On March 3, 1944, two naval orders were established in the USSR: the orders of Ushakov and Nakhimov. At the same time, the order of Ushakov was considered the senior award, which was formally equated with the military leader's order of Suvorov. The order was established in two degrees, the oldest of which was the first degree. Prior to that, naval officers had almost never been awarded "land" military orders. Therefore, there was an urgent need to prepare and approve special awards for the officers of the Navy. In addition to these two orders, on the same day, two "naval" medals were approved, which received the names of the same Russian admirals.
It is interesting to note the fact that when working on the statutes of the Orders of Ushakov and Nakhimov, their compilers had a dispute about which award should be considered the main one in the unspoken "table of ranks." The whole point was that Soviet historians, and Russian historians, rarely mentioned Fyodor Ushakov, while many more works were written about Nakhimov, who lived not so long ago, besides, he was very familiar to the common people, as one of the heroes Crimean War. Despite this, the commander of the Soviet fleet, Admiral Kuznetsov, insisted that the Order of Ushakov be recognized as the "main" one. It was enough to note only the fact that during his naval career Ushakov did not suffer a single defeat.
Kuznetsov especially emphasized the importance of the victory of the Russian fleet over the Turkish, which was won near Cape Kaliakria in the summer of 1791. This victoria secured the prestige of a maritime power for Russia and confirmed Russian interests in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It was under Ushakov that a very strong fleet was created in our country, reliable fortresses in the Dniester, Bug and Dnieper estuaries, as well as on the territory of the Crimea. As a result, the Soviet commander-in-chief managed to convince the members of the selection committee of the State Defense Committee that it would be more expedient to put the Order of Ushakov in first place in terms of seniority of awards. To familiarize commanders, soldiers, civilians with the exploits of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, special leaflets were issued, and after the end of the war, a feature film about the famous admiral was released on the screens of the country.
Order of Ushakov, 1st class
According to the statute of the award, the Order of Ushakov I degree was awarded to officers of the Soviet fleet who were able not only to plan, but also to successfully carry out an operation, the purpose of which was to destroy the enemy's naval forces, its coastal fortifications and bases, for a combat operation carried out on enemy communications, which led to the destruction of a large number of his equipment and ships; for a combat operation, within the framework of which the largest number of superior enemy forces were destroyed with the least losses for their troops; for planning and implementing a successful amphibious operation.
According to the statute of the award, the Order of Ushakov II degree was awarded to naval officers who excellently led and acted successfully during combat operations that entailed the defeat of an enemy that was significantly outnumbered, for swift and bold raids on enemy communications, which entailed heavy losses in the camp of the enemy; for the destruction of valuable transports and ships of the enemy,who were guarded by escort ships; for planning and direct leadership of a part of the naval forces during a successful amphibious operation. We can summarize: the Order of the II degree was awarded for personal participation.
The Order of Ushakov, I degree, was a convex platinum five-pointed star, the surface of which was made in the form of diverging rays. In the very middle of this star, in the rim, which was made in the form of a cable, there was a circle of gold, which was covered with blue enamel on top. In the upper part of the circle, along the circumference, there was an inscription "ADMIRAL USHAKOV" (all capital letters). In the center of the circle was a polished bust relief image of Admiral Ushakov. The circle itself with the rim was superimposed on a black (oxidized) anchor, to the bracket of which the same oxidized anchor chain was attached, which framed the circle. Directly under the circle, over the horns of the anchor and the anchor chain, were laid oak and laurel branches, made of gold. At the junction of these branches there was an image of a hammer and sickle, also made of gold. The Order of Ushakov I degree was made of platinum, with a gold circle in its central part. In total, the order contained 25 g of platinum, 8, 55 g of gold and 13, 022 g of silver. The total weight of the award was 48.4 ± 2.0 g.
Order of Ushakov II degree
The Order of Ushakov of the II degree was distinguished by the fact that it was made of gold, and the circle with a rim, the bust image of Ushakov, letter inscriptions, the image of the sickle and hammer were made of silver. Also, this degree of the order did not have laurel-oak branches. The Order of Ushakov II degree was made of gold, with a silver circle in its central part. In total, the order contained 25, 365 g of gold and 14, 462 g of silver. The total weight of the award was 42, 2 ± 1, 7 g.
On the reverse side of the awards there was a nut and a pin, which were intended to attach the award to a military uniform. The order was accompanied by a 24 mm wide silk moire ribbon. For the Order of the I degree, in the middle of the ribbon there was a 5-mm stripe of blue color, closer to the edges there were two stripes of white color (each 8 mm wide), along the edges of the ribbon there were two stripes of blue color (each 1, 5 mm wide). For the Order of the II degree, there was an 11-mm white stripe in the middle, two blue stripes were located closer to the edges (each 5 mm wide), along the edges of the ribbon there were small white stripes (each 1.5 mm wide).
The first awarding of the new order took place on May 16, 1944. On this day, Lieutenant General V. V. Ermachenkov, Commander of Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet and Rear Admiral P. I. Boltunov, Commander of a submarine brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, were awarded the Order of Ushakov I Class, both of them were awarded for successful and effective actions to liberate the Crimean Peninsula … The Order of Ushakov, 1st class, number 1 was awarded to Vice Admiral V. F. Tributs, who commanded the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, the award took place on July 22, 1944. It is worth noting that the Order of Ushakov I degree was also awarded to one foreign citizen - British Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay, who is the commander of the Allied naval forces in Europe, the award went to him on October 4, 1944. A number of divisions of the Soviet fleet were presented to the Order of Ushakov I degree, in particular, the 9th assault Ropsha Red Banner Aviation Division of the Baltic Fleet and the Red Banner submarine brigade of the Northern Fleet. The first awards with the Order of Ushakov II degree took place on April 10, 1944, the awards were received by the officers of the Northern Fleet: captain 1st rank I. A. Kolyshkin, commander of a submarine brigade, captain 2nd rank V. F. Kotov and others, 14 people in total …
Aviation Colonel General Ermachenkov V. V. (1906-1963). Chevalier of two Orders of Ushakov, 1st class
The last presentation of the Order of Ushakov took place in 1968. This year, the first degree of the order was awarded to the Naval Academy, which today bears the name of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union N. G. Kuznetsov.
It should be noted that the Order of Ushakov was a very rare Soviet award. In total, over the years of the existence of the USSR, the Order of the I degree was awarded only 47 times, including the awarding of units and formations of the USSR Navy, including 11 times it was awarded a second time. The Order of the II degree was awarded 194 times, including 12 times units and formations of the Soviet fleet were presented to it.
