Vladimir Chernavin

Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin (22 April 1928 – 18 March 2023) was a Russian officer of the Soviet Navy. He was the last commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy from 1985 to 1991 and the only commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth of Independent States Navy from 1991 to 1992.

Chernavin served a submarine officer in the Northern Fleet for over three decades and participated in the development of nuclear submarines. He commanded the K-21 and led it on the first patrol of the Arctic Sea by a Soviet nuclear submarine. Chernavin later commanded the 19th Submarine Division of s and the 3rd Submarine Flotilla. From 1977 to 1981, he was commander of the Northern Fleet, and from 1981 to 1985 he was Chief of the Main Staff and First Deputy-Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. During his tenure as Commander-in-Chief the Soviet Navy was at the peak of its power, and had more than 200 ships deployed around the world at any time. After his retirement in 1993, was the president of the Union of Submariners until 2014.

Early life Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin was born in Nikolayev, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, on 22 April 1928. His father Nikolai Vasilyevich (1895–1944) had been drafted in the Imperial Russian Navy in 1916, during World War I, and later fought on the Eastern Front of World War II. He served in the north and died from combat injuries while at a military hospital in 1944. From 1941 the younger Chernavin lived in Ulyanovsk after having been evacuated, and completed two courses there as a mechanic before entering the Higher Naval School in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1944. He was commissioned as a lieutenant upon graduation in 1947.

Naval career Immediately after being commissioned Chernavin attended the Frunze Higher Naval School in Leningrad until he graduated 1951. He was buried with military honours at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery's Pantheon of Defenders of the Fatherland on 21 March 2023.

Honours and awards His awards include: Hero of the Soviet Union (1981) Order of Lenin (1971 and 1981) Order of the October Revolution (1976) Order of the Red Banner (1966) Order of Alexander Nevsky (2013) Order of the Red Star (1988) Order of Courage (1997) Order of Naval Merit (2008)