was sent on the
polar expedition of Baron Eduard V. Toll (1858-1902), where he worked as an assistant
to the captain of the ship Zaria. After the conclusion of the expedition (1900-1902)
Kolchak continued doing scientific research and became a member of the Imperial
Geographic Society. In 1903 he organized and participated in the expedition to rescue
Baron Toll, though the polar explorers were not found. However, they did manage to
find a geodesic instrument, a journal and other items from Toll’s expedition. In the
course of this expedition, Kolchak identified and described new geographic entities in
northern latitudes.
The Russo-Japanese War↑
Kolchak fought in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) as a lieutenant. He
commanded the torpedo boat Serdityi, then a naval battery at Port Arthur. In December
1905 he was wounded and brought to the hospital. There he was taken prisoner after
the surrender of Port Arthur. The Japanese transported him to Japan, where he spent
several months in a prisoner-of-war camp in Nagasaki. He was released after the end of
the war and sent to Russia. In 1905 and 1906 he worked on geographic research of the
north at the Academy of Sciences.
Kolchak took an active part in the implementation of military reforms and particularly in
the modernization of the fleet. He played a leading role in the work of the newly formed
Naval General Staff. In 1911 he was appointed Chief of the 1 st Operations Department
of the Naval General Staff. He repeatedly spoke to deputies of the State Duma as an
expert on naval affairs and the shipbuilding program. In 1909-1910 he took part in a
hydrographic expedition throughout the Arctic Ocean composed of two icebreakers,
Vaigach and Taimyr.
The First World War↑
Beginning in 1912 Kolchak was commander of the destroyer Ussuriets and then Chief
of the Operations Department of the Staff of the Baltic Fleet; Admiral Nikolai O. Essen
(1860-1915) was the commander. Kolchak fought in the First World War as a Captain
First Rank, directly participating in many of the Baltic Fleet’s operations. He initiated the
creation of a mine blockade for German ships in the Baltic. This blockade successfully
stopped the German fleet from penetrating the Gulf of Riga in 1915. Kolchak temporarily
commanded half a division of torpedo boats while holding a staff post. Beginning in
December 1915 he became the chief of a mine division. At his initiative a successful
amphibious landing of ground forces with fleet support was conducted on the coast of
the Gulf of Riga in October 1915. As the head of the mine division of combat ships,
Kolchak repeatedly disrupted the shipments of iron ore from Sweden to Germany. For
his leadership in combat operations in the Baltic he was awarded the order of St.
George, 4th Degree, in 1915 and received the rank of rear admiral in 1916.
In June 1916 Kolchak was made a vice admiral and placed in command of the Black
Sea Fleet. With his arrival, the neutralization of the modern German
cruisers Breslau and Goeben became one of the most important tasks of the Russian
fleet in the Black Sea. Here, as in the Baltic, Kolchak used a tactic associated with
mining maritime space, implementing it chiefly near the Turkish and Bulgarian coasts.
As a result, the cruiser Goeben was partly damaged, and several Turkish ships and
German submarines were put out of action, which prevented the enemy from activity.
The Black Sea Fleet also delivered cargo to the Caucasus front by sea. After explosions
in a powder magazine on the fleet flagship, the battleship Imperatritsa Mariia, Kolchak
personally led the effort to localize the fire and rescue personnel and equipment, but
failed to save the ship. Kolchak was one of the main initiators of the Bosphorus
amphibious operation with the goal of seizing the Black Sea straits, which belonged to
Turkey. For the operation the combined forces of the army and fleet were to be used.
However, despite serious preparations, the operation, planned for the spring of 1917,
was not realized.
The 1917 Revolution and Departure from Russia↑
Kolchak greeted the revolutionary events of 1917 with disapproval. He was one of the
many commanders who did not speak in favor of the abdication of Nicholas II, Emperor
of Russia (1868-1918), declining to respond. Kolchak kept his post as Commander of
the Black Sea Fleet after the fall of the monarchy, but in June 1917 he voluntarily
resigned due to his disapproval of the policy of democratization in military matters and
the actions of the Sevastopol Soviet of Workers', Soldiers', and Sailors' Deputies. Not
long before he gave up his post Kolchak had thrown his saber, the St. George
decoration, into the sea during an attempt to disarm him. Kolchak was famous in Russia
due to the successful military and political work in 1917 directed at averting the
dissolution of the Black Sea Fleet. Certain circles viewed him as a potential ruler after
the overthrow of the Provisional Government, but he evidently did not imagine himself in
such a capacity.
In mid-June 1917 Kolchak received an offer from the American naval command
concerning military cooperation. A month later, with the permission of the authorities, he
went to the U.S. as head of a group of naval officers. On his trip across the ocean the
delegation spent two weeks in Great Britain, where it familiarized itself with naval
aviation, submarines, and military plants.
