Gennady Aleksandrovich Suchkov (; 7 January 1947 – 7 August 2013) was an officer of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Russian Navies. He held the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

, and served as commander of the Pacific Fleet in 2001, and the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

from 2001 to 2003. Born in 1947, Suchkov joined the navy after studying at the M. V. Frunze Higher Naval School, and was assigned to the Northern Fleet. He began a long career associated with submarines, rising from junior positions to eventually command his own vessels. After reaching higher ranks he served in staff positions as commander of the and . He was then appointed First Deputy Commander of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

, before briefly becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet in 2001. Later that year he was appointed commander of the Northern Fleet when the preceding commander, Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, was removed following the ''Kursk'' submarine disaster. Suchkov spent less than three years in this post before another submarine accident occurred in the fleet. The decommissioned ''K-159'' sank on 30 August 2003 while being towed for scrapping, resulting in the deaths of nine sailors. Suchkov was temporarily removed from command 2003 and put on trial on charges of negligence. Despite support and the belief that Suchkov was being made the

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

for the loss, he was convicted and sentenced to four years of suspended imprisonment. He nevertheless became an advisor to the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, and in retirement became President of the International Association of Public Organizations of Navy Veterans and Submariners. He died in 2013, having received a number of honours and awards.

Naval career

Suchkov was born on 7 January 1947 in the village of ,

Sechenovsky District Sechenovsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the forty in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia.Order #3-od Municipally, it is incorporated as Sechenovsky Municipal District.Resolution #670 It is located in the southeast of the ...

, in what was then Gorky Oblast,

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He entered the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

, studying at the M. V. Frunze Higher Naval School in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

from 8 April 1964 to 1969. On graduating he was commissioned as a lieutenant and assigned to the

. He was initially placed on a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

, but pressed for a submarine posting, and was appointed commander of the torpedo department of a large submarine, based out of Polyarny. Unusually for submariners, he was a teetoller. From 1970 to 1972, he was head of the submarine's combat department, and then served as assistant and then executive officer of the submarine. He took the

Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy The Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy, formally the Higher Special Officer Order of Lenin Classes of the Navy (), and known by its abbreviation VSOK VMF () is a higher naval education institution in Saint Petersburg which educates serving ...

from 1977, graduating in July 1978 and returning to the Northern Fleet in command of the Foxtrot-class submarine ''B-105'', until 1980, and then her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

''B-4'' until 1981. He took the classes at the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

between 1981 and 1983, becoming chief of staff of the 69th Submarine Brigade on graduation, and in October 1985, he was appointed Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet's . He was advanced to commander of the brigade in December 1985, holding the position until November 1988, when he became Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the fleet's . K-159

Following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in late 1991, Suchkov continued to serve in the succeeding

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

, becoming commander of the 4th Submarine Squadron in February 1992. He was appointed First Deputy Commander of the

and concurrently chief of the Sevastopol Garrison on 29 December 1994, and by presidential decree dated 19 July 2001, and

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

order dated 25 July 2001, he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet. He held this position for less than a year, being appointed to command the Northern Fleet on 4 December 2001. He succeeded Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, who had been removed as commander on 1 December, following the investigation into the ''Kursk'' submarine disaster. Suchkov was promoted to admiral on 21 February 2002, but was in his post for less than three years, when another submarine accident occurred in the fleet. The decommissioned ''K-159'' sank on 30 August 2003 while being towed for scrapping, resulting in the deaths of nine sailors. Suchkov was temporarily removed from command on 11 September 2003 and transferred to the disposal of the

while the investigation took place. Suchkov was brought to trial on charges of negligence on 12 January 2004, a case which became controversial with the belief that Suchkov was being made the

for the loss. One of the prosecuting lawyers withdrew during the trial on the grounds he was not convinced of Suchkov's guilt. An open letter in support of Suchkov was addressed to President Putin, and signed by

Governor of Murmansk Oblast The Governor of Murmansk Oblast () is the head of the executive branch of government in Murmansk Oblast, in northwestern Russia. The position of governor under the current Charter of Murmansk Oblast was created in 1997. Until the adoption of the ...

Yury Yevdokimov Yury Alekseyevich Yevdokimov (, born 10 December 1945) was the Governor of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. He became the governor in 1996 in Russia, 1996 and was reelected with a large overall majority on March 14, 2004 in Russia, 2004. He was dismissed ...

, 11 naval officers, and others. Nevertheless Suchkov was convicted on 18 May 2004. He was sentenced to four years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of two years. He appealed, but the original sentence was upheld on 6 September 2004.

Family and later life

Suchkov nevertheless became an advisor to the Minister of Defence on naval issues in April 2005. He served in this role until 2007, when he retired from military service, and in December that year became President of the International Association of Public Organizations of Navy Veterans and Submariners. He was appointed a 3rd class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation on 23 December 2008. Suchkov was married with two children. His son Aleksandr followed his father into the navy, also serving on Northern Fleet submarines and reaching

captain 3rd rank Captain 3rd rank () is a rank used by the Russian Navy and a number of former communist states. The rank is the lowest rank in the staff officer's career group. The rank is equivalent to major in armies and air forces. Within NATO forces, the rank ...

. Suchkov died in Moscow on 7 August 2013 and was buried at the

Troyekurovskoye Cemetery The Troyekurovo Cemetery (), alternatively known as ''Novo-Kuntsevo Cemetery'' (), is a cemetery in Moscow, Russia. The cemetery is located in the former village of Troyekurovo on the western edge of Moscow, which derives its name from the Troye ...

Honours and awards

Over his career Suchkov has received the

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

, the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

, the

Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" (), also known as the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", was a Soviet Union, Soviet Order (honour), military order awarded in three classes ...

, and various other medals. He was made an honorary citizen of Polyarny. A monument to his memory was unveiled in Polyarny in 2016, and a square was named after him. Another bronze bust was erected after his death in Sechenovo, close to his home village, in

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,119,115 as of the 2021 Ru ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suchkov, Gennady Aleksandrovich 1947 births 2013 deaths People from Sechenovsky District Soviet Navy personnel Russian admirals Saint Petersburg Naval Institute alumni Higher Special Officer Classes of the Navy alumni N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy alumni Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia alumni Recipients of the Order of Friendship Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery