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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

military leader and admiral.

Early life

Kharlamov was born in the city of

Zhukovka Zhukovka (russian: Жуковка) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Zhukovka, Bryansk Oblast, a town in Zhukovsky District of Bryansk Oblast; ;Rural localities *Zhukovka, Altai Krai, a '' selo'' in Pavlo ...

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 19 ...

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. 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 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 Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...

''. 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 i ...

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 territori ...

as part of the Soviet military mission led by General

Filipp Golikov Filipp Ivanovich Golikov (russian: Фили́пп Ива́нович Го́ликов, links=no; July 30, 1900 – July 29, 1980) was a Soviet military commander. As chief of the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), he is best known for failing to ...

. Already in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

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, including the organization of

Arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 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'') ...

. He made a significant contribution to the discovery of the opening of Second Front in Europe and participated in Operation Overlord 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 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 where he served as a military specialist in the People's Liberation Army Navy. 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 from 1954 to 1962.

Later life

Kharlamov died on 9 April 1983, and was buried at the

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery (russian: Ку́нцевское кла́дбище, kúntsevkoye kládbishche) is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation ...

in Moscow.

Dates of rank

Komandarm 1st rank 1st rank (russian: Командарм 1-го ранга) is the abbreviation to Commanding officer of the Army 1st class (russian: Командующий армией 1-го ранга, Komanduyushchiy armiyey 1-go ranga; ), and was a military ...

, Soviet Navy: 15 December 1936 * Rear Admiral, Soviet Navy: 4 June 1940 * Vice Admiral, Soviet Navy: 21 July 1944 * Admiral, 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 Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

. 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