Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov

Who was Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov?

Vladimir Mitrofanovich Orlov 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. 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.