Wilgelm Vitgeft
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Wilgelm Karlovich Vitgeft (Russian: ) (1847-1904) was a Russian rear admiral during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
Wilgelm Vitgeft was the chief of the naval department of the Headquarters of the Viceroy at the Far East (Admiral Alexeev) in 1899-1903. After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he became the chief of the Naval Headquarters at the Far East, and was appointed temporary commander of the Russian First Pacific Squadron (from 17 April 1904 it was called the 1st Pacific Squadron) following the death of Admiral Stepan Makarov. Vice Admiral Skridlov should have replaced him but he could not come to Port Arthur. Vitgeft vacilated over taking the fleet to sea in an attempt to break through to Vladivostok but in August 1904 finally gave in to pressure and attempted to do so. On the morning of August 10, 1904, a Russian squadron sailed out of Port Arthur in an attempt to escape the Japanese fleet blockading the port during the later days of the Siege of Port Arthur. The Russian fleet consisted of the battleships Tsesarevich, Retvizan, Pobeda, Peresvet, Sevastopol, and Poltava, along with four cruisers and 14 destroyers. The Russian force ran into Admiral Togo's Japanese fleet in the Yellow Sea and in the course of the long Battle of the Yellow Sea Vitgeft was killed when his flagship Tsesarevich was hit by several heavy 12-inch calibre shells. Most of the confused Russian force put back to Port Arthur and the rest was interned in neutral ports.
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