Vladimir Chernavin

Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin (Владимир Николаевич Чернавин; 22 April 1928 – 18 March 2023) was a Russian officer of the Soviet Navy. He served as 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. He reached the rank of fleet admiral during his career.

Biography
Chernavin was born in Mykolaiv, Ukrainian SSR, in the Soviet Union. He entered the Higher Naval School in Baku in 1944 and graduated from the Frunze Higher Naval School in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) in 1951. He was the executive officer of a submarine in 1951 and became commander of the November-class submarine SOVIET SUBMARINE K-21 in 1959. He attended the Kuznetsov Naval Academy in 1962–65 and the General Staff Academy in 1967–69 after which he became divisional commander in 1969 and commanded the submarine flotillas of the Northern Fleet. In 1977 he was appointed commander of the Northern Fleet and in 1981 was awarded a title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. From 1981–85 he was chief of the main staff/1st deputy commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy. He became the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy upon the retirement of Sergey Gorshkov. He retired in 1992. In retirement he was chairman of the Soviet submariners association. He was a prominent attendee at Victory Day Parades as recently as 2019.

Chernavin died in Moscow on 18 March 2023, at the age of 94. 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

 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Order of Lenin (twice)
 * Order of the October Revolution
 * Order of the Red Banner
 * Order of Aleksandr Nevsky
 * Order of the Red Star (twice)
 * Order of Courage
 * Order of Naval Merit
 * campaign and jubilee medals

Literature

 * Энциклопедический словарь «История Отечества с древнейших времен до наших дней»