Stepan Makarov
Stepan Osipovich Makarov (Russian: Степа́н О́сипович Мака́ров) (1848/1849 — March 31, 1904) was a famous Russian vice-admiral, a highly accomplished and decorated commander of the Russian Navy, and a distingushed oceanographer, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, an author of several books.
Stepan Makarov was born in Nikolaev, now Mykolayiv, Ukraine in a family of a fleet ensign (fleet praporshik, прапорщик флота, praporshchik flota).
He was highly decorated for his service as a captain of the Russian battleship Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin (named after the Grand Duke Konstantin of Russia) in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. He was one of the first adopters of the idea of torpedo boats and on January 16, 1877 he was first in the world to launch torpedoes from a boat (which itself was launched from a battleship) against a Turkish battleship.
He directed two round-the-world oceanographic expeditions on the corvette Vityaz (1886-1889 and 1894-1896).
He proposed the idea, oversaw the construction and commanded the world first icebreaker "Yermak" in two arctic expeditions in 1899 and 1901.
Admiral Makarov was killed in action during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 on the battleship Petropavlovsk destroyed by a mine.
There are monuments to Makarov in his native Mykolayiv, Ukraine, and in Vladivostok, Russia. A number of ships were named Admiral Makarov.
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