page_title: Yuri Aleksandrovich Panteleyev
section_title: White Sea operations
hierarchical_section_title: Yuri Aleksandrovich Panteleyev / Great Patriotic War / White Sea operations
caption_attribution_description: English: A British Lancaster bomber over Kaafjord, Norway during the Operation Paravane raid on the German Battleship Tirpitz. Imperial War Museum Catalogue number C 4873
context_page_description: Yuri Aleksandrovich Panteleyev was an officer of the Soviet Navy. He rose to the rank of admiral and was commander of the Pacific Fleet.
  Born into the family of a Cossack ataman, Panteleyev and his father both were keen yachtsmen, living in Saint Petersburg. With the Russian Revolution in 1917 Panteleyev volunteered with a group of sailors of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Navy, and was soon given his own commands. He took part in the defence of Petrograd during the Russian Civil War, and in the suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921. Undertaking further studies and naval courses, Panteleyev specialised in navigation and served on a number of ships of the Black Sea Fleet, and then as a staff officer of the Northern Military Flotilla. After command of submarine brigades in the Black Sea, Panteleyev was appointed chief of staff of the Baltic Fleet, in anticipation of future hostilities. He served during the Soviet-Finnish War, and after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, was tasked with the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn and then took charge of the naval defence of Leningrad.
context_section_description: In December 1943 Panteleyev was once more appointed Assistant Chief of the Main Naval Staff, and on 29 January 1944, two days after the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, he was promoted to vice admiral. In July 1944 he was appointed commander of the White Sea military flotilla, part of the Northern Fleet, which was responsible for securing sea communications in the White Sea, the eastern part of the Barents Sea, and into the Arctic Ocean, stretching across thousands of square kilometers. Panteleyev often took personal charge of operations; one in particular involved conveying two large icebreakers, Severniy Veter and Stalin from Eastern Arctic waters to Arkhangelsk, where they were needed to keep the approaches to the port open during the winter freeze. Panteleyev assigned eight destroyers, five large patrol craft and five minesweepers to escort the icebreakers. Panteleyev himself oversaw the operation from aboard the destroyer Baku. After rendezvousing with the icebreakers at the entrance to the Kara Strait, in the midst of a Force 10 gale, Panteleyev began to escort them towards their destination. With sonar detecting enemy vessels in the vicinity, Panteleyev chose to avoid the usual route, bypassing the narrows and straits where his ships would be particularly vulnerable. The tactic paid off and the ships safely reached harbour.
  In 1944, Panteleyev, and the commander of the Northern Fleet's Air Force, became jointly responsible for providing support for attempts by British aircraft to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. Tirpitz was anchored in Norwegian waters, with the distance involved making it hard for British aircraft to launch from British airfields, complete their bombing mission, and then return to their bases. Therefore it was decided that, in what was designated Operation Paravane, the British bombers would instead fly to airfields in the north of the Soviet Union following their raids, refuel and if necessary rearm, and then, if the Tirpitz was still afloat, attempt to bomb her again on their return to Britain. Panteleyev helped to make the necessary arrangements to make Soviet airfields such as Yagodnik available, with Soviet navigators assisting in transferring aircraft and carrying out reconnaissance. On 15 September Tirpitz was crippled by British bombers which staged from Yagodnik, and was later sunk in Operation Catechism by British bombers launched from Scotland. Panteleyev was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath for his work in assisting the British.  In March 1945 he was appointed commander of the White Sea naval defence area, holding the position until after the war, when in July 1946 he became Chief of the Combat Training Directorate.
caption: Operation Paravane, British bombers attacking the Tirpitz. Panteleyev oversaw the arrangements for the use of Soviet facilities and technical support.
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