On the mosaic floor of the building of the commander of the Kronstadt naval base, there is a hexagon. It can be mistaken for the coat of arms of Israel, but in the 90s of the 19th century, when the building was being erected, Jews only dreamed of their own national state. But among the Masons, the six-pointed star has always symbolized the image of unification, the harmonious fusion of three principles: fire and water, male and female principles, spirit and matter. So it turns out that Masonic traditions once existed at the main base of the Imperial Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt? Otherwise, where did the mosaic with Masonic symbols come from?
The fleet is created on the western model
Historians of the Russian fleet do not like to mention that well-known naval commanders, naval ministers, presidents of the Almiralty Collegium, admiral-generals and even sovereign emperors of Russia were ordained to Masonic lodges. And if they write about this somewhere, then in the context that, they say, all this is just a form of leisure for bored nobles.
Meanwhile, only according to approximate data, at different times 52 admirals of the Russian fleet were "free masons". Five of them are admiral-generals, three are presidents and vice-presidents of the Admiralty Collegiums, eight are naval ministers, five more are directors of the Naval Cadet Corps, one is the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is no coincidence that the authoritative Russian historian and Freemason Georgy Vernadsky directly outlined the importance of Freemasonry in the history of the Imperial Navy: - The early shoots of Russian Freemasonry are especially possible in the Navy, since the fleet was created almost entirely on the Western model and under Western influence. And this is not an exaggeration. The counter-admiral of the Russian fleet Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov ("in the world" the All-Russian Emperor Peter I the Great) in the Masonic hierarchy had the dedication of the Second Overseer of the Neptune sea lodge. The status of First Overseer was held by another Rear Admiral, Patrick Gordon. And not just anyone was promoted to the Master of the Chair, but General-Admiral Franz Lefort, the first Russian admiral, friend and associate of Peter.
A number of high-profile names in the history of the Russian fleet were involved in Masonic lodges, for example, Admiral Alexei Grigorievich Spiridov - Grand Master of the Neptune lodge, Vice-Admiral Ivan Barsh - Local Master of the same lodge. Admirals father and son Vasily and Pavel Chichagovs became Masons. The first "became famous" for the fact that, being the president of the Admiralty Collegiums, he was dismissed with a question-exclamation in his back: "Why did you destroy the old fleet, but did not create a new one?" The second in 1812 commanded the Southern Army of the Russian troops, and, according to a number of military historians, it was through the fault of Pavel Chichagov that Napoleon managed to escape from the Russian land, and the war lasted in Europe for almost two more years. The military campaign of 1812 barely ended. Pavel Chichagov left for Italy, and after 1816 he lived in France until the end of his days.
Greig's apologies
Promotional video:
Heading in 1788 at the head of a squadron of the Baltic Fleet to the place of the Battle of Gogland (Gulf of Finland), Admiral Samuel Greig transferred to his flagship - the battleship Rostislav - all the property and archive of the Neptune lodge. And in the battle he somehow behaved strangely with the enemy - the commander of a squadron of the Swedish fleet, the Duke of Sundermanland, a brother-Mason in the 8th province of the Swedish system of Strict Observation. This is how both warring monarchies were called on the Masonic map of Europe - the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire. And their autocrats fought with each other, not privy to the secrets of Masonic geography.
Mason-Admiral Samuel Greig was smart: he himself did not go into battle, and he pulled the commanders of his ships - do not answer the Swedish guns with your artillery! But it was not possible to restrain everyone within the framework of tolerance towards the fighting Swedish gunners. And when several Russian commanders nevertheless responded to the Swedes with cannonballs and brandskugels (incendiary shells), the embarrassed humanist Greig sent a letter to the Swedish duke apologizing for not being able to keep his subordinates. Here's what's strange - the Swedish fleet threatens to seize the capital of the Russian Empire, and the admiral-freemason Greig apologizes to the Swedish admiral for the fact that his sailors defend their Fatherland. Is it possible to imagine that the commander of the Western Front, General Zhukov, for example, after the battle of Panfilov's men, sent Field Marshal von Bock, the commander of Army Group Center,eager to seize Moscow, a penitential telegram apologizing for the intolerance of Soviet soldiers who barbarously set fire to Hitler's tanks with bottles of Molotov cocktail?
