{{Short description|Baltic German career naval officer in the Imperial Russian Navy}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{family name hatnote|Nikolayevich|Viren|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Infobox military person |name= Robert Nikolaevich Viren |other_name= Robert Reinhold von Wirén |birth_date={{OldStyleDate|6 January|1857|25 December 1856}} |death_date= {{OldStyleDate|14 March|1917|2}} (aged 60) |birth_place=[[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]], [[Novgorod Governorate]], Russian Empire |death_place=[[Kronstadt]], [[Saint Petersburg Governorate|Petrograd Governorate]], Russian Empire |image= Портрет к статье «Вирен, Роберт Николаевич». Военная энциклопедия Сытина (Санкт-Петербург, 1911-1915).jpg |caption= |nickname= |allegiance={{flagcountry|Russian Empire|1914}} |branch={{navy|Russian Empire}} |service_years=1877–1917 |rank=[[Admiral]] |commands= |battles= {{tree list}} * [[Russo-Japanese War]] ** [[Siege of Port Arthur]]{{Surrender}} * [[World War I]] {{tree list/end}} |awards= |other_work= }}
'''Robert Nikolayevich Viren''' ({{langx|ru|Роберт Николаевич Вирен}}; 6 January 1857 – 14 March 1917), also known as '''Robert Reinhold von Wirén''', was a [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] career naval officer in the [[Imperial Russian Navy]],<ref name="BBLD">{{Citation | contribution = Wirén, Robert Reinhold v. | contribution-url =https://bbld.de/0000000033614288 | title = BBLD – Baltisches biografisches Lexikon digital | url = https://bbld.de/ | publisher = Baltische Historische Kommission | location = Göttingen | year = 2012}}</ref><ref name="amburger">{{citation |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= von Wirén, Robert Reinhold |language= German |url=http://dokumente.ios-regensburg.de/amburger/index.php?id=81144 |work= Erik-Amburger Datenbank | location = Regensburg | publisher = IOS Regensburg |access-date= 21 February 2018 }}</ref> noted for his role in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905.<ref name= Kowner>Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 409-410.</ref>
== Biography == {{refimprove section|date=August 2025}} Viren was of {{ill|Finns in Russia|fi|Venäjänsuomalaiset|ru|Финны в России|lt=Finnish}} descent through his paternal grandfather Johan Petterinpoika Viinikka from [[Virrat]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.virtainjoulu.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Virtain-Joulu-2007.pdf |title=Virtain Viinikan suvun aatelisia |last=Vuorenpää |first=Kauno |date=2007 |website=Virtain Joulu |page=22 |language=fi |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref> Viren was a graduate of the [[Sea Cadet Corps (Russia)|Sea Cadets]] in 1877 and served as a midshipman on a clipper ship with the [[Baltic Fleet]]. In 1883, he was promoted to lieutenant and was awarded the [[Order of St. Stanislaus]], 3rd degree. He graduated from the Mine Warfare School in 1884 and was awarded the [[Order of St. Anna]] 3rd degree in 1888. After graduating from the [[N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy|Nikolaev Maritime Academy]] in 1889, he served as a mine warfare officer on the battleship {{ship|Russian ironclad|Petr Veliky||2}} in 1891 and was promoted to lieutenant commander. He became captain, 2nd rank in 1894. He subsequently commanded a number of vessels with the Baltic Fleet, and was promoted to captain, 1st rank in 1901. In 1903 he was given command of the modern [[armored cruiser]] {{ship|Russian cruiser|Bayan|1900|2}}.
At the start of the [[Russo-Japanese War]], Viren was commanding the ''Bayan'' as part of the Russian Pacific Squadron based at [[Lüshunkou District|Port Arthur]]. During the [[Battle of Port Arthur]] he developed a reputation as a daring and capable commander.<ref name= Kowner/> Following the death of Admiral [[Wilgelm Vitgeft]] at the [[Battle of the Yellow Sea]], Prince [[Pavel Ukhtomsky]] briefly took command of the Port Arthur Squadron, but could not command the support or respect of his peers. As no one officer could reach the besieged port, Viren, although a relatively junior officer with low seniority was promoted to rear admiral and on 4 September 1904 took command of the squadron during the last four months of the siege.<ref name= Kowner/> During this time, with the besieged fleet unable to sortie and under continuous bombardment from land, Viren ordered that his warships be stripped of their guns, which were used to bolster the port's landward defenses, and his sailors were ordered to fight as [[naval infantry]]. He was wounded in combat in November 1904. After the surrender of Port Arthur, he was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese. After the war, he was awarded the [[Gold Sword for Bravery]] and the [[Order of Saint George (Russia)|Order of St George]], 4th degree, as well as the Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class with swords.
Viren was also appointed the head of artillery training for the Baltic Fleet in 1906–1907, and became commander of the [[Black Sea Fleet]] from 1907 to 1908. He was noted as a strict disciplinarian. He served on an Admiralty Board from 1908 to 1909. In 1909, he became the commandant of the port of [[Kronstadt]] and was promoted to vice admiral.<ref name= Kowner/>
After the start of World War I, Viren was promoted to admiral on 15 February 1915. In 1916, he was awarded the Order of St George, 3rd degree, for personal bravery in preventing the explosion of a powder magazine in the Petrovsky Fort at Kronstadt. However, after the start of March 1917 [[February Revolution]], Viren was one of several senior officers bayoneted during the [[Kronstadt mutinies | Kronstadt mutiny]] in Anchor Square, Kronstadt, by pro-[[Bolshevik]] sailors.
Viren was buried in Lutheran (German) cemetery in Kronstadt. The exact location was lost, but in the 1990s a symbolic memorial stone was erected there in his memory.
== Honors == * [[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|30px|link=Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)]] [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Order of Saint Stanislaus]], 3rd degree * [[File:Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg|30px|link=Order of St. Anna]] [[Order of St. Anna|Order of St. Anne]], 3rd degree * [[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|30px|link=Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)]] [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Order of Saint Stanislaus]], 2nd degree * [[File:Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg|30px|link=Order of St. Anna]] [[Order of St. Anna|Order of St. Anne]], 2nd degree * [[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|30px|link=Order of St. Vladimir]] [[Order of St Vladimir]], 4th class with bow * [[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|30px|link=Order of St. Vladimir]] [[Order of St Vladimir]], 3rd class * [[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|30px|link=Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)]] [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Order of Saint Stanislaus]], 1st degree * [[File:Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg|30px|link=Order of St. Anna]] [[Order of St. Anna|Order of St. Anne]] * [[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|30px|link=Order of St. Vladimir]] [[Order of St Vladimir]], 2nd class *[[File:Order of the White Eagle War Merit ribbon.jpg|30px|link=Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]] [[Order of the White Eagle (Russia)|Order of the White Eagle]] *[[File:RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000.svg|30px|link=Order of Saint George (Russia)]] [[Order of Saint George (Russia)|Order of St. George]], 4th class *[[Gold Sword for Bravery]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Sources == * [[Richard Connaughton|Connaughton, Richard]]. ''Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War with Japan ''. Cassell (2003). {{ISBN|0-304-36657-9}} * Jukes, Jeffery. ''The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905''．Osprey 2002. {{ISBN|1-84176-446-9}} *{{cite book | last = Kowner| first = Rotem|author-link=Rotem Kowner| year = 2006 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War| publisher = The Scarecrow Press | isbn= 0-8108-4927-5 | location =Lanham, Maryland }} * Stafford, Julian. ''Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905''. Naval Institute Press (1997). {{ISBN|1-55750-129-7}} * Warner, Dennis & Peggy. ''The Tide at Sunrise; A History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905 ''. Charterhouse. (1974)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Viren, Robert}} [[Category:1857 births]] [[Category:1917 deaths]] [[Category:People from Veliky Novgorod]] [[Category:Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire]] [[Category:Imperial Russian Navy admirals]] [[Category:Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War]] [[Category:Russian military personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class]] [[Category:Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery]] [[Category:Victims of the Red Terror in Soviet Russia]] [[Category:Executed military leaders]] [[Category:Deaths by bayonet]] [[Category:Deaths by stabbing in Russia]] [[Category:Naval Cadet Corps alumni]] [[Category:Russian people of Finnish descent]]