Vasily Ivanovich Rakov
Vasily Ivanovich Rakow ( Russian Василий Иванович Раков ; born January 26 . Jul / 8. February 1909 greg. In St. Petersburg ; † 28. December 1996 ) was a Soviet pilot and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union .
Life
Rakov joined the Red Army in 1928 with the aim of becoming a pilot, and a year later attended the military theory school of the air forces in Leningrad , which he graduated in 1929. In 1930 Rakow graduated from the military aviation school in Katschinsk and in 1931 the naval aviation school in Sevastopol . He was then transferred to the sea planes of the Baltic Red Banner Fleet . There he became a member of the Communist Party in 1932 .
In 1938 Rakow was promoted to squadron leader. At the beginning of the Winter War he commanded a squadron of the 57th BAP (Bombing Regiment) in the Baltic States. In the course of the fighting he was awarded the rank of captain on February 7, 1940 for the first time as the highest Soviet Order of Hero in the Soviet Union . After the end of the conflict, Rakow attended the Naval Academy as an intern and finished it in 1942.
In the meantime the war with the German Reich had started and Rakow was again a squadron leader in the Baltic Red Banner Fleet. There he rose to the command of an air brigade. From 1942 to 1943 Rakow was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, where he was deputy commander in command of the 3rd Independent Sevastopol Aviation Group.
In January 1944, Rakow finally came back to the Baltic States as deputy commander of a regiment of the 9th Attack Division. In May, he became, now lieutenant colonel, commander of with Pe-2 12 equipped Guard fall bombers regiment and remained there until February 1945. In this capacity he commanded on July 16, 1944 attack on the German anti-aircraft ship Niobe , the the most costly operation of the Baltic sea pilots during the war. The Niobe was sunk in the attack. Rakov was then named Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time on July 22nd.
After the end of the war, Rakov went to the General Staff Academy in Moscow and graduated in 1946. He then held several command posts in the naval fleet. From November 1948 until his retirement in February 1970, Rakov worked at the Naval War Academy in Leningrad. From 1952 he was head of a chair and received his doctorate in 1967, two years later professor of naval warfare. In his last two years of work, from February 1970 to August 1971, Rakow worked as a professor consultant in the Scientific Council.
Rakov is the author of several books, including his war experiences Wing over the Sea (Russian Крылья над морем ), which was published in 1974. He was twice the holder of the Order of Lenin and three times the Order of the Red Banner .
A bronze bust of Rakov was erected in Saint Petersburg.
literature
- Wilfried Copenhagen : Lexicon Soviet Aviation. Elbe – Dnjepr, Klitzschen 2007, ISBN 978-3-933395-90-0 .
Web links
- Biography. Retrieved September 14, 2016 (Russian).
Individual evidence
- ^ Rainer Göpfert, Rolf Jacob: The Finnish Continuation War . In: Fliegerrevue Extra . No. 17 , 2007, p. 30 ("The sinking of Niobe ").
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rakow, Vasily Ivanovich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Раков, Василий Иванович (Russian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | soviet pilot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Petersburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 28, 1996 |
| Place of death | St. Petersburg |