Mikhail Bakhirev

Mikhail Bakhirev
Native name
Михаил Бахирев
Born(1868-07-17)July 17, 1868
DiedJanuary 9, 1920(1920-01-09) (aged 51)
Allegiance Russian Empire
Russian Republic
Branch Imperial Russian Navy
Service years1888–1917
RankRear Admiral
CommandsBattleship squadron of the Baltic Fleet
Conflicts
AwardsOrder of St. George
Order of Saint Stanislaus (Imperial House of Romanov)
Order of St. Anna
Order of St. Vladimir
Légion d'honneur (France)
Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan)

Mikhail Koronatovich Bakhirev (Russian: Михаил Коронатович Бахирев; 17 July 1868 – 9 January 1920) was a Russian naval officer and admiral. Born into a Don Cossack family near Novocherkassk, his father was a sotnik in the cossacks of the Imperial Russian Army and he joined in 1888 as a cadet in the Imperial Russian Navy. Bakhirev served on the gunboat Bobr the Far Eastern Fleet and in January 1898 was transferred to the Baltic Fleet. A year later, he returned to the Far East. During the Boxer Rebellion, he commanded the gunboat Gilyaks.

During the Russo-Japanese War In 1904/05 he commanded Port Arthur torpedo boat Silny. Bakhirev participated in the defense of Port Arthur. Despite many casualties in the most difficult situations, he managed to impose calm and discipline. Between 1911 and 1914 he was commander of the armoured cruiser Rurik.