Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko (russian: Гордей Иванович Левченко, 1 February 1897 – 26 May 1981) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

naval commander and admiral from 1944. Born at Dubrovka,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, in 1897, Levchenko joined the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

in 1913. He graduated from training in 1914 and in 1916 graduated as a non-commissioned artillery officer from the Kronstadt class. He participated in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

and the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

. He was involved in the storming the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...

, and fought against the White forces of General

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War. Biography Early life Yuden ...

. Levchenko became a member of the Russian Communist Party (b) 1919 and in took part in suppressing the mutiny at the

Krasnaya Gorka fort Krasnaya Gorka (Красная Горка meaning Red Hill) is a coastal artillery fortress in Lomonosovsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, opposite Kotlin Island and the Baltic Flee ...

and the

Kronstadt Rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Loc ...

. 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 ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

s. Between January 1932 and January 1933 he commanded the

Caspian Flotilla Kaspiyskaya flotiliya , image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla , dates = No ...

, 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 battles of Odessa,

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...

and

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. On 22 October 1941 he took command of the troops in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, until early November 1941. With the fall of

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

to Axis forces that month, Levchenko was arrested on a charge of inciting defeatism and panic.

Grigory Kulik Grigory Ivanovich Kulik ( ua, Григорій Іванович Кулик; russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кули́к, Grigóriy Ivánovich Kulík; 9 November 1890 – 24 August 1950), a Soviet Union, Soviet military commande ...

testified against him, and Levchenko was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 25 January 1942. He was pardoned on 31 January, though he was demoted to

captain 1st rank Captain 1st rank (russian: Капитан 1-го ранга, Kapitan 1-go ranga, lit=Captain of the 1st rank) is a rank used by the Russian Navy and a number of former communist states. The rank is the most senior rank in the staff officers' ca ...

on 19 March 1942. Assigned to the Baltic area of operations, Levchenko led an amphibious landing operation against the Finnish island of Someri in the Gulf of Finland on 8 July 1942. The assault was repulsed with heavy losses for the Soviet forces. From late 1942 to 1944 he was base commander in Leningrad, and the naval base at

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

. He was promoted to kontr admiral on 18 April 1943 and participated in the defence of the city during its long siege. Levchneko arranged the transportation and supply of troops during the blockade. He was restored to the rank of vice admiral on 22 February 1944, and was advanced to the rank of full admiral on 25 September 1944. 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 The Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (), colloquially known as the paradise group, was a body of the Soviet Ministry of Defense established in 1958. A sinecure position for semi-retired senior officers, th ...

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 The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of t ...

, four times *

Order of Ushakov The Order of Ushakov (russian: орден Ушакова) is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honour of admiral Fyodor Ushakov (1744–1817) who never lost a battle and was proclaimed patron saint of the Russian Navy. ...

, 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" A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" The Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" (russian: Медаль «За оборону Ленинграда») was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union established on December 22, 1942 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Sovie ...

* 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" The Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «XX лет Рабоче-Крестьянской Красной Армии») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Un ...

Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" The Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «30 лет Советской Армии и Флота») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on February 22 ...

Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «40 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on December 18, ...

Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «50 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on December 26, 1 ...

Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «60 лет Вооружённых Сил СССР») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established and bestowed to m ...

The ''Udaloy''-class destroyer ''Admiral Levchenko'', is named after Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko.

References

Отдел Санкт-Петербургской епархии по связям с ВМФ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levchenko, Gordey 1897 births 1981 deaths Bolsheviks Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War People of the Russian Revolution Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Ushakov, 1st class Russian military personnel of World War I Imperial Russian Navy personnel Soviet admirals Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine Soviet non-fiction writers Soviet male writers 20th-century male writers Admirals of World War II Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery 20th-century non-fiction writers Male non-fiction writers