Igor Nikolayevich Petrov (; 27 June 1933 – 14 April 2020) was a high-ranking career officer of 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 ...

. After several decades of service in 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 ...

and aboard submarines, he rose to the rank of

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and held senior positions in the navy's political branch. Born in 1933, Petrov lived through the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Axis invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

. Working at first as a shepherd, and training at a teaching college, he was eventually called up for military service, and studied at the A. A. Zhdanov Naval Political School. He then entered the navy's

, where he would spend most of his career. Petrov at first served aboard destroyers in the surface fleet as officer for the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

organization, and after further studies joined the submarine branch as a deputy commander for political affairs on several of the Northern Fleet's submarines. By the late 1960s he had risen to serve as political officer in staff positions and by the late 1970s he was deputy head of the navy's Political Directorate. From the early 1980s Petrov was active in academic affairs, heading the Social Research department at the Ministry of Defence's Institute of Military Theory and History, and serving as deputy head of the Department of Social, Political and Psychological Research. He then became head of the naval faculty at the , having received the degree of candidate of historical sciences. From 1988 until his retirement in 1991 he was head of the naval faculty at the . Retiring with the rank of rear-admiral, Petrov spent ten years as dean of the faculty of the Institute of Economics and Law, and authored over 100 scientific and journalistic articles. Over his career he had received various honours and awards, including 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 ...

3rd class, and various medals. He died in 2020.

Early career

Petrov was born on 27 June 1933 in the village of Andreyevsky, then part of , in the

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 ...

. His father was chief accountant in a timber industry enterprise in Konevo. When his father was transferred to Andoma in 1937, he and his family moved to Vytegra. Igor Petrov lived through the

in 1941, and the subsequent campaigns to defeat the invaders. At the age of ten he was sent to work as an assistant shepherd on a

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

Vologda Oblast Vologda Oblast (, ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is Vologda. The oblast has a population of 1,202,444 (Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census). The largest city is Cherepovets, t ...

, and resumed his schooling after the defeat of the Nazi forces. After graduating from high school he attended the Vytegorsk Pedagogical College, taking a degree in history, but subsequently embarked on a career as a naval officer after being conscripted into service on 29 June 1952 by the Vytegorsky District Military Commissariat. He enrolled at

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 ...

's A. A. Zhdanov Naval Political School on 1 July that year, and graduated in 1955. Skoryy Class destroyer

On graduating, and receiving a commission as an officer, Petrov was dispatched on 22 October 1955 to join the political administration of the

. Here he became secretary of the

organization aboard the Skoryy-class destroyer ''Otrazhayuschiy'', part of the . He continued in this position after 5 July 1956, when the ''Otrazhayuschiy'' was assigned to the of the Northern Fleet's 5th Cruiser Division. From 5 November 1958 until 1 September 1960 Petrov served ashore as an instructor in Komsomol work for the Northern Fleet's Political Department. On 1 September 1960 he was enrolled in the naval department of the , graduating on 30 June 1964.

Submarine service

Petrov then returned to the Northern Fleet, where he became deputy commander for political affairs aboard the

Zulu-class submarine The Soviet Navy's Project 611 (NATO reporting name: Zulu class) were one of the first Soviet post-Second-World-War attack submarines. They were similarly capable to the American Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program, GUPPY fleet-boat conver ...

''B-76'', part of the 4th Submarine Squadron. On 28 November 1964 ''B-76'' was transferred to the of the 4th Submarine Squadron. Petrov's next boat was the ''B-74'', which he joined on 21 September 1965 while she was under repair at

Leningrad Naval Base The Leningrad Naval Base is part of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy. History The Naval base was created on the basis of Order No. 117 as of March 15, 1919 of the Baltic Sea Fleet. The Naval Forces of Petrograd were transformed by the order in ...

. He sailed with her to join the Northern Fleet's 161st Submarine Brigade after her repairs were completed, and served on her until 24 May 1966. Petrov was then appointed deputy political officer to the commander of the

Yankee-class submarine The ''Yankee'' class, List of ships of Russia by project number, Soviet designations Project 667A ''Navaga'' (navaga) and Project 667AU ''Nalim'' (burbot) for the Initial operating capability, basic ''Yankee''-I, were a family of Nuclear propuls ...

''K-32'', in the Northern Fleet's 12th Submarine Squadron. He held this position after ''K-32''s transfer to the on 14 January 1969, and stepped down on 30 September 1969 to become deputy head of the 12th Submarine Squadron's political department. From then until 13 February 1970 he fulfilled this role, before being appointed first deputy head of the 3rd Submarine Flotilla's political department. After four years in this post, on 13 February 1974, Petrov took up the position of Head of the Political Department, and Deputy Political Officer, of the Iokansky Naval Base. He also sat for a period as a member of the Military Council and head of the 11th Submarine Flotilla's political department.

Senior staff positions

After taking the two-month long Academic Refresher Courses at the V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy, graduating on 31 August 1978, Petrov was appointed Head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department and Deputy Head of the Navy's Political Directorate. This posting lasted until 6 August 1984 when Petrov became a deputy head of the Social Research department at the Ministry of Defence's Institute of Military Theory and History, and deputy head of the Department of Social, Political and Psychological Research. From 25 November 1985 until 27 July 1988 he was Head of the Naval Faculty at the Soviet . He also received the degree of candidate of historical sciences. On 8 July 1988 the Ministry of Defence allowed for Petrov to continue on active military service until 1991. Between 23 July 1988 and 3 February 1991 he worked at the V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy as head of the naval faculty, and then retired from service with the rank of rear-admiral, which he had held since 13 February 1976.

In retirement

In retirement Petrov worked for ten years as dean of the faculty of the Institute of Economics and Law, while also serving as president of the International Maritime Youth League. He remained active in academic circles and research, authoring more than 100 scientific and journalistic articles, as well as the textbook "Protecting a Population in Emergency Situations". A member of the Communist Party since January 1954, Petrov remained active in the Moscow city branch of the Communist Party. Over his career he had received various honours and awards, including the

, the

3rd class, and various medals, as well as the Hungarian medal "For Military Cooperation", 1st class. Rear-Admiral Igor Petrov died on 14 April 2020, at the age of 86. The Foxtrot-class submarine is preserved as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

in Petrov's former hometown of Vytegra, and includes a display on his life and service. Petrov had assisted in the transfer and establishment of the submarine to Vytegra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Igor 1933 births 2020 deaths People from Vologda Oblast Soviet admirals Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class Lenin Military Political Academy alumni