Nikolai Kuznetsov (admiral)

Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (Никола́й Гера́симович Кузнецо́в, ; 24 July 1904 – 6 December 1974) was a Soviet naval officer who achieved the rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union and served as People's Commissar of the Navy during the Winter War and the Second World War.

The N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy and the Russian aircraft carrier RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER Admiral Kuznetsov, as well as the Kuznetsov-class carrier class, are named in his honor.

Kuznetsov was born into a Serbian peasant family in the village of Medvedki, Velikoustyuzhsky Uyezd, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Kotlassky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia).

In 1919, Kuznetsov joined the Northern Dvina Naval Flotilla, having added two years to his age to make himself eligible to serve.

In 1920, he was stationed at Petrograd and in 1924, as a member of a naval unit, he attended the funeral ceremony of Vladimir Lenin.

That same year, he joined the Communist Party.

Upon graduation from the Frunze Higher Naval School in 1926, Kuznetsov served on the cruiser SOVIET CRUISER Chervona Ukraina, first as watch officer and then as First Lieutenant.

In 1932, he graduated from the Naval College after studying operational tactics.

Upon graduation, he was offered two options – a desk job with the general staff or a command post on a ship.

Kuznetsov successfully applied for the post of executive officer on the cruiser SOVIET CRUISER Krasnyi Kavkaz.

Within a year, the young officer earned his next promotion.

In 1934, he returned to the Chervona Ukraina, this time as her commander.

Under Kuznetsov, the ship became an outstanding example of discipline and organization, quickly drawing attention to her young captain.

From 5 September 1936 to 15 August 1937, Kuznetsov served as the Soviet naval attaché and chief naval advisor to Republican Spain.

During the early stages of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 he developed a strong dislike of fascism.

On returning home, on January 10, 1938, he was promoted to the rank of flag officer, 2nd rank, and given command of the Pacific Fleet.

While in this position, he came face to face with Stalin's purge of the military.

Kuznetsov himself was never implicated, but many of the officers under his command were.

Kuznetsov resisted the purges at every step, and his intervention saved the lives of many Soviet officers.

On 28 April 1939, Kuznetsov, still only thirty-four, was appointed the People's Commissar (Minister) of the Navy, a post he would hold throughout the Second World War until 1946.

In 1939, despite Stalin's negative attitude to the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy, Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov ordered the return of the Naval Engineering faculty from Moscow to Leningrad, and set up the Military Engineering-Technical University to educate engineers for the construction of naval bases.

Kuznetsov played a crucial role during the first hours of the war – at this pivotal moment, his resolve and blatant disregard for orders averted the destruction of the Soviet Navy.

By June 21, 1941, Kuznetzov was convinced of the inevitability of war with Nazi Germany.

On the same day Semyon Timoshenko and Georgy Zhukov issued a directive prohibiting Soviet commanders from responding to "German provocations".

The Navy, however, constituted a distinct ministry (narkomat), and thus Kuznetsov held a position which was technically outside the direct chain of command.

He utilized this fact in a very bold move.

Shortly after midnight on the morning of June 22, Kuznetsov ordered all Soviet fleets to battle readiness.

At 3:15 am that same morning, the Wehrmacht began Operation Barbarossa.

The Soviet Navy was the only branch of the military in the highest state of combat readiness at the start of the initial German push.

In the following two years, Kuznetsov's primary concern was the protection of the Caucasus from a German invasion.

Throughout the war, the Black Sea remained the primary theater of operations for the Soviet Navy.

During the war years Kuznetsov honed Soviet methods of amphibious assault.

A notable subordinate in the Black Sea and in command of the Azov Flotilla was S.G. Gorshkov who would later succeed him as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

In May 1944 he was given the rank of Admiral of the Fleet – a newly created position initially equated to that of a four-star general.

In the same year, Kuznetsov was given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On May 31, 1945, his rank was equated to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union with a similar insignia.

In August 1945, he took part in Operation August Storm in the Far East, helping to provide functions for the Soviet Navy fleet for Commander-in-Chief of USSR Forces in the Far East Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky.

From 1946 to 1947 he was the Deputy Minister of the USSR Armed Forces and Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces.

In 1947 he was removed from his post on Stalin's orders and in 1948 he, as well as several other admirals were put on trial by the Naval Tribunal.

Kuznetsov was demoted to vice-admiral, while the other admirals received prison sentences of varying length.