Mavriky Slepnyov

Colonel Mavrikiy Trofimovich Slepnyov (Маврикий Трофимович Слепнёв) (December 27 (O.S. December 15), 1896 — December 19, 1965) was a Soviet polar aviator, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Mavrikiy Slepnyov graduated from the Warrant Officers' School (1915), Gatchina Flying School (1917), First Higher School of Military Pilots (1923), and Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy (1936). Slepnyov took part in the First World War as a staff captain. He then participated in the Russian Civil War as a military engineer for the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division. In 1925, Mavrikiy Slepnyov became a pilot of the Civil Air Fleet and took part in the exploration of the airways of Central Asia, Russian Far East, and the Arctic. Slepnyov was awarded the title of the Fifth Hero of the Soviet Union on April 20, 1934 for the rescue of SS Chelyuskin crew from an improvised airfield on the frozen surface of the Chukchi Sea near Kolyuchin Island. In 1937, he was appointed Chief Inspection Head at the Civil Air Fleet and dirigible squadron commander, at the same time. In 1939, Mavrikiy Slepnyov became head of the Civil Air Fleet Academy. During the German-Soviet War, Slepnyov was a deputy commander of the Soviet Air Force Black Sea Fleet air crew (1941–1942) and then was employed by the Soviet Naval Aviation and General Headquarters of the Soviet Navy. Mavrikiy Slepnyov retired in 1946. Mavrikiy Slepnyov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Half Moon of the Tajik SSR and numerous medals. Il-76 TD of Russian Emergency Ministry was named in his honour as well as the street in Moscow and Gatchina.