A truly large personality is rarely placed within the framework of his biography. The outstanding Russian sailor Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov (1849-1904) was crowded everywhere - on land at sea. His life motto read: "At sea - at home, on the shore - visiting." He went on his first voyage at the age of twelve - and devoted forty-three years of his life, until his heroic death, to the Russian fleet. A tireless navigator, a large naval commander, a deep scientist, a talented inventor, an outstanding organizer, an outstanding writer - he made an invaluable contribution to everything he undertook.