Lev Mikhailovich Zhiltsov ( Russian: Лев Михайлович Жильцов; 2 February 1928 – 27 February 1996) was a Soviet Navy

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

commander and

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

of the

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Zhiltsov entered the Naval preparatory school in Leningrad in 1942 and the

Caspian Higher Naval School The Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy () is an educational institution of the Azerbaijani Naval Forces. It is part of the education system of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan. It was originally founded in 1939 In Soviet times, it was called the ...

in 1945, the date from which his naval service officially began. In 1949, he graduated, was commissioned an officer, and assigned to serve on the submarine M-113 of the Black Sea Fleet. In 1951, Zhiltsov attended Advanced Naval Submarine Navigation courses in Leningrad, which he completed with distinction in 1952. In 1954, he was assigned as second in command to the first Soviet nuclear submarine. In June 1959, he was awarded the Order of Lenin for his active participation in the construction of the lead Soviet nuclear-powered submarine and given command of that submarine, the submarine ''Leninsky Komsomol'' in the rank of

Captain 2nd Rank Captain 2nd rank (russian: Капитан 2-го ранга, Kapitan 2-go ranga, lit=Captain of the 2nd rank) is a rank used by the Russian Navy and a number of former communist states. The rank is the middle rank in the staff officer's career gro ...

. In 1962, he twice took his submarine to the North Pole and on 20 July 1962 Zhiltsov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this exploit. In 1966, he graduated from the Naval Academy in Leningrad, after which he became commander of the Baltic Fleet submarine division and held various other command positions in the Baltic and Northern Fleets. He was promoted to

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in 1975 and retired from active duty in 1977. While retired, he served on the Navy Acceptance Commission for new ships before he died in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhiltsov, Lev 1928 births 1996 deaths Soviet submarine commanders Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet admirals Recipients of the Order of Lenin Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery