Andrei Chabanenko

Andrei Trofimovich Chabanenko (; ; – 19 December 1986) was an officer of the Soviet Navy. He rose to the rank of admiral and was commander of the Northern Fleet.

Born in the Russian Empire in 1909, Chabanenko entered the navy in 1927 and after completing his studies, began service with the Pacific Fleet as a submariner. By the outbreak of the Second World War he had graduated to command of his own boat, and then during the war, whole squadrons. Promoted to flag rank in 1944, he took part in the brief Soviet–Japanese War, assisting in the invasion of South Sakhalin shortly before the surrender of Japan. The postwar years were spent combining further advanced studies with the command of several naval bases, before taking command of the Northern Fleet in 1952. He held this post for the next decade, overseeing important improvements and advancements with the introduction of nuclear submarines with greater capabilities than their predecessors. After some time as the Assistant Chief of the General Staff for Maritime Affairs, he became a consulting professor at the Military Academy of the General Staff, before retiring in 1976. He was honoured with numerous awards before his death in 1986, and was further honoured posthumously with the naming of a street in the Northern Fleet's base at Severomorsk, and the Udaloy II-class destroyer Admiral Chabanenko.

Biography Chabanenko was born on in the village of Kozynka, then part of the Russian Empire (today part of the city of Verkhivtseve, Ukraine). He entered the M.V. Frunze Higher Naval School in 1927, and after graduating, served as an officer aboard submarines of the Black Sea Fleet. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1932, and was promoted to his own commands in 1933, as captain of a submarine in the Pacific Fleet. He saw action in the brief Soviet–Japanese War from August to September 1945, helping to land troops for the Soviet assault on Maoka, part of the invasion of South Sakhalin, and after the war was appointed commander of the Sovgavan Naval Base.

Chabanenko was twice awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner four times, the Order of the Patriotic War First and Second Classes, the Order of the Red Star twice and the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" Third Class, as well as a number of medals.