Guard Marines in the White Navy

Navy cadets, guard-marines and students of the Navy Engineer Corps (129 persons in total) joined the cadets mentioned below, and the Navy School was formed in Vladivostok in November 1918.

Cadets of the special guard-marine class of the Navy Corps (High Navy School) were sent for navigation training from St. Petersburg by several ships on October 3, 1917. After visiting Indochina they arrived in Vladivostok and were enrolled in the Siberian Flotilla starting December 1919. The 3rd company of the Navy School left from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok in the autumn of 1917. There were 205 cadets, but only about 100 from them reached Vladivostok.

In late January, 1920, the Red Army approached Vladivostok. The Navy School was the last military unit faithful to the White movement and the Kolchak government. Because of the threat to the cadets' life, the Commander of the Navy Forces of the Far East, M.A. Berens ordered the Chief of the School, M.A. Kititsyn to leave Vladivostok. The cruiser "Orel" and transport "Yakut" departed from Vladivostok at night on January 30/31. There were 40 officers and more than 250 cadets and guard-marines. The first Navy School graduation (116 persons) took place in Singapore on April 11, 1920.

"Yakut" and "Orel" went to Crimea, but "Orel" was returned to the Voluntary White Navy in Dubrovnik on August 12, 1920 (commander Afanasiev); "Yakut" came to Crimea five days before the evacuation of the White Army and was included in the Black-Sea Fleet of the White Forces (commander captain of the 1st rank M.A. Kititsyn).

There was the Order by the assistant of the Supreme Chief of Navy Forces in the Far East from December 1, 1918 in the Russian State Navy Archive. The list of the guard-marines who entered the Navy School up to December 1, 1918 (123 persons) is attached (Fond R-2028, inventory 1, file 27, pages 22-25).

BLITZ may look for more information about each person, including personal files of many of them in the Russian State Navy Archive. Since such documents include information about the origin and parents, it is quite possible to continue a broader genealogy research in the Russian State Historic Archive based on information found in the Navy Archive. BLITZ does have access to work with the documents of the Russian State Historic Archive in spite of the fact that it is closed because of moving. Please inquire about names and searches to Elena Tsvetkova or Kristin Nute.