EDWARD SMITH 



MAJOR GENERAL D. S. VASSILIEFF 



Dimitri Stqjanovitch Vassilieff, major-general, Imperial Russian Navy, 

 was born on February 10, 1871 ; received his education in the Naval Acad- 

 emy (Morskoi Korpus) in Petrograd, and graduated in 1891 with the rank 

 of ensign. The first years of his service he spent on board different ships 

 of the Imperial Russian Navy, first as watch officer and afterward as watch 

 lieutenant. In 1899 he was appointed to the post of paymaster (in the 

 Russian Navy there is no special branch for this service, and the positions of 

 paymasters are filled by executive ofificers) on board the cruiser Varyag, then 

 under construction at the William Cramp & Sons yards in Philadelphia, Pa., 

 and remained on board this ship till the Varyag left the shipbuilding yard. 

 This was the first time he came to the States, and during his long stay in 

 Philadelphia he became familiar with the English language. 



After the Varyag was completed Vassilieff remained on board that 

 ship till 1903. In 1906 he was appointed to the post of commander (first 

 executive officer) of the battleship Andrey Pervozvanny. He remained on 

 the post only a short time and in the same year was appointed aide-de-camp 

 to the Assistant Minister of the Navy, Rear-Admiral Bostroem, and in 

 1907 accompanied him on board the imperial yacht Standart when his 

 Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, went to Swinemuende to pay a visit to 

 the Emperor of Germany. 



In 1909, while commander of the Imperial Russian Navy, he was ap- 

 pointed naval attache to the Russian Embassy in Washington, and shortly 

 afterward, in 1911, was promoted to the rank of captain of the Imperial 

 Russian Navy for distinguished services rendered to the navy. 



When the war began Captain Vassilieff was in Russia on leave, but 

 immediately returned to his post in Washington and took charge of the 

 orders that had to be placed in the States on behalf of the Russian Navy. 



A painful disease carried him away in the midst of his activity, and 

 he died in the spring of 1915, promoted to the rank of major-general a few 

 days before his death. 