Where did the "golden" ship disappear to?
Probably, many people know how ironically they used to call the Gulf of Finland - "Marquis puddle". The author of the definition is Ivan Ivanovich de Traversay, who in 1812 ran the Russian Naval Ministry. The Minister of the Navy, who did not let the Baltic Fleet west of the Gulf of Finland, Marquis de Traversay, was ordained to the lodge in France and had a reputation as an executive brother. And the naval minister, Prince A. S. Menshikov, who became a Freemason in Dresden, is a loyal brother of the Golden Apple and Pelican lodges. On his initiative, the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean campaign first gave the enemy sea communications, and then together committed suicide in the Sevastopol Bay, losing even the latest steam frigates. No English admiral has achieved a more crushing victory over the Russian fleet than Admiral-Mason Menshikov!
And the naval minister and general-admiral, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich - the patron of the arts and sciences? Dedicated in England according to the Scottish rite, just like Peter I once did. He supervised the delivery of gold bullion from the USA to St. Petersburg - a payment for the "lease" of Alaska intended for Russia in the amount of seven million two hundred thousand dollars. The USS Orkney, literally stuffed with gold like a 16th century pirate caravel, went missing in the Baltic Sea. And the coordinates of death were not left, since the entire crew of the "golden" ship disappeared without a trace. Maybe Admiral-Mason Konstantin Romanov knew that "Russian" gold never left the US land and disappeared forever in the accounts of the brothers of American lodges? Just think, Russia is not ruined from this!
Greetings from the 19th century
The Imperial Russian Navy at the end of the 17th century began its history under a Masonic apron. And he finished it in 1917 as well.
The last naval minister of Russia, Rear Admiral Dmitry Verderevsky, like almost all the ministers of the Provisional Government of F. Kerensky, was a Freemason. In the office of the tsar's naval minister, shortly after the monarch's abdication, Verderevsky stepped from the bridge of the cruiser "Bogatyr", probably intending to achieve the flourishing of the naval power of the state. Alas, his colleague and also a freemason, Minister of War of the Provisional Government, Alexander Verkhovsky, recalled the meaning of the activities of Admiral Verderevsky in September 1917: "Only two people understood what was really happening - he and I." That is, it turns out that in the early autumn of 1917, the final disintegration of the Russian state took place, and the two security ministers-Masons understood everything correctly … and did nothing?
In exile, the Masonic career of ex-admiral Verderevsky went up. A veteran of the pre-revolutionary Russian Masonic lodges "Astrea" and "Jupiter", the exiled minister became the Second Guardian of the Entrances, a member of the Masonic Supreme Council. And in 1931 he was elected an Honored Master. Was he really appreciated so highly for the masterful collapse of the Russian fleet and the inability (or unwillingness?) To cope with the situation in the department entrusted to him?
As for the historical record of the presence of Freemasons in the Russian fleet, here the caution of scientists is to some extent understandable. In addition to admitting that most of the Russian high admiralty and the capital's naval officers are "free masons", it will be necessary to prove the inevitable connection between the decisions of the masters of the lodges and the orders of naval commanders and ministers. And, therefore, to give this connection an assessment - harm or benefit was brought to the Russian fleet by the control of hands with Masonic gloves.
However, the Masons themselves do not reveal their secrets. And they don't write memoirs. And from the outside, one can only assume whether admirals-Masons Greig and Verderevsky, Menshikov and Konstantin Nikolaevich, by a sincere oversight, broke fire, or did they carry out the orders of the masters of foreign lodges?
Most importantly, we need material evidence that there really were Masons in the highest circles of the fleet. How can this be proved? Excerpts from private letters of Masons? But paper will endure everything. Research by historians-masons? This is also all quite subjective. And here is the mosaic in the building of the commander of the Kronstadt naval base …
One can argue for a long time about whether it is good or bad that Masons were present in the leadership of the Russian fleet. The main thing is that they were there, no doubt.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №5. Author: Alexander Smirnov