Alexander Javakhishvili (admiral)

Alexander Javakhishvili (Georgian: ალექსანდრე ჯავახიშვილი; Russian: Александр Давидович Джавахишвили, Aleksandr Davidovich Dzhavakhishvili; born February 18, 1932) is a retired Georgian rear-admiral and commander of the Georgian navy from 1991 to 1996. A former Soviet navy submariner, he directed efforts at building the navy of independent Georgia in the 1990s.

Biography

Javakhishvili was born in Tbilisi, the capital of then-Soviet Georgia in 1932. Educated at the Caspian Maritime College in Baku, he pursued a career in the Soviet navy, becoming Captain 1st Rank, and in 1970 commander of the Pacific Fleet Navaga-class ballistic missile submarine К-415, with which he conducted, from January to March 1972, a trans-Pacific submerged circumnavigation.^[1]

After Georgia's independence in 1991, Javakhishvili became a commander of the embryonic Georgian navy. With the outbreak of hostilities in Abkhazia, he personally led a successful rescue operation of Georgian civilians trapped in the Abkhaz-controlled resort town of Pitsunda on August 18, 1992. He was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral on July 10, 1996, becoming the first person to have been awarded with the rank of admiral by Georgia.^[2] By that time, Javakhishvili's relations with the country's defense minister Vardiko Nadibaidze soured. In November 1996, he was fired for "failing to eradicate financial irregularites and raise the combat efficiency of the service", accusations which Javakhishvili rejected. He was succeeded by Captain 1st Rank Otar Chkhartishvili, a 47-year-old officer from the Russian navy, in March 1997.^[3][4][5]

Javakhishvili has since lived in retirement. He gave an interview to the Georgian service of the RFE/RL in 2008, critical of Georgia's decision to merge the navy with the coast guard under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.^[6]

References

1. "Кругосветка под водой контр-адмирала Александра Джавахишвили [Submerged circumnavigation of Rear-Admiral Alexander Javakhishvili]". Tbilisskaya Nedelya (in Russian). 22 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
2. Gogitidze, Mamuka (2007). Военная элита Кавказа: Генералы и адмириалы из Грузии [Military elite of the Caucasus: Generals and Admirals from Georgia] (in Russian). Tbilisi: Research Center of History of Georgian-Caucasian Relations. p. 334.
3. Gause, Ken (May 1, 1997). "New navy commander appointed in Georgia". Jane's Intelligence Review. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
4. "Georgian naval commander rejects rationale for sacking". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. December 16, 1996. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
5. "Georgia Names New Navy Leader, Repeats Call For Part Of Soviet Fleet". Eurasia Monitor Volume: 3 Issue: 49. March 11, 1997. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
6. Liklikadze, Koba (14 December 2008). "თავდაცვის სამინისტროში კადრების დენადობა და სისტემური ქაოსია? [Are there an outflow of cadres and chaos in the Defense Ministry?]" (in Georgian). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 3 February 2013.