[3] Grigory Ivanovich Butakov was born 9 October 1820 in Riga; a large city in the Russian Empire (now in Latvia).

In the Autumn of 1846, Butakov was appointed Captain of the cutter Pospeshny and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, and given a diamond ring.

On 3 December 1852, Lieutenant-Commander Grigory Butakov was made captain of the steam-ship Vladimir, considered the best steam-powered warship in the Black Sea Fleet.

When the Crimean War began in October 1853,[6] Grigory Butakov was sent with to the Black Sea aboard the steamship Vladimir.

It was a 10-gun steam-ship called the Pervaz Bahri[7] The 10-gun Turkish steamship that was steadily nearing the Vladimir had no bow or stern artillery.

Every time the Pervaz Bahri tried to employ side artillery upon the Vladimir, Butakov would repeatedly take up an advantageous position behind enemy stern, and bombard the ship with cannon shot.

Butakov then gave an order to pick up speed, and at a distance of 100 meters, he opened canister fire from all ship's the guns.

In September 1854, British, Ottoman and French forces laid siege to Sevastopol, the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.

Grigory Butakov provided substantial cannon support during the siege by sailing into favorable positions and bombarding the British, French and Ottoman fortifications, which surrounded the port.

However, his offer was immediately refused by a senior naval officer; Pavel Nakhimov, he said to Butakov: "I can not do that, such people like you are to be preserved for the future of the fleet".

[citation needed] Throughout the Siege of Sevastopol, Butakov stayed aboard the Vladimir, repulsing enemy counterattacks and bombarding fortified positions.

A sailor in the fleet commented on Butakov's calmness during the conflict: "[he] was the first to set his crew an example of remarkably cool behavior, self-control and fearlessness.

Everyone would be just enraptured and stunned by his coolness and the way he gave orders; he did this as if there were no cannonballs and bullets flying around him, as if there were not any possibility for him to be killed any minute".

[citation needed] In August 1855, Admiral Novonilsky ordered 15 Russian ships to be scuttled, and their cannons be used to help defend the port.

On 9 September the port fell to allied forces, marking the beginning of the eventual defeat of Russia in the Crimean War.

[4] Butakov also found solutions to some tactical problems, drew up illustrative tables of courses and movements of ships in the fleet, and outlined three basic detachment formations.

Whilst serving in the Baltic Fleet, Grigory Butakov paid much attention to artillery preparation of his squadron, he knew that although the Russian navy excelled in steamboat warfare, the cannons aboard the ships were seriously outdated.

Throughout his naval career, Grigory Butakov extensively enjoyed boat racing, and adopted the sport as his chief pastime while on leave from the navy.

On 16 October 1878, Grigory Butakov was promoted from Vice-Admiral to Admiral, and was appointed Chief Commander of the Sveaborg coastal fortifications.

In March 1882, Grigory Butakov was elected a member of the National State Council: He took this assignment at the end of his life's work.

Soon after that he fell seriously ill and died of apoplexy on 31 May 1882, while crossing the River Neva in a skiff, returning from a meeting of the State Council.