Fedor Karlovich Avelan

Born 1839; died after 1917. Russian naval man, admiral, and aide-de-camp. He joined the fleet in 1857, commanding various ships and units. He was assistant to the chief of the naval staff in 1895 and became the chief in 1896. In 1903 he became the director of the Ministry of the Navy. Avelan was one of the direct causes of the Russian fleet’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. He was retired in May 1905.