Ivan Vasilyevich Rogov (; 10 August 1899 – 5 December 1949) was an 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 ...

. He worked in the navy's coastal defence branch and reached the rank of

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

. Born in 1899, Rogov was an early recruit to the Soviet ranks, joining the Communist Party in 1918, and the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in 1919. He saw action during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, and soon became involved in military political work serving as the political instructor for various units. He remained in the armed forces after the civil war, serving as a military commissar in various military districts. He rose through the ranks, becoming a member of the Military Council of the

Byelorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District an ...

between 1938 and 1939. During this period he was involved in the organization of the mass army purges between 1936 and 1941 as part of the wider

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. In 1939, he became member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and also that month was appointed Chief of the Political Directorate of the Navy, and Deputy People's Commissar of the Navy. He participated in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

with Finland between 1939 and 1940, and then the Second World War. Rogov was Deputy People's Commissar of the Navy throughout the war, and from December 1943 until February 1944, concurrently a member of the Military Council 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 ...

. He remained in naval and political work after the war, becoming a deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

in 1946, and a member of the Military Council of the

Baltic Military District The Baltic Military District () was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Baltic states, formed shortly before the German invasion during World War II. After the end of the war the Kaliningrad Oblast was added to the District's co ...

from August 1946. He died suddenly on 5 December 1949 at the age of 50. Assessments of his service vary, but he received a number of honours and awards of his career, and several ships of the Soviet and Russian navies have been named after him.

Career

Early life and Russian Civil War

Rogov was born on 10 August 1899 in

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, into the family of handicrafts workers. He graduated from the Kazan Provincial School of Social Sciences and joined the

Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

in 1918, and the

in 1919. He saw action during the

, fighting on the Southwestern and Eastern Fronts, and was wounded in September 1920 during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. He went on to serve as the political instructor of a company, and then a battery between April 1919 and April 1920, before becoming military commissar of the 12th Army's medical unit until December 1920. He served as military commissar of the 92nd and 91st hospitals in Kazan in 1920, and aboard a

hospital train A hospital train is a railway train with carriages equipped for the provision of healthcare. Historically this has ranged from trains equipped to transport wounded soldiers, with basic nursing and first aid facilities on board, to fully equippe ...

. His final work during the Russian Civil War as an instructor of the political department of the Reserve Army, and the political department of a division in the

Volga Military District The Volga Military District (PriVO) was a military district of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation that existed from 1918 to 1989 and 1992 to 2001. The district headquarters was located at Kazan, Saratov and Kuibyshev (Samara) at differen ...

from December 1920 to November 1922.

Interwar years

After the war Rogov continued to work in the party political branch of the armed forces with the Volga Military District, as military commissar of a battalion, and then the 136th regiment of the from November 1922 to June 1923. He was military commissar of a guard company from June to December 1923, political officer of the chief of the main artillery depot from December 1923 to November 1924, military commissar of the 6th Separate Pontoon Battalion from November 1924 to April 1926, and then in the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

's 1st Railway Regiment from April 1926 to November 1927. From then until March 1931, Rogov was military commissar of the 6th Topographic Detachment. Between March 1931 and March 1933, Rogov was the military commissar of the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

's 3rd Geodetic Detachment and then commander of the Leningrad Military District's 3rd Topographic Detachment until March 1936. He was then military commissar of the

Kharkov Military District The Kharkov Military District () was a military district of the Russian Empire, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and the Soviet Union. Throughout its history, the district headquarters was located in the city of Kharkov in northeast ...

's 2nd Directorate of Topographic Works in

Kremenchug Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

from March 1936. In December 1937, Rogov was appointed military commissar of the 23rd Rifle Division, and from April 1938, was on the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

. He was promoted to brigade commissar on 19 April, and then division commissar on 5 September 1938. In September 1938, he became a member of the Military Council of the

, a post he held until March 1939. During this period he was involved in the organization of the mass army purges between 1936 and 1941 as part of the wider

. He was again promoted, on 9 February 1939, to the rank of corps commissar. In March 1939, he became member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, a role he would hold until his death, and also that month was appointed Chief of the Political Directorate of the Navy, and Deputy People's Commissar of the Navy. He was promoted to the rank of army commissar 2nd rank on 1 April 1939. He also participated in the

with Finland between 1939 and 1940.

