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The last military governor. The last military governor of Viren, Robert Nikolaevich, was cruel

  • 21.01.2024

Last military governor

“Which of the commanders of the ships of the Port Arthur squadron can compare in valor with Rear Admirals von Essen and Viren?”
Newspaper "Kotlin", No. 113, 1908.

Speaking about Viren, Soviet authors are unanimous: “tyrant” is perhaps the mildest definition addressed to him. And indeed, the Kronstadt military personnel feel the weight of the admiral’s hand. It was enough to make a minor mistake, such as wearing non-uniform shoes or not saluting on time, to be subject to arrest. He could stop a sailor right on the street, force him to unbutton the flap of his naval trousers to make sure whether he had a government stamp on him!
The murder of Viren on March 1, 1917, this lynching by an angry mob, is cited as an example of just retribution:
« In the morning, a crowd of rebel sailors approached Viren's house. The admiral came out, looked sternly at the sailors and soldiers and commanded: “At attention!” The crowd laughed and whistled. He tried to somehow change the mood of those who came and suggested going to Yakornaya Square to talk there about what was happening in Petrograd. But the admiral was grabbed, his shoulder straps were torn off his overcoat and he was dragged to Anchor Square. They were no longer allowed to speak. Robert Nikolaevich suffered a terrible death on soldiers' bayonets. Viren's body was thrown into a ravine behind the monument to Admiral Makarov, where it lay for several days».*
On the same day, admirals A.G. Butakov, N.S. Stronsky and thirty-six other Kronstadt officers who refused to renounce the Tsar were killed.
The hero of the Russo-Japanese War, Admiral Robert Nikolaevich Viren, was born into a large family of a senior history teacher at the Novgorod gymnasium. In addition to Robert, there are nine more people in the family - 5 brothers and 4 sisters. Over two decades of hard work, his father Nikolai Ivanovich achieved the post of director of the Omsk Teachers' Seminary, personal nobility and the rank of collegiate adviser, which allowed Robert to enter the Naval Cadet Corps. After graduating from the cadet corps in 1877, he was promoted to midshipman and awarded the Nakhimov Prize.
By the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, R. N. Viren was already a captain of the 1st rank. He is married and has three sons and a daughter. By this time, he managed to graduate from the Mine Officer Classes (1884), the Nikolaev Naval Academy (1899), served as a mine teacher for Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich, and gained experience in commanding some ships of the Baltic Fleet.
He met the Russo-Japanese War in Port Arthur as commander of the 1st rank cruiser Bayan. During the attack of the Japanese fleet on Port Arthur, Robert Nikolaevich rushes into an attack that is insane from the point of view of naval tactics: alone against the entire armada of the enemy fleet, directing all the fire of his cruiser to the flagship battleship of the Japanese. The daring attack so stunned the Japanese that they concentrated their fire only on the Bayan. This allowed our squadron to form into battle formation and enter the battle. " The cruiser received ten hull holes, three 75 mm guns and four boilers were damaged. Six sailors killed, thirty-four wounded».
For this battle, Viren received a golden saber with the inscription “For bravery.” Twice more R. N. Viren distinguished himself in naval battles, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree and St. Stanislav, 1st degree with swords, was wounded three times and “for distinguished service” was promoted to rear admiral out of turn. .
After the surrender of Port Arthur, he voluntarily, like Lieutenant General Smirnov, Captain 1st Rank Essen and many other officers, went into captivity along with the lower ranks, although he could not have done so. Nowadays, few people know that the Japanese command released the officers of the Port Arthur garrison with the retention of weapons, subject to a subscription not to take any further part in hostilities against Japan.
Upon returning from captivity, Viren is appointed junior flagship of the Black Sea Fleet Division, then acting chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and the Black Sea ports. But he was drawn to the Baltic, and in 1909 he was transferred to Kronstadt as the chief port commander and military governor. This, so to speak, is the ceremonial side of the life of Admiral Robert Nikolaevich Viren.

But let's try to look behind the lining of the ceremonial uniform. Being a poor man by origin, he knows what need is, and upon assuming the post of military governor, he issues an order around the city for traders of food supplies, where he fixed prices for basic food products: bread, meat, poultry, fish, sugar, salt, cereals , vegetables - 55 items in total.
The new governor is strict:
« Those guilty of increasing prices for products announced in the order will be evicted from Kronstadt, subject to a fine of up to 3,000 rubles or imprisonment for three months».
It obliges traders to post prices in a visible place and “ have among the products sold such quite suitable ones at a lower price" And this is not a populist move; throughout the entire period of his service, he strictly monitors the execution of his orders. When meadowsweet sellers tried to inflate food prices, a stern reprimand followed:
« Arrest the owner of a butcher shop in Yaroslavl Province, Ilyinsky district, village of Polyanki, Pavel Grigoriev Lobanov, for selling meat at a price significantly higher than the specified price».
As a military man, he understands the benefits of physical training for soldiers and sailors. He's a good athlete himself. At the officer competition on March 20, 1885 at our Kronstadt shooting range “ the first prize went to Lieutenant of the 4th naval crew R.N. Viren, who knocked out 63 sums of squares", we read in the Kronstadt Bulletin for March 22.
Therefore, he immediately draws attention to the combat training of the Kronstadt police.
« Now, by order of His Excellency Rear Admiral R. N. Viren, on May 16, 1909, the prize shooting of Kronstadt police officers took place for the first time. Firing condition: 4 bullets at 20 steps and 2 bullets at 40.
The silver watch, with a sum of squares of 128, was received by policeman Abramov.
Waterproof capes were presented to police officers: Klepikov, Vereshchagin and Vasiliev».
Since then, prize shooting of policemen, " who, although they consisted of former soldiers, had long ago lost the skills acquired in the service“, began to be carried out regularly with the personal participation of the police chief, captain K. M. Orlovsky.
Then he takes on organizing leisure activities for soldiers and sailors. On September 16, 1909, Kronstadt witnessed an instructive spectacle. On Anchor Square, decorated with ship flags, in front of the Naval Cathedral under construction, with a crowd of eight thousand people, the FIRST Spartakiad of the lower ranks of the fleet and army of the Kronstadt Fortress was held.
« By the beginning of the competition we arrived: Ch. commander Rear Admiral R. N. Viren with his daughter, commandant of the fortress A. E. Gusakov, Lieutenant General S. I. Alexandrov, F. F. Zagulyaev, rear admirals: N. A. Skryagin, A. Berg, P I. Tyrtov, E. P. Tveritinov, mayor V. G. Gulyaev and his wife, regimental and crew commanders, most of them with their families.
Among the St. Petersburg guests came the former chairman of the gymnastics society “Sokol”, Senator N. A. Sultan-Krym-Girey».
The pages of the Kotlin newspaper No. 207 kindly preserved for us the names and even some of the results of these competitions. Wherein " the participants of the competition were called by a bugle signal, and the start was given by a shot from a gun».
The first prize in the race was won by the boatswain of the Kronstadt naval semi-crew, Filipp Dubrovin, the second - by the boatswain of the same semi-crew, Semyon Bartkov. They were given silver match holders.
He won the shot throw with a result of 9 m 15 cm. non-commissioned officer Alexey Romanov. He received a cigarette case made of Karelian birch with cigarettes.
The steeplechase race was of particular interest to the audience. " Runners had to crawl under a net, climb over a high fence, crawl into long canvas bags, jump through suspended barrels without a bottom».
In pole vaulting “over the rail”, the champion was non-commissioned officer of the 1st Baltic naval crew Daniil Savchuk. The correspondent noted that the highest height of the bar reached almost a fathom (2 m 13 cm).
In the same year, with the onset of winter, Robert Nikolaevich became concerned with the construction of team slides and skating rinks. " On Tuesday, January 18, at 7 o’clock in the evening, the chief commander, Vice Admiral R. N. Viren, we read in Kotlin, visited a skating rink with a slide for the crew of the 1st rank cruiser Bayan, and the team duly tested the skating rink and slide in action" The same skating rinks and slides were later installed on other ships of the wintering squadron - eleven in total, “ thanks to which the crews of the ships enjoyed healthy entertainment in their free time».

Robert Nikolaevich Viren(January 6 - March 14) - Russian admiral (March 1, 1915), from April 8, 1907 to 1908, served as chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

Biography

Born into a noble family; besides Robert, there were five sons and four daughters. His father, Nikolai Ivanovich Viren, taught history at the Novgorod gymnasium, and later was the director of the Omsk Teachers' Seminary.

Upon returning from captivity, he was appointed junior flagship of the Black Sea Fleet Division (1906), then head of the training and artillery detachment of the Baltic Fleet (1906-1907), acting as chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and the Black Sea ports (1907-1908).

Awards

For his many years of service, R. N. Viren was awarded the highest Russian orders up to and including the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree, and was also a holder of many foreign orders.

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  • on the Chronos website

An excerpt characterizing Viren, Robert Nikolaevich

“I don’t... please, your Excellency,” said Prince Andrei quietly. Arakcheev's eyes turned to him.
“Sit down,” said Arakcheev, “Prince Bolkonsky?”
“I’m not asking for anything, but the Emperor deigned to forward the note I submitted to your Excellency...”
“Please see, my dear, I read your note,” Arakcheev interrupted, saying only the first words affectionately, again without looking him in the face and falling more and more into a grumpily contemptuous tone. – Are you proposing new military laws? There are many laws, and there is no one to enforce the old ones. Nowadays all laws are written; it is easier to write than to do.
“I came by the will of the Emperor to find out from your Excellency what course you intend to give to the submitted note?” - Prince Andrey said politely.
“I have added a resolution to your note and forwarded it to the committee.” “I don’t approve,” said Arakcheev, getting up and taking a paper from the desk. - Here! – he handed it to Prince Andrey.
On the paper across it, in pencil, without capital letters, without spelling, without punctuation, was written: “unfoundedly composed as an imitation copied from the French military regulations and from the military article without the need of retreating.”
– Which committee was the note sent to? - asked Prince Andrei.
- To the committee on military regulations, and I submitted a proposal to enroll your honor as a member. Just no salary.
Prince Andrei smiled.
- I don’t want to.
“Without a salary as a member,” Arakcheev repeated. - I have the honor. Hey, call me! Who else? - he shouted, bowing to Prince Andrei.

While awaiting notification of his enrollment as a member of the committee, Prince Andrei renewed old acquaintances, especially with those persons who, he knew, were in force and could be needed by him. He now experienced in St. Petersburg a feeling similar to what he had experienced on the eve of the battle, when he was tormented by a restless curiosity and irresistibly drawn to higher spheres, to where the future was being prepared, on which the fate of millions depended. He felt from the embitterment of the old people, from the curiosity of the uninitiated, from the restraint of the initiated, from the haste and concern of everyone, from the countless number of committees, commissions, the existence of which he learned again every day, that now, in 1809, was being prepared here in St. Petersburg, some kind of huge civil battle, the commander-in-chief of which was a person unknown to him, mysterious and who seemed to him a genius - Speransky. And the most vaguely known matter of transformation, and Speransky, the main figure, began to interest him so passionately that the matter of military regulations very soon began to pass into a secondary place in his mind.
Prince Andrei was in one of the most advantageous positions to be well received into all the most diverse and highest circles of the then St. Petersburg society. The party of reformers cordially received and lured him, firstly because he had a reputation for intelligence and great reading, and secondly because by his release of the peasants he had already made himself a reputation as a liberal. The party of dissatisfied old men, just like their father’s son, turned to him for sympathy, condemning the reforms. Women's society, the world, welcomed him cordially, because he was a groom, rich and noble, and almost a new face with the aura of a romantic story about his imaginary death and the tragic death of his wife. In addition, the general voice about him from everyone who knew him before was that he had changed a lot for the better in these five years, had softened and matured, that there was no former pretense, pride and mockery in him, and there was that calmness that purchased over the years. They started talking about him, they were interested in him and everyone wanted to see him.
The next day after visiting Count Arakcheev, Prince Andrei visited Count Kochubey in the evening. He told the count his meeting with Sila Andreich (Kochubey called Arakcheev that way with the same vague mockery that Prince Andrei noticed in the reception room of the Minister of War).
- Mon cher, [My dear,] even in this matter you will not bypass Mikhail Mikhailovich. C "est le grand faiseur. [Everything is done by him.] I will tell him. He promised to come in the evening...
– What does Speransky care about military regulations? - asked Prince Andrei.
Kochubey smiled and shook his head, as if surprised at Bolkonsky’s naivety.
“He and I talked about you the other day,” continued Kochubey, “about your free cultivators...
- Yes, it was you, prince, who let your men go? - said the old man from Catherine, turning contemptuously at Bolkonsky.
“The small estate did not bring in any income,” Bolkonsky answered, so as not to irritate the old man in vain, trying to soften his act in front of him.
“Vous craignez d"etre en retard, [Afraid of being late,] said the old man, looking at Kochubey.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” the old man continued, “who will plow the land if you give them the freedom?” It is easy to write laws, but difficult to govern. It’s the same as now, I ask you, Count, who will be the head of the wards when everyone has to take exams?
“Those who will pass the exams, I think,” answered Kochubey, crossing his legs and looking around.
“Here is Pryanichnikov, who works for me, a nice man, a golden man, and he is 60 years old, will he really go to the exams?...
“Yes, this is difficult, since education is very little widespread, but...” Count Kochubey did not finish, he stood up and, taking Prince Andrei by the hand, walked towards the entering tall, bald, blond man, about forty, with a large open forehead and an extraordinary, the strange whiteness of his oblong face. The man who entered was wearing a blue tailcoat, a cross on his neck and a star on the left side of his chest. It was Speransky. Prince Andrei immediately recognized him and something trembled in his soul, as happens at important moments in life. Whether it was respect, envy, expectation - he did not know. Speransky's entire figure had a special type by which he could now be recognized. In no one from the society in which Prince Andrei lived did he see this calmness and self-confidence of awkward and stupid movements, in no one did he see such a firm and at the same time soft look of half-closed and somewhat moist eyes, did he not see such firmness of an insignificant smile , such a thin, even, quiet voice, and, most importantly, such a delicate whiteness of the face and especially the hands, somewhat wide, but unusually plump, tender and white. Prince Andrei had only seen such whiteness and tenderness of the face in soldiers who had spent a long time in the hospital. This was Speransky, Secretary of State, rapporteur of the sovereign and his companion in Erfurt, where he saw and spoke with Napoleon more than once.

Viren Alexander Nikolaevich

(1909) in 1909 lieutenant colonel beginning. companies. military prison establishments [General sp.offic. to 1909. See section ]

Viren Alexey Robertovich

(1918,--1975.08.26 in New York) Separate midshipman classes (graduated in 1918, did not graduate) Naval Aviation School. Wartime midshipman. In exile in Spain (Bolearic Islands) then to the USA, on 1944.01.31 and 1949.01.20 a member of the Society of Former Russian Naval Officers in America. Mind. 1975.08.26 in New York [Volkov S.V. Fleet officers... M., 2004]

Viren Alfred

(1879) graduated as a cadet in 1879 from the Mikhailovsky Military School

Viren Boris Ivanovich

(1891, Revel --- 1937.12.25) Russian, b/p, Rostoblzdravtdel, head of financial control, resident: Rostov-on-Don, Voroshilovsky Ave., 54/101, apt. 106 Arrest: 1937.09.30 Conviction. 1937.12.17 troika under the NKVD. Upset 1937.12.25 [Book of memory of the Rostov region]

Viren Vera Fedorovna

(ur.Levis) (1896--,1927) daughter of the college secretary ~William.Eduard.Viren, divorced 1927.05.21 in Feodosia) [Volkov S.V. Fleet officers... M., 2004]

Viren William Eduardovich

von (1894--1956.11.23, Stockholm) Naval Corps 1914. Lieutenant. In exile in Latvia, 1933-1934 champion of ice boats in Riga, then in Sweden. Mind. 1956.11.23 in Stockholm. Wife Vera Fedorovna (ur. Lewis, daughter of a collegiate secretary, b. 1896, divorced 05/1927/21 in Feodosia) [Volkov S.V. Fleet officers... M., 2004]

Viren Vladimir Viktorovich

(1893, Finland, Tovasgusta --, 1938) Finn (Kven), head of the sanitary department of the AKVF, resident: Khabarovsk. Arrest: 06/1938/19 Conviction. 1939.11.17 OS under the NKVD of the USSR. Obv. according to Art. 58-1b of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. Sentence: 8 years ITL Reab. 1965.03.12 According to the definition of the Military Tribunal of the Far Eastern Military District, the basis: lack of corpus delicti. [Book of Memory of the Khabarovsk Territory]

Viren Georgy Robertovich

(1895--,1914) Marine Corps 1914. Midshipman. In exile in the USA (in New York) on 1944.01.31 and 1949.01.20, member of the Society of Former Russian Naval Officers in America. [Volkov S.V. Fleet officers... M., 2004]

Viren Nikolay Robertovich

(1886.12.05--1943.09.02,†Lordship, Connecticut) Marine Corps 1907 (officer 1908) First lieutenant. In the Volunteer Army, until 11/1915 on an armored train. In exile in the USA (1933-1937 in New York) 1925-1927 Chairman of the Society of Former Russian Naval Officers in America. Mind. 1943.09.02 (buried in Lordship, Connecticut) [Volkov S.V. Fleet officers... M., 2004]

Viren Eduard Nnkolaevich

von (1909) in 1909 captain in 1909 of the Separate Corps Pogr.Guards

Viren Robert Nikolaevich

(1856.12.25--1917.03.01, Kronstadt) admiral (1915.03.22). The son of a history teacher (then director) of the Omsk gymnasium. He received his education at the Naval School (1877), the Mine Officer Class (1884) and the Nikolaev Maritime Academy (1899). He served in the Baltic, in 1885 on a battleship and a coastal defense battleship. 1891.11.01-1894.04.17 taught minecraft to Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. From 1894.04.17 senior officer of the frigate, from 1896.05.14 com. destroyer cruiser. 1897.03.31 appointed senior clerk of the Main Naval Staff. Since 1898.08.02 com. training ship, since 1899.03.13 coastal defense battleship. Since 1900.09.20 flag captain of the coastal headquarters of the senior flagship. Since 1901 com. cruisers. Participant in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-05. From 1904.07.28 flag captain of Admiral Prince Ukhtomsky, in 1904.08. commanded a separate detachment of ships, and from 1904.11.01 a separate detachment of battleships and cruisers in Port Arthur. Along with other officers defending Port Arthur, he was captured by the Japanese in 1904. In 1904.06. awarded Order of St. George, 4th degree. Upon returning from captivity on 06/1906/26 he was appointed junior flagship of the Black Sea. From 1906.10.02 beginning. educational art detachment of the Baltic Fleet. In 1907 V. was appointed acting director. chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet, in 1908 introduced to the Admiralty Council. Since 1909.02.16 the main com. Kronstadt port and military governor of Kronstadt. He strove to maintain strict order and discipline and improved the training of naval specialists. Stabbed with bayonets on Anchor Square in Kronstadt on the morning of 1917.03.01.

Viren Robert Eduardovich

von (1891, Revel - 1953.03.23, Bonn) Naval Corps 1912. Lieutenant of the Black Sea Fleet. In the Volunteer Army, 1918.08. on an armored train, after 1918.10. on an armored train, from 1919.03. on the Caspian Flotilla: 1919.04. on, July 15 - 1919.09.22 commander of a gunboat, 1919.09.18 seriously wounded, in 1920 commander of a gunboat. 11/19/21 commander of a gunboat. Senior Lieutenant (1919.11.30, born 1918.10.14) Ord. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Evacuated with the fleet to Bizerte. On 1921.03.25 as part of the Russian squadron in Bizerte, until 1923.03. gunboat commander, Apr. - 1923.11. on a destroyer, enlisted in the squadron headquarters, Mar. - June 1924 on a training ship. In exile in France, from 1935 in Estonia (in Tallinn) from 1940 in Germany, he served in the German army. Mind. 1953.03.23 in Bonn. [Volkov S.V. Fleet officers... M., 2004]

Viren Robert Nikolaevich (12/25/1856 - 3/3/1917). Born in the Novgorod province, he entered the Naval School in 1873. In service since 1874. Non-commissioned officer (1876). Having graduated from the Naval Corps (April 30, 1877) 2nd in academic performance, he was awarded the Nakhimov Prize for academic success on May 20, 1877. Serves on the squadron battleship "Peter the Great" and the clipper "Dzhigit" (1877). Member of the “American Expedition” on the steamer “Cimbria” and the steamer “Yazoo” (1878). Midshipman (12/4/1878). Assigned to the 20th naval crew. Served on the clipper "Zabiyaka" in 1879 - 1883. Lieutenant (1.1.1883). Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd degree 05/15/1883. Graduated from the mine officer class with the rank of mine officer of the 2nd category (1884). Mine officer of the 1st category (1886). Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree (1.1.1888). Turkish Order of Medzhidiye, 3rd degree (1891). Teacher of Mines to Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich in 1891-1894. Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd degree (1.1.1892). Captain 2nd rank “for distinguished service” (17.4.1894). Mine officer of the armored frigate "Admiral Spiridov" (1885) and the battleship "Peter the Great" (1885 - 1887). Assistant teacher in the mine officer class. Teacher in the school of mine operators (1886 - 1888) and at the same time in the Mine Barrage Party (1888). Assistant teacher in the mine officer class on electric lighting (1888-1891), and at the same time mine officer of the frigate "Admiral Kornilov" (1888 - 1891). From 1891 to 1894 he taught mine engineering to Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. Senior officer of the cruiser "General - Admiral" (1894 - 1896). Silver medal in memory of the Reign of Emperor Alexander the Third (1896), Order of St. Anna 2nd class (14.5.1896) and Order of St. Vladimir 4th class with a bow for 20 annual companies (12/22/1896). Commanded the mine cruiser "Posadnik" (1896-1897). Bronze medal for labor incurred during the 1st All-Russian population census (1897). Senior clerk of the Naval General Staff (1897-1898) Commanded the naval training ship "Verny" (1898 -1899). He graduated from the course of Naval Sciences at the Nikolaev Naval Academy (1899). Commands the coastal defense battleship Strelets (1900). Captain 1st rank (12/6/1901). Commander of the armored cruiser "Bayan" from 1902 to August 24, 1904. French Legion of Honor Officer's Cross (1903) and Mecklenburg - Schweren Order of the Vulture, 3rd class (1903). Participant in the war of 1904–1905 and the defense of Port Arthur. Replaced P. as commander of the Pacific squadron. P. Ukhtomsky from August 23, 1904 with the awarding of the rank of rear admiral “for distinguished service.” Wounded at the end of November. Awarded the golden saber (March 14, 1904) “for bravery in battle on January 27, 1904,” the Order of St. George, 4th degree (06.1904) and the Order of Stanislav, 1st degree with swords (March 19, 1907). He supervised the mining of ships to surrender the fortress. The mining was unsuccessful. It is possible that Viren considered the possibility of saving them for Russia after the end of the war. He saved the “Journal of Fleet Combat Operations” from the Japanese. Lutheran, married, four children - a daughter and three sons (1905). Contents for 1905: salary (2,300 rubles) + canteens (3,300 rubles). Junior flagship of the Black Sea Fleet Division, then head of the training artillery detachment of the Baltic Fleet from 1906. Silver medal with a bow in memory of the war with Japan of 1904 - 1905 (1906). Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class with swords (19.3.1907). 1907-1908 - acting as chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and Black Sea ports. French Legion of Honor Grand Officer's Cross (1908). 1908 - 1909 - member of the Admiralty Council. Vice Admiral (12/6/1909).

Gold badge in memory of completing a full course of science in the Naval Corps (1910). Order of St. Anne 1st class (1911) and English Coronation Medal (1911). Japanese Order of the Holy Treasure, 1st class (1911). Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree (04/14/1913). Hereditary badge and light bronze medal in memory of the 300th anniversary of the Reign of the House of Romanov (1913). French Order of the Black Star (1914). Breastplate commemorative badge “Defender of the Port Arthur fortress” (1914). Participant in the First World War.Admiral (1915). Light bronze medal in memory of the 200th anniversary of the Gangut victory (1915). Light bronze medal in retribution for the labor incurred during the general mobilization of 1914 (1915). Order of the White Eagle (10.4.1916). In 1909-1917, the chief commander of the Kronstadt port and the military governor of Kronstadt. Killed on 03/03/1917 in Kronstadt during officer pogroms - stabbed to death with bayonets on Anchor Square.

A. Kudryavtsev

“We go further and see: whole rivers of blood flow into the sea, and the sea is red with blood. I was horrified with fear and again asked the wonderful old man: “Why is so much blood shed?” He looked again and said to me: “This is Christian blood.”
(Dream of St. John of Kronstadt)

IN MARCH 1917, THE SO-CALLED “UPRISING” OF THE SAILORS OCCURRED, RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF MANY RUSSIAN OFFICERS.

After 1917, Kronstadt truly became the Golgotha ​​of the Russian fleet and officers, and subsequently the place of martyrdom of thousands of St. Petersburg residents of all classes: military, clergy, officials, nobles, merchants and townspeople, simply believing Orthodox Christians who did not recognize the lies of the revolution and were brought here to be shot and execution.
It all started with a revolt of sailors supported by the leaders of the revolution in March 1917 from Petrograd. At night, mutinous crews began to break into the officers' cabins asking whether they would recognize the Provisional Government? If “no” means “enemy of the people”, arrest at best, or a bayonet strike.
“At the same time, wild, angry gangs of sailors, soldiers and mobs with brutal faces and a thirst for blood, armed with anything, rushed through the streets of the city. First of all, they released the prisoners, and then, uniting with them, they began to exterminate the hated authorities.
The first victim of this insatiable malice was Admiral R. N. Viren (1856-1917), the chief commander and military governor of Kronstadt, a man by nature straightforward, powerful and brave, but infinitely strict and demanding. When the crowd approached the house of the main commander, Admiral Viren, hearing the noise and shouting, opened the door himself and, seeing the sailors, quickly opened it wide. The crowd, roaring, rushed at the admiral, pulled him down and dragged him through the streets. The sailors hooted, ran up to Admiral Viren, spat in his face and shouted obscenities.
The crowd was dressed in the most fantastic costumes: some in sheepskin coats with the wool turned outward, some in officer's coats, some with sabers, some in prison robes. At night, by the light of torches, this procession had a very eerie appearance, as if demons were celebrating their hellish holiday. Civilians, seeing this procession, shied away in horror.
In the middle of this crowd walked the admiral. He was covered in blood. Crippled, barely moving his legs, every now and then, falling, the martyr slowly moved towards a cruel death. Not a single groan escaped his chest, which infuriated the crowd even more. Fed up with the torment of the victim, the executioners finally finished her off on Anchor Square, and threw her body into a ravine. It lay there for a long time, since it was forbidden to bury it.”
The next day, for refusing to betray the Sovereign at the monument to Admiral Makarov, the chief of staff of the port, Rear Admiral A. G. Butakov (1861-1917), was brutally killed by the commander of the 1st Baltic Fleet Crew, Major General N. V. Stronsky (1863-1917) , commander of the training ship "Emperor Alexander II", captain 1st rank N. I. Povalishin (1867-1917). Senior Lieutenant N.N. Ivkov (1885-1917), who sailed on the training ship "Africa", was lowered alive by the crew under the ice. All night the killers ransacked the apartments, robbed and pulled out officers to deal with them. Among those killed were: captains 1st rank K.I. Stepanov and G.P. Pekarsky, captains 2nd rank A.M. Basov and V.I. Sokhachevsky, senior lieutenants V.V. Budkevich, V.K. Ballas and midshipman B. D. Viskovatov, other Admiralty officers, second lieutenants and warrant officers.

This is what the place where the officers were executed looks like now. 2010

According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, “the brutal beating of officers in Kronstadt was accompanied by the fact that people were covered with hay, doused with kerosene, and burned; They put them alive in coffins along with those who were shot; they shot fathers in front of their sons.”
An uprising of sailors began from the barracks of the 1st serf infantry regiment on Pavlovskaya Street. The rioters were resisted by police, gendarmes, some officers and young students of the Marine Engineering School of Emperor Nicholas I on Pomorskaya Street. They, together with the valiant officers of the Russian fleet, gave their lives for their Tsar, Motherland and Faith... In total, more than 40 people died in Kronstadt these days.

The same terrible events took place in Helsinki. Captain 2nd Rank G.K. Graf, Novik, testifies:
“Can you imagine what the relatives and friends of the unfortunate officers experienced during these terrible hours! After all, they were connected with the fleet by the closest ties, the most precious thing they had in life: their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers were there...
Rumors of a mutiny on the ships quickly spread throughout the city; of course, everything was conveyed in a greatly exaggerated form. By this time, random gunfire began in the streets, wild screams began to be heard, and cars began to rush around at breakneck speed. These cars, crowded with armed rabble, cutting through the air with eerie, drawn-out beeps, made everyone freeze with horror. In the imagination of the officers' families, gloomy, hopeless pictures began to involuntarily begin to appear. It seemed that everything was lost and none of the officers would survive...
The phones were constantly ringing. Acquaintances asked each other if there was any information, and they passed on to each other everything they could hear. These conversations were even more exciting and even more confusing. It was difficult to figure out what was true and what was fiction.
Suddenly the phones stop working. By someone's order, they are all turned off. Excitement and anxiety reach their climax. Nobody even thinks about sleep anymore. Everyone is tormented by thoughts of what is happening there, in the port and on the roadstead. Are those who are so infinitely close and dear alive? Careful not to be noticed and not to get hit by stray bullets that sometimes ring into the rooms, wives, mothers and children do not move away from the windows, peering into the darkness.
After some time, from the hospital, where the wounded and bodies of killed officers began to be brought, some families were informed that among those brought were people close to them. In the first minutes, the unfortunate women completely lost all ability to think and, like madmen, rushed back and forth... Moans, women's sobs and children's crying merged into one uncontrollable explosion of despair. Is that really true? After all, just a few hours ago he was here. Why could they kill him when they loved him so much on the ship?...
Everyone is in tears, wearing whatever they can, the unfortunate women are running there, to the hospital, to the death room... Still, somewhere there, in the recesses of their souls, they have a small hope that maybe it’s not him, this is mistake...
Here they are in the dead room. God, what horror!.. How many tortured corpses!.. They were all thrown somehow, right on the floor, dumped into one common terrible pile. All are familiar faces... The glassy eyes of the dead look indifferently. Now everything is indifferent to them, their souls are already far from the torment they experienced...
“These are those who came out of the great tribulation; they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this they are now before the Throne of God...”
They are not allowed to see the bodies. They are guarded by some humanoid animals. With vulgar abuse they drive out the wives and mothers who came and mock the dead in front of them.
What to do? Who should they look to for help, protection?.. Who will even give them these mutilated corpses? To the new, revolutionary authorities, maybe they will be moved... Hurry - go there! But there they are met only with new insults and mocking laughter. It seems that in the face of the representatives of the future, already nearby Ham, Satan himself is laughing...
The dawn is dawning, and it seems that ominous vibes of accomplished atrocities are hovering in its darkness. The nightmares of the previous night rise in the memory with renewed vigor, and a burning wave of despair again fills the inconsolable souls.
The day is approaching. The streets are full of noise, screams, and shooting. A crimson sun rises over Helsingfors, the sun of blood. Damn night! Damn morning!..”
No one in power (A.I. Nepepin seriously hoped for the still possible return of the sovereign to the throne after the revolution and war) was able to either foresee or prevent the upcoming events. Russia was paying for the consequences of the social ignorance of society and the insane actions of the emperor.
The beautiful government of Prince G.E. that came to power. Lvova (1861-1925, in exile) for some reason imagined that the robbed and humiliated people with one word “democracy” would turn into law-abiding citizens. The subsequent rule, subordinated solely to the selfish desire to stay in power, was the rule of the Minister of the Chairman, and then of the Minister of War and Navy A.F. Kerensky (1881-1970). Through their fault, the anarchy of power in Russia and the especially rapid disintegration of the army and navy grew steadily in Russia.
And already on August 5, the manager of the Maritime Ministry appointed by Kerensky, former political emigrant V.I. Lebedev, by order of the fleet No. 504, had to state the fact of the complete disintegration of the command of the battery about. Oland, who arrived for inspection by the manager and commander of the fleet, revealed herself, as follows from the contents of the order, to be a bunch of vagabonds, and not a military unit. Revolutionary sentiments spread throughout all the ships, and a convincing confirmation of this remains the collection of documents “Baltic sailors in the preparation and conduct of the Great October Socialist Revolution”, M.-L., 1957. In it, “Bayan” and “Admiral Makarov” are mentioned on 9 and 17 pages. They, however, do not contain the most significant resolutions for the dignity of the fleet adopted by the crew of the cruiser Admiral Makarov. From documents that have not yet been made public it follows that as early as March 23, 1917, the crew of the cruiser Admiral Makarov announced its decisive defencist position.
It is significant that among the few ships on board the Makarov, officers were repeatedly elected chairmen of the general meeting of the crew. So, on June 4, 1917, Lieutenant N.G. Mazurov (1893-?) chaired the meeting, which adopted a resolution calling for unity among the fleet. The decree of the general meeting of June 21, 1917, which prevented Tsentrobalt from appropriating at its disposal teams of volunteers sent to army units. chaired by Lieutenant S.L. Brusilova. (1887-?). It said, in particular: addressing the comrades operating at the front in the Shock Groups, the cruiser’s crew called on them to fulfill their duty to their homeland. “We will support you from the sea and we will do the work for you on the ship ourselves. “Makarov” will always be where it is necessary “to defend the fatherland at the cost of life,” the resolution said. (RGA of the Navy, f. 481, op 1, d. 66, l. 42).
Initially, the elite selection of officers, of whom during the war on the ship, at least three were the sons of the most prominent admirals at the beginning of the century, and one was the son of General Georgy Nikolaevich Mazurov (1867-1918), who distinguished himself at the front, should have been, to a large extent, probably affect the mood and spirit of his team and officers. This allowed the ship to largely preserve its soul and not completely destroy it.
On June 22, a new meeting of the crew confirmed their “complete contempt for cowardly people and those harmful elements who seek to shake the mighty strength of the fleet and army with their calls for an immediate truce, fraternization and desertion. Believing that only a decisive offensive in close unity with the allies can speed up the moment end of the war, the crew declared their ship a "ship of death", ready at any moment to fulfill their duty to the Motherland and die with honor for it. The resolution of the general meeting with the name signatures of each of the 519 sailors and officers on the ship was signed by the chairman of the meeting Vilken (Oscar Viktorovich , 1893-1933, Copenhagen), just promoted to lieutenant, and secretary (apparently from the sailors) Osipov (RGA of the Navy, f. 481, on 1, d. 66, l. 42).
The mood was the same at Bayan, where, as F.F. admitted. Raskolnikov and his delegation of Kronstadt Bolsheviks, who arrived with agitation against the war and for fraternization with the Germans, were going to be thrown overboard by the sailors without much discussion (p. 109). The ships also reacted with restraint to Tsentrobalt's insistence on the elective beginning of the command staff. "Admiral Makarov" was against this innovation. “Bayan” agreed to the appointment, but with the team retaining the right of withdrawal.
During the days of the “rebellion” provoked by Kerensky, General L.G. Kornilov (1870-1918), who, as is now clear, tried to use the last historical chance to prevent a civil war, the crews of both cruisers adopted anti-Kornilov resolutions. The Commander-in-Chief, who betrayed Kornilov, managed to deceive even the officers of the headquarters of the Fleet Commander with his demagoguery. “Kerensky’s declaration seems more truthful to me,” I.I. wrote in his diary. Rengarten August 28, 1917 “We have telegrams from Klembovsky and other generals, commanders-in-chief of the fronts - everyone supports Kornilov,” he wrote on the same day. And, nevertheless, whether due to naval snobbery in relation to the “land” or due to some other incomprehensible “eclipse” Following Rengarten, the rest of the specialists from the headquarters of Prince M. B. Cherkassky (1882-1919, Petliurists), F. Y. Dovkont (1884-1988, Buenos Aires), head of the communications service P. A. Novopashchenny (1921-1950) turned out to be unable to make the right decision, everyone was opposed to the speech of L. G. Kornilov. Rear Admiral A. V. Razvozov (1879-1920), appointed commander of the fleet, agreed with them only on July 7. Emergency mailings of directives began to support Kerensky and counteract the orders L.G. Kornilova.
And it was an unforgivable mistake, fraught with the death of the fleet and all of Russia, a fatal mistake.
On the Bayan, commander S.N. Timirev managed to convince the sailors to completely abandon the demands on the officers to take a second oath (against Kornilov) to the provisional government. The commander of the Admiral Makarov also managed to protect his officers from reprisals. Two cruisers, according to S.N. Timirev, to the greatest extent retained the remnants of the former discipline.
This was not the case on other ships. Regardless of the officers, the sailors continued to rally day after day about the transfer of power to the Soviets. A similar resolution on readiness, at the first request of the Council, to send as much armed force “as Tsentrobalt will indicate to us”, on August 29, together with “Andrew the First-Called”, the cruisers “Rurik”, “Oleg”, “Bogatyr”, “Diana”, were also signed by members of the ship’s Committee "Admiral Makarov".
To the murders, arrests and expulsion of officers was added the appointment of commissars at headquarters and commanders to control the operational part and secret correspondence.
But no one could yet imagine to what extent cruel trials still lay ahead for the fleet and all of Russia.

Gloomy Soviet dungeon

As the revolution “deepened,” Kronstadt turned into a gloomy Soviet dungeon. Here in 1918-1920. Arrested officers, clergy, and representatives of all classes of the former capital of Russia were transported on barges. They were kept in Kronstadt prisons, one of which housed the local GPU under the Bolsheviks. There is evidence of the executions of officers and clergy in Kronstadt, 400-500 people were shot and buried in the courtyard of the former civil prison, many were sunk on barges behind the Tolbukhin lighthouse. Executions were also carried out in the western part of the island, behind the cemetery, at the training ground, on the seaside - in remote areas of Kotlin, from where local residents were evicted so that there were no direct witnesses to these murders.

During the 1921 uprising, known as the Kronstadt Mutiny, new victims were again made in Kronstadt. It is natural that those who initiated the uprising of 1917 also fell under the flywheel of the bloody machine of Bolshevik repressions. Thousands and thousands died in 1921.

Kronstadters were shot in the vicinity of Petrograd after the defeat
uprising, many were taken to camps throughout the country: they found their last refuge at the Marine training ground, near Gatchina, near Martyshkino and Oranienbaum, near Tula, Kaluga, in the North. Among the dead were six priests.

In 1994, in Kronstadt near the Naval Cathedral, Bishop Simon of Tikhvin consecrated the foundation stone of the monument to the sailors who died during the Kronstadt uprising of 1921. At the same time, a memorial service was served for “those killed, slandered before God and people by adversaries, who died in camps and exiles.” But there is still neither this monument, nor a monument or cross to the Kronstadt martyrs killed in 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1920...

Biographical information.

Robert Nikolaevich Viren was born on December 25, 1856 in the family of a history teacher at the Novgorod gymnasium. From 1874 to 1877 he studied at the Naval School, from which he graduated as a midshipman. In 1878 he was promoted to the rank of midshipman. Then he studied at the Mine Officer Class and at the Course of Naval Sciences at the Nikolaev Academy with the qualification of a 1st class mine officer. In the Baltic Fleet, he commanded the mine cruiser “Posadnik”, the training ship “Verny”, the coastal defense battleship “Strelets” and taught minecraft to Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. In 1902-1904, in the Far East, as part of the Pacific Ocean squadron, he commanded the cruiser “Bayan” with the rank of captain 1st rank. He took an active part in military operations at sea in 1904. He was wounded in the legs and shell-shocked. At the end of August 1904, he was appointed commander of a separate detachment of battleships and cruisers in Port Arthur with the rank of rear admiral. For his participation in the defense of the fortress, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, and the Golden Saber “For Bravery.” On the evening of December 19, 1904, on the last day before the surrender of Port Arthur to the Japanese, Viren gave the order to blow up the remaining ships of the squadron afloat and destroy warehouses and port facilities. After the surrender of the fortress, he was captured. With the end of the war, he returned to Russia and, from 1906, successively served as junior flagship of the Black Sea Fleet Division, head of the Training and Artillery Detachment of the Baltic Fleet, and chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and Black Sea ports. Contributed to the restoration of the combat effectiveness of the naval forces after the revolutionary upheavals of 1905-1907. In 1908-1909 he was a member of the Admiralty Council. Since 1909, with the rank of vice admiral, he has been commander of the Kronstadt port and military governor of Kronstadt. He strove to maintain strict order and discipline in the city and fortress, to improve the quality of training of specialists for the fleet, but he was overly demanding and picky. He established an unreasonably strict regime in Kronstadt. Since 1915 - admiral. In 1916, for personal courage in preventing a fire and explosion of the powder magazines of the Petrovsky Fort in Kronstadt, he was presented with the Order of St. George, 3rd degree.

On March 1, 1917, after the announcement of the transfer of power to the Provisional Committee of the State Duma on the ships and in the garrison of Kronstadt, sailor riots broke out in the city, accompanied by reprisals against the officers. One of the first victims of these events was R.N. Viren. He was taken half-dressed out of the apartment onto the street. Mocking and beating the admiral, the sailors brought Viren to Anchor Square in Kronstadt, where he was bayoneted and thrown into a ravine.

List of naval officers
"For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland" of the dead
at the hands of rioters in March 1917.

Adrian (Andrian) Ivanovich Nepenin, vice admiral, commander of the Baltic Fleet
Robert Nikolaevich Viren, admiral, military governor of Kronstadt
Alexander Grigorievich Butakov, rear admiral, chief of staff of the Kronstadt port,
Grigory Ivanovich Butakov, rear admiral, former. commander of the cruiser "Aurora"
Arkady Konstantinovich Nebolsin, rear admiral, chief of the 2nd brigade. lin. Ships
Nikolai Gotlibovich Rein, rear admiral, head of the Baltic Fleet Mine Training Detachment
Alexander Konstantinovich Girs, Major General of the Admiralty
Vladimir Konstantinovich Girs, vice admiral (executed by the Petrograd Cheka in 1918)
Veniamin Nikolaevich Protopopov, Fleet Lieutenant General, Commander of the Sveaborg Port
Nikolai Vasilyevich Stronsky, Major General commander of the 1st Baltic Fleet. crew,
Nikolai Ivanovich Povalishin, captain 1st rank, com. lin. ship "Emperor Alexander II"
Konstantin Ivanovich Stepanov, captain 1st rank, head of the Jung School in Kronstadt
Nikolai Nikolaevich Ivkov, senior lieutenant, commander of the training ship "Africa"
Mikhail Ilyich Nikolsky, captain 1st rank, commander of the cruiser "Aurora"
Vasily Aleksandrovich Yanovsky, captain 1st rank
Yuri Petrovich Pekarsky, captain 1st rank, assistant. head of the Balt machine school. fleet
Kirill Gildebrant, captain 2nd rank, commander of the minesweeper “Vzryv”
Mikhail Polivanov, captain 2nd rank, commander of the destroyer "Ussuriets"
Lev Konstantinovich Lvov, captain 2nd rank,
Alexander Matveevich Basov, captain 2nd rank
Vladimir Illarionovich Sokhachevsky, captain 2nd rank, senior. officer of the training ship "Ocean"
Nikolai Konstantinovich Lvov, senior lieutenant - commander of the destroyer "218"
Nikolai Kulibin, senior lieutenant, commander of the minesweeper "Modvizhny" (died in hospital)
Boris Dmitrievich Viskovatov, midshipman

According to M. Bespyatkin, an employee of the Central Naval Museum, the total number of casualties among officers in the events of March 1-4, 1917 in the Baltic Fleet alone reaches 95 people, including in Helsingfors - 45, Kronstadt - 40, Revel - 5, Petrograd - 4. 11 went missing and 4 officers committed suicide. In addition, more than 20 conductors were killed. A list of 80 names of those killed in February-March in Helsingfors and Kronstadt was published in the maritime information bulletin "St. Andrew's Flag", No. 3-4 for 1992. In addition, over 600 people were arrested. Many of those arrested remained hostages in prison until 1918, and were then shot or drowned in barges in the Gulf of Finland during the “Red Terror.”

On March 3, 2010 at 14.00, next to the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt, a memorial service was held for the naval officers who died in the first days of the so-called. "February revolution". The funeral service was organized by the EMRO, a group of historians of St. Petersburg, as well as several officers of the Baltic Fleet. The memorial service was served at the very place where the reprisal of Baltic sailors intoxicated by the revolution against their officers took place. After the end of the memorial service, the chairman of the EMRO announced the list of admirals and officers who died in Kronstadt, Helsingfors and St. Petersburg, and the priest appealed to everyone to keep the covenants of Orthodoxy, not to forget the terrible lessons of Russian history of the twentieth century, and to honor the memory of their ancestors, so relevant for us today.
At the end of the funeral service, all those present went to the apartment of the Holy Righteous Fr. John of Kronstadt, where they examined the exhibition of the museum-apartment of the great Russian righteous man.

References:

1. Count G.K. On Novik. Baltic fleet in war and revolution. - St. Petersburg: Gangut, 1997.
2. “Victims of evil in high places.” Eternal Call No. 03 (125) for March 2009


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