London Times, 31 January 1903, p. 8: OBITUARY. Sub-heading: ADMIRAL S.P. TYRTOFF.
The Kronstadtski Viestnik publishes a memoir of Vice-Admiral S.P. Tyrtoff, commander-in-chief of the Black Sea fleet and ports, whose death at Sevastopol on January 24 from inflammation of the lungs, was briefly announced in this column on Monday.
Admiral Tyrtoff was born in 1839, and entered the Russian navy in 1855. He finished his cadet course in 1856, and from that time he spent the greater part of his life at sea. He became a lieutenant in 1862, and lieutenant-captain in 1872, when he was appointed to the command of the clipper Gaidamak, in which he went in 1873 to the Far East and cruised in the Okhotsk and Bering seas. Entering Providenia Bay on July 6, 1875, he placed there 20 notices in English to the effect that the slaughter of seals in Russian waters was forbidden. He returned to Kronstadt in 1879, having been nearly six years away in the Far East. He was made captain in 1882 and placed in command of the frigate General Admiral, and during 1884 and 1885 his ship formed part of the Russian squadron in the Mediterranean. In 1886, when it was decided to form a Black Sea fleet, he was appointed to the command of the Chesma, the first battleship commissioned in that fleet, she being launched with great ceremony on May 18, 1886. He was made rear-admiral in 1888, and in 1892 was appointed to the command of the Black Sea squadron. From 1892 to 1895 he commanded the Russian squadron in the Far East, and having been made vice-admiral in 1894, it also fell to him to command the united fleet of the allied Powers, with instructions in certain circumstances to intervene actively in the war between China and Japan. Returning soon after to Russia, he was put in command of the second division of the Baltic fleet, and hoisted his flag on the Gangut, battleship. He was on board this vessel when she struck on a rock, not marked on the chart, and sank within six hours. All hands were saved, and the admiral received the thanks of the Tsar for his conduct on that occasion. In 1898 he was appointed to the command which he held at his death. The Chief of the Russian Admiralty, Vice-Admiral P.P. Tyrtoff, is his brother.