Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov

Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov
Born	July 15, 1895 Kherson, Ukraine
Died	July 28, 1938 (aged 43) ?, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Navy, Soviet Navy
Years of service	1916-1937
Rank	Fleet's Flag-officer of 1st Rank
Commands held	Black Sea Fleet, Soviet Navy
Battles/wars	World War I, Russian Civil War

Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov (Russian: Владимир Митрофанович Орлов) (July 15, 1895 - July 28, 1938) was a Russian military leader and Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Naval Forces from July 1931 to July 1937.

Orlov was born in Kherson and initially studied in the Legal faculty of St Petersburg University (although he did not complete his studies). He joined the Baltic Fleet in 1916 and served as a navigating officer on the cruiser Bogatyr. In 1919-20 he was political officer of the Baltic Fleet and fought against the forces of the white General Nikolai Yudenich in the defence of Petrograd.

In the 1920s he was commisar for water transport and in 1923 he became political commissar for all naval academies. Between 1926 and 1930 he commanded the Black Sea Fleet. In 1931 he was appointed commander of the Soviet Navy and in 1937 he was appointed deputy minister of defence.

Orlov was arrested on 10 July 1937 and was sentenced to death on 28 July 1938 and executed. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1956.

References

• Военный энциклопедический словарь (ВЭС), Москва, Военное издательство (ВИ), 1984 г., 863 стр. с илюстрациями (ил.), 30 листов (ил.);