Likhachev Ivan Fedorovich

(31.03.1826-15.11.1907)

Vice-Admiral, a round-the-world navigator, one of the active participants in the defense of Sevastopol, a publicist.

Born in the family estate of Polyanka-Nikolskoye, Spassky district, Kazan province, in the family of a retired cavalier guard. His mother was the sister of the famous writer V.I. Panaeva. At 13, the boy was identified as a cadet in the Marine Corps, which he graduated from and received the rank of midshipman in 1843. However, as the best graduate, he was left in the Officer class - to improve in the naval sciences, and the next year he was sent to the Black Sea Fleet. Here, in the course of five years of service, under the influence of the so-called Lazarev school, the maritime and martial skills of Likhachev were formed. In 1848 he was given the rank of lieutenant.

In 1850  Likhachev was recalled to Petersburg. In the autumn of the same year  he set sail from Kronstadt to the Far East on the corvette “Olivutsa”.  After the death of the captain-lieutenant I.N. Sushchev in September 1851  a young officer headed the crew of the "Olivuts" and made the transition from Petropavlovsk to Novoarkhangelsk. In the future, commanding the corvette, I.F. Likhachev until 1852  regularly sailed between Kamchatka and Russian America. In early 1853 he was summoned to the capital, given the rank of captain-lieutenant and appointed deputy chief editor of the Maritime Collection magazine. With the beginning of the Crimean War in 1854  he was seconded to the Black Sea, where Ivan Fyodorovich became the "flag officer under the head of the defense of Sevastopol," Vice-Admiral V.A. Kornilov. On the steam ship frigate "Bessarabia" he participated in a battle with a detachment of Anglo-French ships. At the end of the year I.F. Likhachev was promoted to captain 2 rank. In 1855  he successfully organized the evacuation of people and weapons from positions, participated in the construction of a floating bridge across the bay, along which troops were withdrawn on August 27, 1855. The day before  Ivan Fyodorovich received a strong contusion, but left the command post only with the departure of the last detachment. "For example and distinction", he was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 2nd degree "with swords" and St. Stanislaus "with the imperial crown and swords". In August 1856 he was awarded the rank of captain of the 1st rank.

After the end of the war, Ivan Fedorovich served as "chief of staff at the head of the naval unit" in the city of Nikolaev. On March 10, 1858, an order was issued by the maritime department for the appointment of I.F. Likhachev "adjutant to the Grand Duke" Admiral General Konstantin Nikolaevich - the author of decisive transformations in the navy of Russia. Fully supporting the ideas and plans of his “highest” boss, Ivan Fedorovich, with his usual energy and conscientiousness, was actively involved in the implementation of the planned reforms. On the "Rurik" steam-frigate he conducted a detailed inspection of the domestic port facilities in the Baltic; on the frigate "Gromoboy" visited the Mediterranean, where he visited many ports and got acquainted with their work; on the frigate "Svetlana" sailed in the Chinese and Japanese seas, studying the new maritime theater. Thanks to the persistence and efforts of I.F. Likhachev, who argued that in the Far East, “the constant presence of significant Russian naval force as opposed to British and French” is necessary, in November 1860 a lucrative peace treaty was signed with China. This document secured Russia's rights to Amur and the Ussuri region.

In his reports to General Admiral Likhachev repeatedly stressed the need for practical voyages. “For real military appointments, only large ships can serve”, he wrote.    “Anyway, whether they will be corvettes or frigates, let them carry artillery, which they will be able to lift ... Just do not keep these vessels in our closed seas, where they are like fish pulled ashore”.

Of particular note is the persistent proposals of Ivan Fedorovich to create on  Tsushima Island Russian observation station. He believed that it was absolutely necessary to secure the island in such a way for Russia, “for here there is a direct path to China, where we will more than once be called upon to play a role, and to the most important points of the Japanese empire, the main cities and main forces of which are grouped in the southern part of her possessions. " Unfortunately, his reasoned opinion, expressed in the early 60s  last century, no one paid due attention. Subsequently, the tragic events of the Russian-Japanese war proved the validity of  I.F. Likhachev' foresight s.

With all this, the state activity of Ivan Fedorovich was highly appreciated. In April 1861 he was made in rear admirals, he became a full holder of the orders of St. Anna, St. Stanislav, St. Alexander Nevsky, White Eagle, received foreign awards: the Turkish Order of Medgid, Swedish - Olaf and Danish - Danebrog.

In 1866, I.F. Likhachev was appointed a member of the Artillery Maritime Technical Committee. In 1874 he was given the rank of vice-admiral.

With the accession to the throne of Alexander III, who did not agree with the reforms of the Grand Duke, General-Admiral Konstantin Nikolaevich withdrew from state activities. Together with him in 1883 Ivan Fedorovich also retired. However, he did not break the link with the fleet, often appeared in periodicals. In 1888, the Russian Shipping magazine (No. 24) published the work "The General Staff Service in the Fleet", in which he was the first in Russia to express the idea of creating a naval general staff as a body dealing with operational and strategic issues. He was seriously engaged in archeology, he knew several foreign languages (English, French, German, Greek, Latin, Czech, Polish), he was fond of the history of Church Slavonic and Russian languages. He wrote a lot about the problems of the Russian fleet, published brochures and books on marine issues.

He died in Paris. According to his will, he was buried in the male monastery of Sviyazhsk near Kazan. The grave is lost.

Cape is the northern entrance bay of Komsomolskaya in Providence Bay. The name appeared on the map after the shooting of 1876 of Second Lieutenant Maximov, who was swimming on the "Vsadnik" clipper.