Birthday anniversary of Grigory Butakov, Russian admiral, founder of steam-powered armored fleet tactics

September 27 (9 October), 1820 in Riga in the family of a naval officer was born Grigory Butakov, a Russian naval figure, admiral, founder of the tactics of the steam-powered armored fleet.

In 1831 Butakov entered the Naval Cadet Corps. After graduation he served in the Baltic fleet, and a year later was sent to the chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Lazarev as a flag officer.

For his participation in the hostilities on the coast of the Caucasus Grigory had been repeatedly honored with awards. In 1852 he became commander of the best steamer-frigate of the Black Sea fleet, "Vladimir", which at the beginning of the Crimean War captured the Turkish steamer Pervaz-Bahri, and during the siege of Sevastopol - the steamer-frigate Chersonese. During the defense of Sevastopol Butakov exercised overall command of several steamer-frigates, supported ground troops with naval gunfire.

After the war, Rear Admiral Butakov was appointed chief commander of the Black Sea fleet and ports, and military governor of Nikolayev and Sevastopol. In 1860 he returned to service in the Baltic Fleet, where he commanded armored squadron, and in 1881 became the chief commander of the St. Petersburg port.

Having a brilliant erudition, Butakov held advanced views on the development of the Navy and made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of the Russian fleet. He composed the first systematic sailing directions of the Black Sea, published in 1851.

In 1867, at his squadron, Grigory established the first laboratory experiments of mine, which was engaged in experiments on laying galvanic mines under the ships and testing mine fields. In 1874, according to his design armored frigate "Petropavlovsk" was first equipped with anti-torpedo artillery. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 Butakov developed the rules for laying mines on the fairways, which he put into practice while organizing the mine defense of Kronstadt.

Butakov first took up the study of tactics of steam-powered armored fleet. His book "New Foundations of Steamship Tactics" (1863), translated into several foreign languages, was a major contribution to the theory of naval warfare, and his "Rules of the steam ship maneuver" were recognized and applied in all navies of the world.

In 1882, after a serious illness, Grigory Butakov died of apoplexy and was buried in Sevastopol in the church of St. Vladimir.

Lit.:  Березин Е. В., Де-Ливрон А. К. Адмирал Григорий Иванович Бутаков. СПб., 1884; Бутаков Г. И. Новые основания пароходной тактики. СПб., 1863; Бутаков Г. И. Проект систематического собрания морских эволюций. СПб., 1881; Лурье А., Маринин А. Адмирал Г. И. Бутаков. М., 1954; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://militera.lib.ru/bio/lurie_marinin/index.html; Максимов П. В. Основатель тактики броненосного флота // Морской сборник. 1970. № 9. С. 64-66; Фёдоров М. Р. Вклад адмирала Г. И. Бутакова в кораблестроение и тактику парового флота // Судостроение. 1979. № 4. С. 62-64.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Морской сборник : журнал Военно-морского флота. Т. 18, № 10 (октябрь). Отдел первый. СПб., 1855.