Admiral of the Fleet
What was the military rank of Nikolai Kuznetsov (admiral) from May 1944 to Feb 1948?
Nikolai Kuznetsov ( admiral ) Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov ( ; 24 July 1904 – 6 December 1974 ) was a Soviet naval officer who achieved the rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union and served as Peoples Commissar of the Navy during the Second World War . The N . G . Kuznetsov Naval Academy and the Russian aircraft carrier are named in his honor . Biography . Early years and career . Kuznetsov was born into a peasant family in the village of Medvedki , Velikoustyuzhsky Uyezd , Vologda Governorate , Russian Empire ( now in Kotlassky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast , Russia ) . His father , a Serbian immigrant , had settled in Russia before the turn of the century . In 1919 Kuznetsov joined the Northern Dvina Naval Flotilla , having added two years to his age to make himself eligible to serve . In 1920 he was stationed at Petrograd and in 1924 , as a member of a naval unit , he attended the funeral ceremony of Vladimir Lenin . That same year he joined the Communist Party . Upon graduation from the Frunze Higher Naval School in 1926 Kuznetsov served on the cruiser , first as watch officer and then as First Lieutenant . In 1932 he graduated from the Naval College after studying operational tactics . Upon graduation , he was offered two options – a desk job with the general staff or a command post on a ship . Kuznetsov successfully applied for the post of executive officer on the cruiser . Within a year the young officer earned his next promotion . In 1934 he returned to the Chervona Ukraina , this time as her commander . Under Kuznetsov the ship became an outstanding example of discipline and organization , quickly drawing attention to her young captain . From 5 September 1936 to 15 August 1937 , Kuznetsov served as the Soviet naval attaché and chief naval advisor to Republican Spain . During the early stages of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 he developed a strong dislike of fascism . On returning home , on January 10 , 1938 , he was promoted to the rank of flag officer , 2nd rank , and given command of the Pacific Fleet . While in this position , he came face to face with Stalins purge of the military . Kuznetsov himself was never implicated , but many of the officers under his command were . Kuznetsov resisted the purges at every step , and his intervention saved the lives of many Soviet officers . On 28 April 1939 , Kuznetsov , still only thirty-four , was appointed the Peoples Commissar ( Minister ) of the Navy , a post he would hold throughout the Second World War until 1946 . In 1939 , despite Stalins negative attitude to the Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy , Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov ordered the return of the Naval Engineering faculty from Moscow to Leningrad , and set up the Military Engineering-Technical University to educate engineers for the construction of naval bases . The Second World War . Kuznetsov played a crucial role during the first hours of the war – at this pivotal moment , his resolve and blatant disregard for orders averted the destruction of the Soviet Navy . By June 21 , 1941 , Kuznetzov was convinced of the inevitability of war with Nazi Germany . On the same day Semyon Timoshenko and Georgy Zhukov issued a directive prohibiting Soviet commanders from responding to German provocations . The Navy , however , constituted a distinct ministry ( narkomat ) , and thus Kuznetsov held a position which was technically outside the direct chain of command . He utilized this fact in a very bold move . Shortly after midnight on the morning of June 22 , Kuznetsov ordered all Soviet fleets to battle readiness . At 3:15 am that same morning , the Wehrmacht began Operation Barbarossa . The Soviet Navy was the only branch of the military in the highest state of combat readiness at the start of the initial German push . In the following two years , Kuznetsovs primary concern was the protection of the Caucasus from a German invasion . Throughout the war , the Black Sea remained the primary theater of operations for the Soviet Navy . During the war years Kuznetsov honed Soviet methods of amphibious assault . A notable subordinate in the Black Sea and in command of the Azov Flotilla was S.G . Gorshkov who would later succeed him as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy . In May 1944 he was given the rank of Admiral of the Fleet – a newly created position initially equated to that of a four-star general . In the same year , Kuznetsov was