Gordey Levchenko

Who was Gordey Levchenko?

Gordey Ivanovich Levchenko was a Soviet naval commander and admiral from 1944.

Born at Dubrovka, 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 of 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. From 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.