Gordey Levchenko
Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko | |
---|---|
Born | Dubrovka, USSR | 1 February 1897
Buried | |
Allegiance | Russian Empire Soviet Union |
Service/ | Imperial Russian Navy Soviet Navy |
Years of service | 1913–1960 |
Rank | Admiral |
Commands held | Baltic Fleet |
Battles/wars | World War I, Russian Civil War, World War II |
Awards | Order of Lenin (three times) Order of the Red Banner (four times) Order of Ushakov (twice) Order of the Red Star |
Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko (Russian: Гордей Иванович Левченко; 1 February 1897 – 26 May 1981) was a Soviet naval commander and admiral from 1944.
Born at Dubrovka,
Levchenko graduated from the Naval School in 1922 and was assigned to serve with the Baltic Fleet. In 1927 he was appointed to command the destroyer Artyom. In 1930, after completing courses at the Naval Academy, he took command of the cruiser Aurora and a detachment of training ships. Between January 1932 and January 1933 he commanded the Caspian Flotilla, and from January 1933 to August 1935 he commanded the battleship division of the Baltic Fleet. In August 1935 he was demoted for the loss of the submarine B-3 during exercises. In 1935–37, he commanded the destroyer squadron of the Black Sea Fleet.
From August 1937 to January 1938 Levchenko was Chief of Staff of the Baltic Fleet, and from January 1938 to April 1939 commanded the Baltic Fleet. On 3 April 1939 he was promoted to "flagman 1st rank" and became Deputy Commissar of the Navy. On 4 June 1940 he was promoted to vice admiral, and went to the Southern Front during the Second World War, where he participated in the
Assigned to the Baltic area of operations, Levchenko led an amphibious landing
From May 1946 Levchenko served as commander of the South-Baltic Fleet (4th Navy), then as deputy minister and admiral inspector of the Navy from 1953 to 1960. Between 1956-1958 he was deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy for combat training. From 1958 he was part of the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence. Levchenko retired from service in September 1960. His memoir «Годы огневые» (The Fiery Years) appeared in the same year. He died in Moscow on 26 May 1981 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Honours and awards
- Three Orders of Lenin
- Order of the Red Banner, four times
- Order of Ushakov, 1st class, twice
- Order of the Red Star, twice
- Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
- Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
- Medal "For the Defence of Odessa"
- Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol"
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
- Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
- Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
The Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Levchenko, is named after Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko.
References
- Отдел Санкт-Петербургской епархии по связям с ВМФ Archived 2012-12-12 at the Wayback Machine