Nikolai Mikhailovich Kharlamov (russian: Никола́й Миха́йлович Харла́мов; 19 December 1905 – 9 April 1983) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

military leader 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, ...

Early life

Kharlamov was born in the city of Zhukovka in the

Oryol Governorate Oryol Governorate (russian: Орловская губерния, ''Orlovskaya guberniya'') or the Government of Oryol, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the early Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1 ...

on 1905.

Military career

In 1922, he joined the Soviet Navy and in 1925, he became member of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. From 1924 to 1928, he was a student at the Naval Political School Named After S.G. Roshal and Naval School Named After M. V. Frunze. From October 1928, Kharlamov began his service in 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, ...

where he served as watch officer and supply manager of the destroyer '' Dzerzhinsky'', artilleryman and assistant commander of the destroyer ''Frunze'', and commander of the destroyers ''Dzerzhinsky'', '' Bodry'''' and cruiser '' Voroshilov''. In February 1938, he was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Black Sea Fleet. He graduated from advanced training courses for senior officers at the Naval Academy named K. E. Voroshilov and Naval Department of the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1941. From April 1941, he served as head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Navy.

World War II

Following the outbreak of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

in June 1941, Kharlamov was sent to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as part of the Soviet military mission led by General Filipp Golikov. Already in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 20 July 1941, he was appointed naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy in Great Britain and remained in this post until October 1944. Being an assertive, but tactful person, he managed to establish effective interaction with the British military circles and even with the leadership of the

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

and provided the Soviet leadership with a significant amount of intelligence information. Kharlamov carried out communication with the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

, including the organization of Arctic convoys to the Soviet Artic port city of

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

. He made a significant contribution to the discovery of the opening of Second Front in Europe and participated in

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

while being onboard one of the ships participating in the operation. From 20 November 1944, he served as head of department and deputy head of the Main Naval Staff of the Navy.

Post war

After the war, Kharlamov served as deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for Naval Forces from 1946 to 1950 and commander of the 8th Fleet of 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) ...

from 1950 to 1954. In July 1956, he was appointed as head of the Naval Department of the Higher Military Academy Named After K. E. Voroshilov. From November 1956 to May 1959, he served as commander of the Baltic Fleet. In May 1959, he was sent to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

where he served as a military specialist in the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...

. From 1961 to 1971, he worked in a responsible position in the Central Office of the Navy and at the same time served as chairman of the Naval Scientific and Technical Committee of the Navy. Kharlamov retired from military service in August 1971. He also served as people's deputy at the 4th and 5th convocation sessions of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

from 1954 to 1962.

Later life

Kharlamov died on 9 April 1983, and was buried at the Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow.

Dates of rank

* Komandarm 1st rank, Soviet Navy: 15 December 1936 *

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 ...

, Soviet Navy: 4 June 1940 * Vice Admiral, Soviet Navy: 21 July 1944 *

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, ...

, Soviet Navy: 11 May 1949

Awards and decorations

His awards include: ;Soviet Union ;Foreign

Other honors

An of the

and Russian Navy '' Admiral Kharlamov'' was commmisoned in honor of him on 1 April 1990 and was assigned to the Northern Fleet. The destroyer was decommissioned on 2 December 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kharlamov, Nikolay Mikhaylovich 1905 births 1983 deaths People from Zhukovsky District, Bryansk Oblast People from Bryansky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Fourth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fifth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Soviet admirals Soviet military attachés Soviet naval attachés Soviet expatriates in China Soviet expatriates in the United Kingdom Soviet expatriates in the United States Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Nakhimov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order of Ushakov, 1st class Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery