Vasili Altfater

Vasili Altfater
Vasili Altfater
Native name	Василий Михайлович Альтфатер
Born	December 16, 1883; Warsaw,Vistula Land,Russian Empire
Died	April 20, 1919(aged 35); Moscow,Russian SFSR
Allegiance	Russian Empire; Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy; Soviet Navy
Years of service	1902–1918
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	Soviet Navy
Battles/wars	World War I,Russian Civil War

Vasili Mikhailovich Altfater(Russian:Василий Михайлович Альтфатер) (December 16, 1883 – April 20, 1919) was a Russian-Sovietnaval officer,the firstCommander-in-chiefof theSoviet Navy.

Altfater was born in Warsaw the son of an artillery officer, GeneralMikhail Altfaterwho was from a nobleBaltic GermanFamily.

Altfater graduated fromMarine Cadet Corps(1902) and Naval Academy's Department ofHydrography(1908). During theRusso-Japanese War,Altfater participated in the defense of Port Arthur (Lüshunkou) and rescue of the crew of thebattleshipPetropavlovsk.Later on, Altfater served as the squadronnavigating officerof the 1st destroyer division of theBaltic Fleet(1909–1910). DuringWorld War I,as Captain 2nd Rank Altfater was one of two liaison officers for theImperial Russian Navyat the Tsar's Supreme Headquarters (the Stavka), where he had responsibility for advising on command appointments in the Baltic Fleet.^[1]He was later head of the Military Administration under the Commander-in-chief of theNorthern Fleet.In October 1917, Altfater was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral. After theOctober Revolution,he joined the Soviets. In February 1918, Altfater was appointed assistant to the head of the Naval Headquarters. He participated in peace negotiations inBrest-Litovskas a naval technical adviser to the Soviet delegation.^[2]In April, Altfater became a board member at thePeople's Commissariatof Naval Affairs. In October, he became a member of theRevolutionary Military Council(Реввоенсовет,Revvoyensovet) and appointed Commander-in-chief of the Soviet Naval Forces.

Altfater died of a heart attack in Moscow on April 20, 1919. On receiving the news about his death,Leon Trotskysaid that "the Red Fleet lost a tireless, competent, energetic and honest worker". He is buried in theNovodevichy Cemetery,Moscow.

References

^Timirev, Sergei Nikolaevich (1961).Vospiminaniia morskogo offitsera.New York: American Society for the Study of Russian Naval History. pp. 52, 62.
^Hoffman, Max (1999).The War of Lost Opportunities.Nashville [Originally published Munich 1924]: The Battery Press. pp. 200–202.ISBN 0-89839-295-0.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link)

[1] Timirev, Sergei Nikolaevich (1961).Vospiminaniia morskogo offitsera.New York: American Society for the Study of Russian Naval History. pp. 52, 62.

[2] Hoffman, Max (1999).The War of Lost Opportunities.Nashville [Originally published Munich 1924]: The Battery Press. pp. 200–202.ISBN 0-89839-295-0.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location (link)

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