Nemitts, Aleksandr Vasilevich

Born July 26 (Aug. 7), 1879, in the village of Kotiuzhany, now in the Moldavian SSR; died Oct. 1, 1967, in Yalta. Soviet naval figure; vice admiral (1941).

Nemitts joined the navy in 1896. He graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in 1900, the artillery officers, classes in 1903, and the Naval Academy in 1912. He served in the Black Sea Fleet. In 1905 he refused to take part in the execution by firing squad of seamen from the transport ship Prut who were convicted of rebellion. In 1906 he appeared in court as a defender of participants in the Sevastopol’ uprising of 1905. He served on the Naval General Staff. During World War I (1914–18) he was on the staff of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander. He commanded the gunboat Donets in 1915, a division of destroyers in 1916, and a mine division in 1917. In August 1917 he was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet and promoted to rear admiral.

Nemitts joined the Red Navy in 1919, served in the reserve of the People’s Commissariat for Naval Affairs, and commanded the naval forces of the republic between February 1920 and December 1921. In 1924 he began performing especially important assignments for the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic and at the same time taught at the Naval Academy; during 1926–28 he also taught at the Air Force Academy. In 1930 he became deputy inspector of the naval forces of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. Between 1940 and 1947 he was a professor in the subdepartment of strategy and tactics at the Naval and Air Force academies. He retired in 1947. He was awarded the Order of Lenin and two Orders of the Red Banner.