Mikhail Zakharov

Mikhail Nikolayevich Zakharov (5 November 1912 – 19 February 1978) was an officer of the Soviet Navy. He saw action in the Second World War and rose to the rank of admiral.

Born in Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Empire in 1912, Zakharov began his naval career in 1930 with service with Coastal Defence Artillery Brigades, before moving into the political branch. He was military commissar at the Pacific Fleet's base at Nikolayevsk-on-Amur during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and during the war served on the military councils of the Pacific Fleet, the Volga Military District and the Northern Fleet. He followed this with work as a propagandist and as a senior instructor, and later as inspector of the fleet's political administration.

Zakharov served in the political department of the Black Sea Fleet after the war, and in 1956 joined the Pacific Fleet's military council, which he served on for the next 15 years, rising through the ranks to admiral. His last posting was head of the political department of the Naval Academy, which he held until shortly before his retirement in 1977. He had served as deputy to both the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR during this time. He received a number of awards and honours over his career, and after his death in 1978 a street in Vladivostok and an Udaloy-class destroyer, Admiral Zakharov, were named in his honour.

Early life The submarine support ship Kommuna. Zakharov spent several months aboard her during his studies. Born in Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Empire on 5 November 1912, Zakharov entered the navy in 1930 and from October to December 1930 served as the commander of a company of the Red Navy's 1st Coastal Defence Artillery Brigade. In December 1930 he entered the Baltic Fleet's Machine School, graduating in November 1931 after time spent between May and August 1931 aboard the submarine support ship Kommuna.

Later life and legacy

Between January and March 1969 Zakharov took a two-month course at the , and after stepping down from the Pacific Fleet's military council in September 1971 he became head of the political department of the Naval Academy. Obituaries appeared in Leningradskaya Pravda on 21 February; Krasnaya Zvezda on 22 February; and Sovetskii Moryak on 24 February 1978. The Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Zakharov, launched in 1982, was named in his honour.