List of Russian admirals in the context of "Catherine II of Russia"

Catherine II (born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica, Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Романова; 2 May 1729 – 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796), commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after a coup d'etat against her husband, Peter III. Her long reign helped Russia thrive under a golden age under the Enlightenment. This renaissance led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe.

After overthrowing and possibly assassinating her husband and her subsequent rule of the Russian Empire, Catherine often relied on noble favourites such as Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the west, she installed her former lover to the throne of Poland, which was eventually partitioned. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was annexed following victories over the Bar Confederation and the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the east, Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.

Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Колча́к; 16 November [O.S. 4 November] 1874 – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. When he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a military dictatorship, which ruled over the territory of the former Russian Empire controlled by the Whites. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism and militarism, and opposed democracy as a principle which he believed was tied to pacifism, internationalism, and socialism.

Kolchak served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. The son of a naval artillery officer, he graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps and went on to become an accomplished oceanographer and Arctic explorer. He was involved in several expeditions to northern Russia, including to the New Siberian Islands, and became the youngest vice admiral in the Imperial Navy. He was wounded and taken prisoner during the Russo-Japanese War at the Siege of Port Arthur. When he returned to Russia he lobbied the State Duma to strengthen the fleet by introducing submarines and aircraft. Kolchak was the Baltic Fleet Chief of Operations when World War I broke out and was made the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet shortly before the February Revolution. When Emperor Nicholas II asked the commanders of each army group and fleet for their opinion on whether he should abdicate the throne, Kolchak was the only one who opposed the move.

Faddey Faddeyevich Bellingshausen or Fabian Gottlieb Benjamin von Bellingshausen (20 September [O.S. 9 September] 1778 – 25 January [O.S. 13 January] 1852) was a Russian cartographer, explorer, and naval officer of Baltic German descent, who attained the rank of admiral. He participated in the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe, and subsequently became a leader of another circumnavigation expedition that discovered the continent of Antarctica. Like Otto von Kotzebue and Adam Johann von Krusenstern, Bellingshausen belonged to a cohort of prominent Baltic German navigators which helped Russia launch its naval expeditions.

Bellingshausen was born on the island of Saaremaa (Ösel), to the Bellingshausen family [de]. He started his service in the Russian Baltic Fleet, and after distinguishing himself joined the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth in 1803–1806, serving on the merchant ship Nadezhda under the captaincy of Adam Johann von Krusenstern. After the journey, he published a collection of maps of the newly explored areas and islands of the Pacific Ocean. Subsequently, he commanded several ships of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets.

Friedrich Benjamin Graf von Lütke (Russian: Фёдор Петрович Литке, romanized: Fyodor Petrovich Litke; 28 September [O.S. 17 September] 1797 – 20 August [O.S. 8 August] 1882) was a Russian navigator, geographer, and Arctic explorer. He became a count in 1866, and an admiral in 1855. He was a corresponding member (1829), honorable member (1855), and president (1864) of the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg. He was also an Honorable Member of many other Russian and foreign scientific establishments, and a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris.

Adam Johann von Krusenstern (Russian: Ива́н Фёдорович Крузенште́рн, romanized: Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern; 10 October 1770 – 12 August 1846) was a Russian admiral and explorer of Swedish and Baltic German descent, who led the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth in 1803–1806.