Grigory Petrovich Kireyev (; 29 July 1938) was a high-ranking commander in the
Soviet Navy. He rose to command the Soviet
Pacific Fleet in 1937. Kireyev was executed in 1938 during the
Great Purge.
Kireyev was drafted into the
Imperial Russian Navy in 1911 and served in the
Baltic Fleet
, image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg
, image_size = 150
, caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign
, dates = 18 May 1703 – present
, country =
, allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present)
...
during
World War I as a ship's mechanic. He became a
Bolshevik and after the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
led a detachment that helped organize the
Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet. After falling ill in 1918, Kireyev spent the
Russian Civil War on land in various party roles and in the 1920s successively served on the revolutionary military councils of the
Black Sea Fleet
Chernomorskiy flot
, image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet
, dates = May 13, ...
and the
Baltic Fleet
, image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg
, image_size = 150
, caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign
, dates = 18 May 1703 – present
, country =
, allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present)
...
. After graduating from the
Naval Academy of the Red Army he became commander of the
Caspian Flotilla
Kaspiyskaya flotiliya
, image = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Great emblem of the Caspian Flotilla
, dates = No ...
and then assistant
Pacific Fleet commander. Kireyev moved up to command the fleet itself after the beginning of the Great Purge in July 1937. He was arrested in January 1938 and executed in late July. Kireyev was posthumously
rehabilitated (acquitted) in 1956.
Early life
Kireyev was born on 2 February 1890 in
Lyudinovo
Lyudinovo (russian: Люди́ново) is a town and the administrative center of Lyudinovsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the shores of Lake Lompad formed by a dam on the Nepolot River, southwest of Kaluga, the administra ...
in the
Zhizdrinsky Uyezd
Zhizdrinsky Uyezd (''Жи́здринский уе́зд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Kaluga Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Zhizdra.
Demograp ...
of
Kaluga Governorate to a working-class family. After graduating from the
Bezhitsa
Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population:
Geography Urban layout
The location of the settlement was originally ass ...
Vocational School, he worked at the
Lyudinovo Locomotive Factory. In 1911, Kireyev was drafted into the Imperial Russian Navy. He was initially assigned to the 1st Baltic Naval Crew.
World War I and Russian Civil War
During World War I he served as a ship's mechanic in the Baltic Fleet, becoming a non-commissioned officer. After the February Revolution Kireyev was elected chairman of the
Helsingfors
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
Sailors' Club and a member of the Helsingfors Soviet of Deputies, in which he led the Sailors' section. Simultaneously, Kireyev was commissar of a detachment of sailors guarding Baltic Fleet property in Finland. From February to August, he led the Special Detachment of the
Baltic Fleet Council of Commissars
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
, among whose tasks was to organize the Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet, its evacuation from Helsingfors to
Kronstadt ahead of German invasion forces.
During the summer of 1918, Kireyev fell ill and returned to Lyudinovo. Upon his recovery, Kireyev was elected chairman of the
Bryansk City Council. He subsequently edited the provincial newspaper and worked in party and government organizations. In Bryansk, he married Anna Ivanovna Ivanyuta. In January 1921, he was elected chairman of the
Sevsky Uyezd Executive Committee. In August he became the second secretary of the
Bryansk Governorate
Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population:
Geography Urban layout
The location of the settlement was originally ass ...
Party Committee. As a member of
Forces of Special Purpose The Forces of Special Purpose (ChON) () were a military internal security force established by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.
The Forces of Special Purpose (ChON) were created by a 17 April 1919 declaration of the Central Committee ...
(CHON), responsible for assisting the local Soviet government in maintaining Soviet power, Kireyev participated in the suppression of anti-Soviet uprisings in
Bryansk,
Sevsk Sevsk (russian: Севск) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia.
;Urban localities
*Sevsk, Bryansk Oblast, a town in Sevsky District of Bryansk Oblast;
;Rural localities
* Sevsk, Kemerovo Oblast, a settlement in Burlakovskaya R ...
, and
Dmitrovsk
Dmitrovsk (russian: Дмитро́вск) is a town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Obshcheritsa River near its confluence with the Nerussa, southwest of Oryol, the administrative cent ...
Uyezds. At the end of 1921, Kireyev was transferred to Siberia to become a member of the
Krasnoyarsk Governorate Party Committee.
Interwar
In 1923 he was transferred to political work in the Soviet Navy. In January 1923, Kireyev became a member of the Black Sea Fleet's Revolutionary Military Council. He became a member of the Baltic Fleet's Revolutionary Military Council in January 1926. In 1927 he graduated from the Courses of Improvement for Higher Officers (KUVNAS) at the
Naval Academy. Kireyev became part-time head of the Baltic Fleet's Political Directorate in July 1928, and in this position participated in the Soviet Navy's cruise around Europe between November 1929 and 1930, which transferred the battleship
''Parizhskaya Kommuna'' and cruiser
''Profintern'' from the Baltic Fleet to the Black Sea Fleet.
Between 1931 and 1933, Kireyev was a student in the special courses at the Naval Academy. After graduating, he took command of the Caspian Flotilla. In 1933, he was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner.
In October 1933, Kireyev became assistant commander of the Naval Forces in the Far East, which in 1935 became the Soviet Pacific Fleet. In 1935, Kireyev was awarded the
Order of Lenin and in the same year he was made a Fleet Flag Officer 1st Rank when the Soviet Armed Forces introduced ranks. In July 1937, he became commander of the Pacific Fleet after
Mikhail Viktorov became commander in chief of the Navy.
The Great Purge and Death
As a result of the call to extend the then-ongoing Great Purge to the armed forces, during the fall of 1937, Army Commissar 1st Rank
Pyotr Smirnov led a working group to purge the Pacific Fleet of "
Wreckers" and "enemies of the people." Smirnov used forced confessions from those previously arrested to implicate more officers and create the appearance of a conspiracy in the fleet. After being summoned to Moscow, Kireyev was arrested on 10 January 1938. He was sentenced to death and executed at the
Kommunarka shooting ground on 29 July 1938 on charges of participation in a "military conspiracy", sabotaging the Pacific Fleet, and spying for Japanese intelligence, along with Viktorov and the rest of the fleet's high-ranking officers.
His wife was sentenced to eight years in the gulag as the wife of an "enemy of the people."
Kireyev was
rehabilitated (acquitted) on 13 June 1956.
References
Notes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kireyev, Grigory
1890 births
1938 deaths
People from Lyudinovsky District
People from Zhizdrinsky Uyezd
Bolsheviks
Soviet Navy officers
Imperial Russian Navy personnel
Russian military personnel of World War I
Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
Great Purge victims from Russia
Soviet rehabilitations