Gordey Levchenko

Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko (Гордей Иванович Левченко, February 1, 1897, Dubrovka, Ukraine - 1981) was a Soviet naval commander and admiral from 1944.

Born in Ukraine, a part of the Russian Empire, in 1897, Levchenko joined the Imperial Russian Navy in 1913 and participated in World War I. During the revolutionary events 1917 he took part in the assault of the Winter Palace, commanded the cruiser Aurora.

Levchenko became a member of the Bolshevik Party in 1919. During the Civil War he participated in suppressing the mutinies at the Krasnaya Gorka fort and the Kronstadt Rebellion. He was promoted to command the Aurora in 1922, and held command of the Caspian Flotilla in 1932 - 1933. From 1933 he commanded the battleship division of the Baltic Fleet and the destroyer squadron of the Black Sea Fleet. He was arrested during a purge in late 1941 and sentenced to 10 years, but released in January 1942 and re-instated. Levchenko Participated in battles of Odessa, Nikolayev and Sevastopol during World War II. During late 1942 to 1944 he was base commander in Leningrad and helped supply the city during the siege

He was commander of the Baltic Fleet from 1946 to 1953. Levchenko was deputy of the People's Commissar of the navy from 1939 and deputy minister of the navy from 1953 to 1960.

Levchenko retired in September 1960. His memoir «Годы огневые» (The Fiery Years) appeared in the same year.

Honours and awards

 * Three Orders of Lenin
 * Order of the Red Banner, four times
 * Order of Ushakov, 1st class, twice
 * Order of the Red Star, twice
 * Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
 * Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
 * Medal "For the Defence of Odessa"
 * Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol"
 * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
 * Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
 * Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
 * Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
 * Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
 * Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
 * Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
 * Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

An Udaloy class destroyer, Admiral Levchenko, is named after Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko.