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Pilkin Konstantin Pavlovich (26.12.1824(07.01.1825) –14(25).01.1913)
Born in St. Petersburg in the family of a naval officer, who for many years served under Admiral F.F. Belinshausen. In 1841 midshipman Pilkin graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps, and in the following year became a midshipman. For 10 years he served on the ships of the Baltic Fleet, participated in trips to the North Sea. In 1853-1854 the watch officer of the "Aurora" frigate, Lieutenant Pilkin, made the transition from the Baltic Sea to Kamchatka, where, commanding the battery and then the rifle squad, he participated in the heroic defense of the port of Petropavlovsk from the landing of the Anglo-French squadron in August 1854. He was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4 degrees with a bow and promoted to lieutenant commander. Participated in the reflection of the landing in the Gulf of De-Kastri. June 22, 1857 "Aurora" returned to Kronstadt, completing the world tour. After that, some time commanded the schooner "Compass". In the years 1860-1865 on the clipper "Abrek" again sailed to the Far East, where he participated in hydrographic surveys in the Sea of Japan and Peter the Great Bay. He was distinguished by courage and resourcefulness in difficult situations, an exceptionally humane attitude to the crew of the ship. In 1863, in the squadron of Rear Admiral A.A. Popov arrived in San Francisco. In June 1865 Pilkin, ahead of schedule produced "for distinguished service" in the rank of captains, returned to Kronstadt on his ship. From 1865 to 1868 Captain I rank Pilkin in the squadron of Admiral G.I. Butakov commanded one of the first Russian armored batteries, the Kremlin. In 1869-1871 commanded a detachment of ships in the Pacific Ocean, headed their transition from the Baltic Fleet. After returning from the third round-the-world voyage in 1872 Pilkin was appointed captain of the port of Kronstadt and soon promoted to rear admiral. Together with Admiral G.I. Butakov he became the initiator of the creation of a special educational institution for the training of miners for the fleet - the Training and Mine Detachment and the Mine Officer Class in Kronstadt, and was their first head until 1882. In January 1876 as part of a government commission, he traveled to Austria-Hungary, where in Fiume he got acquainted with the works of the inventor of torpedoes by the Englishman R. Whitehead. Soon, Russia became the sixth state to adopt Whitehead self-propelled mines - torpedoes. Shortly thereafter, Pilkin was appointed to the newly established post of head of the minefield in the fleet, which he led until 1886. During this time, the foundations were laid of the mine-torpedo service in the Russian fleet, training. Having managed in a short time to bring to the new business the most talented people of the fleet, Pilkin created an excellent school of mine officers, who brilliantly showed themselves during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Thanks to his help, Lieutenant-Captain S.O.Makarov managed to get torpedoes, which he successfully used for the first time in the world by sinking the Turkish ship "Intibah". Not counting only on foreign torpedoes, Pilkin organized in the Kronstadt and Nikolaev mine workshops, at the Obukhov plant and the Lessner plant their mass production. In 1886 Vice-Admiral Pilkin was transferred to the Chief Inspector of the mine business at the Marine Technical Committee, and from 1888 to 1896 he was chairman of this committee. From 1889 to 1909, he was also a member of the supreme legislative body of the fleet - the Admiralty Council. In 1896 Pilkin was given the rank of full admiral. In 1912 in connection with the 70th anniversary of the service of Pilkin in the officer ranks, Nicholas II awarded the admiral the highest award of the Russian Empire - the Order of St. Andrew the First Called. In addition, the merits of Pilkin awarded orders St. Anna 1, 2 and 3 degrees, St. Vladimir 2 and 3 degrees, St. Stanislav 1 and 2 degrees, the White Eagle, St. Alexander Nevsky. He died in St. Petersburg and was buried in the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery. Cape (Pylkin) on the west coast of Providence Bay. The name appeared on the map after the shooting of 1876 of Second Lieutenant Maximov, who was swimming on the "Vsadnik" clipper. |
