Admiral Konstantin Yulianovich
Korenev was born on 18 June 1900 in the village of Petrakeevskoe, near the port
of Archangel. His father was
a sailor in the merchant fleet, and thus, Admiral Korenev’s schooling was in
the navigation of small merchant vessels, upon which he began working shortly
after his tenth birthday.
He served on the Archangel to
Norway shipping route up until a few months after his nineteenth birthday.
In 1919, he was mobilized by the White Russian Navy, and served as a
helmsman onboard the armed trawler “G-15” during the beginnings of the
Revolution.
In February 1920, a he
participated in the rebellion in Murmansk, where the Whites were overthrown. The
crew of the trawler launched a mutiny, and overthrew the White officers,
claiming the ship for the Bolsheviks.
After the mutiny, he was elected
as the Commissar of the G-15. During
this time, they chased the infamous General Evgeni Miller, former
governor-general of Archangel, Commander of the armed forces of the White
Northern Front, and head of Anti-Bolsheviks in North Russia, who escaped from Archangel,
and later freed Pechenga from the Finnish.
In August 1920, was sent to
Leningrad to the Naval Academy, where he graduated as an officer of the Soviet
Navy in 1924.
From there, he was sent to the
Black Sea, and served onboard the line battle cruiser KOMINTERN.
In September 1925, he was promoted to assistant to the Commanding
Officer, and in October 1925, was promoted to Executive Officer of the KOMINTERN.
In May 1926, he became the
Commanding Officer of the cruiser SHAUMAYAN of the Black Sea Fleet.
Unfortunately, his official biography ends here. We do know that he was Captain of the SHAUMAYAN through 1927. One of the items in the group is a gold pocket watch, which was presented to him in August 1927. Engraved on the inside is: “To the Captain of the destroyer SHAUMAYAN, K. I. Korenev, from the Soviet of People’s Commissars of Azerbaijan.” This is accompanied by the document from the ship, signed by both the Executive Officer and the Commissar, attesting that he had permission to keep the watch(!)
In 1941, as a Konter-Admiral, he was Commanding Officer of the Krondstat Naval Base, which was subject to intense attack from the Germans early in the War. He was relieved here on 01 September 1941, when the Soviet Red Banner Fleet moved from Tallinn, and command of the base shifted to a more senior admiral.
Following this posting, he served as the Director of the Military Communications Academy in Leningrad through the majority of the War. Following the German surrender, he was transferred to the Pacific Fleet for the two-week War against the Japanese in August 1945.
He retired from the Navy in 1956.
The Admiral's Awards and Documents
The Admiral's XX Years of the Red Army
The Admiral's Foreign Orders and Documents
The Admiral's Presentation Pocket Watches
The Admiral's Academy Badges, award plates, etc.
Additional Photos of the Admiral Pt. 1
Additional Photos of the Admiral Pt. 2
