Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia

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Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia : biography

14 January 1850 – 14 November 1908

In 1873, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was appointed head of the Imperial Naval Guards. He was also appointed member of the section for shipbuilding and naval artillery of the Russian Naval Technical Committee.

During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) he was promoted commander of the Russian Naval Forces on the Danube. On 9 January 1878 he was distinguished with the Order of St. George – Fourth Degree for "tireless and successful management of the naval forces and equipment on 14 June 1877 for the construction and maintenance of the pontoon bridges and crossings at Zimnicea, Pietroşani and Nikopol and for the successful measures for protecting these crossing from destruction by enemy forces."

In 1880 he was promoted general adjutant. In 1882 after the accession of Tsar Alexander III to the throne, Alexander III, Alexei was appointed head of the Naval Department, replacing Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich. In 1883 he was also appointed General Admiral of the Russian Imperial Fleet. Though his control over the day-to-day affairs of the military is limited, Alexei is involved in naval and military planning. His influence over the Tsar gives him a powerful say in strategic decision-making.

Besides being the head of Russia’s fleets, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich was also in command of the naval cadet corps, the Moskow guard regiment, the 37-th Ekaterinburg infantry regiment, the 77-th Tenginsk infantry regiment, and the 17-th Eastern Siberian infantry regiment.

As commander in chief of the navy, the Grand Duke’s main concern was the constant modernization of the fleet, taking into account the rapid technological progress. During his tenure he ensured a fivefold increase of the navy’s budget. He was able to launch a series of pre-dreadnought battleships which were replacing the old ironclad ships. Thus he was instrumental in the equipment of the Russian navy with several battleships of various classes:

  • The Peresviet class, inspired by the British battleship .
  • The Borodino class, based on a French design by the shipyards in La Seyne-sur-Mer
  • The Petropavlovsk class designed at Galerniy Yard, St. Petersburg,
  • The Navarin class, on the British Trafalgar class battleship

He also had older ironclads of the Imperator Aleksandr II class reconstructed by the Fench La Seyne yard. He also put new cruisers in service (among which the cruiser Aurora).

The Grand Duke was instrumental in the modernization of the Russian navy. reconstructed and developed of the military harbours of Sevastopol, Alexander III in Livada (now Liepāja, Latvia) and Port Arthur, increased of the number of navy yards and extended the dry-docks in Kronstadt, Vladivostok and Sevastopol. He also reorganized the navy, defining the conditions for different naval qualifications, drafting of rules for rewarding long-time service of first and second rank ship captains, restructuring of the corps of mechanical engineers and naval engineers, increasing the number of officers and crew.

When tensions mounted in the Far East, Grand Duke Alexei ordered the transfer of additional ships to Port Arthur, including the battleship Petropavlovsk.

Russian academician and naval engineer Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov shows that, despite these achievements, there were severe drawbacks in the Grand Duke’s activity. There was no strategic planning and ships were not built based on their intended role within the fleet. There were too many ships of different types. Ships were designed mainly by copying the ones of foreign navies, and were therefore technologically 6–7 year old when they were launched. Their armour and equipment was often inadequate.

The Grand Duke seems to have become aware of some the these deficiencies. He decided to have more battleships of a single type and to have them designed abroad to meet the needs of the Russian navy. However, though the Grand Duke was an admirer of the British navy, the new battleships were conceived in France and had a poor design. The new Borodino class battleships had tumblehome hulls and were unstable, having a high center of gravity. The drawbacks proved to be fatal for the Russian navy.