given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union . On May 31 , 1945 , his rank was equated to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union with a similar insignia . The first fall . From 1946 to 1947 he was the Deputy Minister of the USSR Armed Forces and Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces . In 1947 he was removed from his post on Stalins orders and in 1948 he , as well as several other admirals were put on trial by the Naval Tribunal . Kuznetsov was demoted to vice-admiral , while the other admirals received prison sentences of varying length . In 1951 Stalin ended Kuznetsovs pariah status , once again placing him in command of the Navy ( as the Minister of the Navy of the USSR ) , but without restoring his military rank , which was returned to him upon Stalins death in 1953 . In the same year , he became the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR . In 1955 , Kuznetsov was made Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces . His rank was raised to Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union and he was awarded the Marshals Star . The second fall and retirement . His newfound prominence brought him into direct conflict with now Defense Minister Marshal Zhukov , with whom he had clashed during the war years . On December 8 , 1955 , using the loss of the battleship as a pretext , Zhukov removed the Admiral from his post . The commission that inspected the ships loss was headed by Vyacheslav Malyshev and its findings were used by Zhukov to blame Kuznetsov . In February 1956 he was again demoted to the rank of vice-admiral , retired and expressly forbidden any and all work connected with the navy . During his retirement he wrote and published many essays and articles , as well as several longer works , including his memoirs and an officially sanctioned book , With a Course for Victory , which dealt with the Patriotic War . His memoirs , unlike those of many other prominent leaders , were written by him personally and are noted for their style . Kuznetsov also authored several books on the war , on Stalins repressions , and on the navy which were published posthumously . In these he was highly critical of the Partys interference in the internal affairs of the military , and insisted that the state must be ruled by law . Rehabilitation and legacy . After the retirement of Zhukov in 1957 , and of Khrushchev in 1964 , a group of naval veterans began a campaign addressed to the Soviet leadership to restore Kuznetsovs rank , with all benefits , and to make him one of the General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defence . Invariably , these requests fell on deaf ears . Not until July 26 , 1988 under Andrey Gromyko did the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR reinstate Kuznetsov to his former rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union . Kuznetzov is now recognized as one of the most prominent men in the history of the Soviet and , today , of the Russian Navy . Dates of rank . Personal ranks for the Russian Navy were abolished in 1918 , and were only restored in 1935 , excepting the various ranks of admiral which were not restored until 1940 . - Enlisted seaman ( 1919–1922 ) - Naval cadet , M.V . Frunze Higher Naval School ( 1923 ) - Graduated with honours - Appointed assistant ship commander 4th rank ( Junior Lieutenant/Ensign ) ( 5 October 1926 ) - Successively senior assistant ship commander ( Executive Officer ) 3rd rank ( Senior Lieutenant/sub-lieutenant ) senior assistant ship commander 2nd rank ( Captain-Lieutenant/Lieutenant ) ship commander 2nd rank ( Captain 3rd rank/Lieutenant-Commander ) ( 1926–1929 ) - Senior Assistant Ship Commander ( Executive Officer ) 1st Rank ( Captain 2nd rank/Commander ) ( 1932 ) - Captain 1st Rank ( Captain ) ( August 1937 ) - Flag Officer 2nd Rank ( 2 February 1938 ) - Fleet Flag Officer 2nd Rank ( 3 April 1939 ) - Admiral ( 4 June 1940 ) - Admiral of the Fleet ( 31 May 1944 ) - Admiral of the fleet equated to Marshal of the Soviet Union ( 25 May 1945 ) - Rear Admiral ( 10 February 1948 ) - Vice-Admiral ( 27 January 1951 ) - Admiral of the Fleet ( 13 May 1953 ) - Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union ( 3 March 1955 ) - Vice-Admiral ( demoted ) ( 17 February 1956 ) - Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union ( restored posthumously ) ( 26 July 1988 ) Honours and awards . - Soviet Union - Marshals Star ( 1955 ) - Honorary weapon – sword inscribed with national emblem of the Soviet Union ( 1932 ) - Foreign Quotes . My whole life has been the Soviet Navy . I made my choice when young and have never regretted it .