Hristijan Rajcevski
Hristijan Rajcevski | |
|---|---|
 Rajcevski in 1920 | |
| Nickname(s) | The Boy Captain |
| Born | 19 March 1895 Vechad, Scitaria |
| Died | 7 May 1950 (aged 55) Vechad, Scitaria |
| Allegiance |  Republic of Syara |
| Service/ | Navy of the Syaran Republic |
| Years of service | 1915-1939 |
| Rank | Fleet Admiral |
| Battles/wars | Battle of the Veylo Channel Operation Charybdis Battle of the Sabri Sea |
| Awards | see below |
Hristijan Rajcevski (19 March 1895 - 7 May 1950) was a Syaran naval officer most known for commanding the Syaran National Fleet during the Siduri War.
An ethnic Scitarian born in Vechad, Rajcevski was descended from a long line of sailors dating back through the Scitarian Commonwealth. His father, a decorated officer in the Navy of the Syaran Republic, died during the Third Chryse War when Rajcevski was ten. He attended the Syaran Naval Academy in his hometown of Vechad and graduated in 1915 at the top of his class and was later assigned as a gunnery officer aboard the battleship Serenity in Salvation. During the Divide War Rajcevski fought in the Battle of the Veylo Channel, and was aboard the Serenity in Salvation when it rammed the Cacertian battleship HMS Laura Valier; he was one of just 23 survivors out of nearly 1,200 officers and crew. He was decorated several times for bravery and was promoted to Commander by the end of the war, and remained in the Navy afters its conclusion.
He married Zsanett Avalishvili, a Karvelebi woman, in 1916 and had two sons (Petar, born 1916 and Ioane, born 1917). During the interwar period Rajcevski played a major role in the expansion of the Syaran Navy in order to better rival the Cacertian Royal Navy, and contributed to Syaran developments during the Cruiser Race which earned him a promotion to Captain and later Senior Captain in 1932. Upon the outbreak of the Siduri War he was promoted to Admiral and later given command of the Syaran National Fleet. Rajcevski's first priority was the destruction of the Cacertian Andria Fleet, but argued against a direct confrontation on the open seas. Instead he proposed an attack by Syara's carrier aircraft on the Andria Protectorate, which became Operation Charybdis. The attack failed to do significant damage to the Andria Fleet, though it allowed the Syarans to drive the Mansuri Navy from it's ports during the Battle of the Mansuri Sea.
For much of the war Rajcevski commanded the National Fleet throughout the Nuadan Campaign, trying to interdict Common Axis sea lanes while protecting Inner Sphere convoys and wearing down the Cacertian fleets. With the war going poorly on land, Rajcevski was ordered to take the National Fleet and defeat the Andria Fleet so as to open the way for the seizure of Andria. Although hesitant, Rajcevski agreed to carry out the plan, known as Operation Scylla. Shortly before departing from Syara Rajcevski was informed his son Petar had been killed on the Tennaiite Front, but he remained with the fleet. Rajcevski was decisively defeated by a combined Cacertian-Tennaiite fleet at the Battle of the Sabri Sea, which effectively ended any chance of Syara securing a strategic victory at sea. A month later his other son Ioane died when his ship was torpedoed in the Sundering Sea. Rajcevski was removed from command of the National Fleet as a result of his defeats and spent the remainder of the war organizing Syara's remaining surface combatants and submarines for convoy escort. He retired from the Navy after the war and died in 1950 at the age of 55.
Rajcevski's legacy has been a matter of dispute since his time in service. An energetic and assertive officer, his rapid rise through the ranks met with both praise and criticism from his peers. His young age earned him the nickname "The Boy Captain" by many of his older contemporaries. His theories regarding naval aviation and submarines are generally considered to have proven accurate, but his contributions to Syara's surface fleet in terms of cruisers, battleships and battlecruisers remain more contentious. Later President of Syara Krunislav Mircevski described Rajcevski as "a man who's ambition was never matched by his actual accomplishments". His defeat at the Sabri Sea, along with the deaths of both his sons, deeply traumatized Rajcevski and likely contributed to his early death. Despite his somewhat controversial legacy, Rajcevski's serves as the namesake for several Syaran naval facilities and ports. A memorial to Rajcevski stands atop the site of his former house in his hometown of Vechad.