The first English-language edition. "A useful read for anyone interested in early 20th century Russia and naval operations in the Great War." -StrategyPage Rear Admiral S. N. Timiryov, was well placed to make observations on the character of many of the significant commanding officers and also many of the operations of the Baltic Fleet from the beginning of the war in 1914 up to exit from it in 1918. He trained with many of the key figures and shared battle experience with them in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and the siege of Port Arthur; and he spent a year in Japan as a prisoner of war with a number of them. In his subsequent career in the Navy he had roles which brought him into contact with new recruits as well as with many serving officers, and as the Executive Officer on the imperial yacht Shtandart for some years, he came into contact with senior members of the navy establishment and of the government, including the imperial household. The translation of these memoirs brings an important and authoritative historical source to those interested in Russian or naval history who are unable to access them in the original Russian. "An excellent addition to the historiography of the Imperial Russian Navy during the twilight of its existence. A key resource for scholars of the Baltic Fleet and naval aspects of the Russian Revolution." -The Northern Mariner "The coverage of Russian operations, command structure dynamics, and their impact on operational capability make it worthy of recommendation." -Australian Naval Institute

Dr Stephen Ellis, the translator, read Australian and American history at the University of New England, Australia and Russian history at Duke University, North Carolina USA. He began to learn Russian at a summer school at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, in 1971, where he was taught by Russian emigres who had trained at the Harbin Pedagogical Institute in the 1930s. He continued his studies at Duke University with Russian emigres who had come from Russia via Asia and California, and at another summer school at the University of Toronto with emigres who had come from Russia via Poland. From fellow graduate students at the Moscow and Leningrad State Universities he learnt how to swear in Russian and why it was important not to do so.