Second World War and later life

Rogov served in this role throughout the period of the Soviet part in 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 ...

, being promoted to Lieutenant General of the Coastal Service on 13 December 1942. From December 1943 until February 1944, he was concurrently a member of the Military Council of the

. He was promoted to Colonel General of the Coastal Service on 25 September 1944. His experience in different fleets proved useful to his work in the Black Sea, when having made an assessment of Soviet failings in the evacuation of Tallinn earlier in the war, he issued a directive to , head of the Black Sea Fleet's Political Directorate. The directive played a role in the much more successful evacuation of Odesa. Rogov remained in naval and political work after the war, serving without a post from April to August 1946, becoming a deputy of the

's second convocation in 1946, and then a member of the Military Council of the

from August 1946. Rogov died suddenly on 5 December 1949 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

at the age of 50, and was buried in Moscow's

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

. His gravestone was sculpted by .

Awards and honours

Over his career Rogov was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

in 1945, four

Orders of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of Sovi ...

in 1940, twice in 1944, and in 1949, 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 ...

in 1936, the Orders of Nakhimov, and the

Ushakov The House of Ushakov is the name of an old and influential Russian nobility, Russian noble family, whose members occupied many important positions within the Russian Empire. Notable people with the surname Ushakov or Ushakova (feminine form) incl ...

First Classes in 1944 and on 28 June 1945 respectively, and various medals. He was also awarded the

Order of the Cross of Grunwald The Order of the Cross of Grunwald (') was a military decoration created in Poland in November 1943 by the High Command of Gwardia Ludowa, a World War II Polish resistance movement organised by the Polish Workers Party. On 20 February 1944 it ...

Second Class by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Three ships of the Soviet and Russian Navies have been named for Rogov. The first was the

T43-class minesweeper The T43 (Projet 254) were a class of open-ocean minesweepers built for the Soviet Navy from 1948 to 1957. It was exported to client states; the People's Republic of China and Poland produced additional ships. Some hulls were converted to other use ...

''T-53'' in service between 1950 and 1957. The landing ship ''Ivan Rogov'',

name ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex ...

of her class, was built for the Soviet Navy and launched in 1977. She served with the

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 ...

until her decommissioning in 1995. On 20 July 2020, a new ''Ivan Rogov'', one of the

Project 23900 amphibious assault ship The Project 23900 ''Ivan Rogov'' is the newest class of Russian amphibious assault ships intended as a replacement for the French , two of which were ordered by Russia in 2011, but that France refused to deliver in September 2014 due to the Rus ...

s, was laid down at the Zaliv Shipbuilding Yard in

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

, on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Assessment

In 1940 Rogov was serving under People's Commissar of the Navy, Nikolai Kuznetsov, during a period where naval expansion was taking place, and following the loss of many experienced personnel during the purges. Kuznetsov noted that "My first fears - whether he, a new person in the navy, would be able to understand the specifics of the naval service, quickly dissipated. Returning from trips to one or another fleet, Ivan Vasilyevich surprised and delighted us all with his deep understanding of the tasks that the headquarters, political agencies, ships and units of the Navy were called upon to solve." Rear-Admiral A. T. Karavayev, inspector of the Main Naval Policy Department during the war, similarly praised Rogov's ability to "quickly grasp the specifics of the structure and activities of the complex naval mechanism." Naval historians and were less complimentary, calling him a "typical nomenklatura political worker" with a "tendency toward a command-and-pressure style of leadership". Writer , who served in the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

during the war, noted that he was called "Ivan the Terrible" in the fleet, but that despite his toughness, "what attracted me to him was the originality of his thought, he did not tolerate cliches".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogov, Ivan Vasilyevich 1899 births 1949 deaths Military personnel from Kazan Soviet colonel generals Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel of World War II Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Nakhimov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Ushakov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1938–1947 Chiefs of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Soviet Navy Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery