Historic M-1940 Parade Uniform of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerosimovich Kuznetzov .

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World War II Parade Uniforms of the Soviet Union

"Marshals, Generals and Admirals".

Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetzov

I was recently approached to acquire a M-1940 Naval Parade Tunic of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetzov. This uniform tunic is of the rank of Fleet Admiral designated by the four stripes above the wider Admiral Stripe.

?A gentleman in Norway who had acquired the tunic back in the 1990’s had decided to liquidate his collection. The tunic was initially offered by brokers of the collector’s community in Russia that were quite active up until recently and very active at the time. It was sold to my American broker and then sold to the Norwegian collector. My broker approached me for acquisition of the tunic on behalf of the seller.?This tunic is very rare to say the least!

Incidentally, I have seen Admiral Kuznetsov’s name spelled several different ways and I’m going to use this spelling that I believe is right and that I’ve used for years.

I want to be clear right off the bat that I detest war and I hope and pray that the hostilities between Russia and the Ukraine end soon without any further needless bloodshed and destruction! ?

?Ironically enough the collection contains Ukrainian as well as Russian uniforms. They fought together during World War II against the Axis.

World War II was fought in a different time with different geopolitical issues. It was fought to rid the world of Fascism and Hitler. At the time Russia was our Ally and the world was a very different place. My compendium is an academic endeavor to save a very important, historically significant group of uniforms from World War II. The collection is also a diverse fashion statement that was Czarist era inspired.?It is totally unique and could never be duplicated.?

“I hope that in some way this compendium can help us learn from our history!”

Admiral Kuznetzov is a very interesting figure of World War II. Not only did he work his way up from an ordinary seaman to the top position in the Russian Navy, he also modernized tactics and fine tuned Russia’s amphibious assault strategy. Kuznetzov is regarded today as one of the greatest Russian Admirals. He was promoted and demoted several times and finally posthumously awarded his former rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union that was equal to a full Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1988.??

Kuznetzov was born July 24, 1904 ( some reports state 1902 ) in what was then the Northern part of the Russian Empire. It has been reported that he was under age but was able to enlist in the navy in 1919. From his earliest years, Kuznetzov was all about the navy! By 1924, he was a member of the Communist Party.?

In 1932 he took command as executive officer of the cruiser Red Ukraine. During an inspection visit by Stalin aboard the vessel, the dictator was impressed enough by Kuznetzov’s ability that he sent him first to the Leningrad Naval College and later after graduation to the Naval Staff College. By 1932 he had graduated from both schools.

From September 1936 to August 1937, young Kuznetzov served as naval attache and as an advisor to the Republicans fighting against Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

After he returned to Russia, Nikolai was promoted to Admiral 2nd rank and at the young age of 33 now the commander of the Pacific Fleet. A short year later he was appointed the People’s Commissar of the Navy.?

Although Admiral Kuznetzov was a favorite of Stalins’, he seems to have been the victim of the political targeting that was taking place during the great purges of the late 1930’s in which many officers including Marshals, Generals and Admirals were imprisoned and even executed.

Many senior officers of all of the services suffered through Stalin’s Purges. Kuznetzov managed to avoid any jail time or punishment.

?Admiral Kuznetzov was fully aware of the German buildup on the Russian border in June of 1941, and was at the tiller when Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa. He saw what was happening and despite orders from Marshals Zhukov and Timoshenko to “disregard any german aggression”, Kuznetzov ordered the entire Soviet Fleet to be on full alert. They were the only part of the military that was not completely caught with their pants down and he is credited with saving the Russian Navy. Incidentally, Marshal Timoshenko was Ukrainian.

?In early May of 1944, Admiral Kuznetzov was given his fourth star as Admiral of the Fleet. This was a rank equivalent to four stars and was not known in the Soviet Navy until this time. Kuznetzov wrote in his memoirs that “I wore this rank of four stars on my shoulder straps for a relatively short time”. Shoulder straps, or boards were new for the navy.

There had been some discussion at Supreme Headquarters about being able to equate Kuznetzov’s rank with ground forces which meant that with the four star rank, he would have the same rank as a four star general.?His memoirs state that Kuznetzov and Stalin discussed the fact that being Admiral of the Fleet with only four stars did not correspond equivalently to foreign ranks ie; Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King who were all five star ranks. As a result of this conversation, on May 25 or 31,1945, Kuznetzov was made Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union. Accounts vary on this date. Kuznetzov’s rank was now the equivalent to the Soviet Army rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union and later in 1945 he was awarded his Marshal Star.

He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union in September of 1945.?This is the highest award that can be bestowed to an individual in the armed forces. ?

1947 proved to be a tough year for Kuznetzov because Stalin removed him from his post as Commander in Chief of Naval Forces. Kuznetzov was put before a Naval Tribunal and as a result was demoted to Vice Admiral. In 1951, Stalin made him Minister of the Navy without raising his rank.?

After Stalin’s death in 1953, Kuznetzov was made First Minister of Defense of the USSR.

His rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the soviet Union was restored in 1955 and he was made Commander in Chief of Naval Forces.

In 1956, Marshal Zhukov, now Defense Minister, put Kuznetzov before a commission blaming?him for the loss of a battleship and again he was demoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. Kuznetzov essentially retired after this. He wrote several books about the war that were only published after his death.

?Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetzov died on December 6,1974. It is believed that he was 70 ( some accounts say 72) years old. It wasn’t until July 26, 1988 that the Soviet Government under Andrey Gromyko reinstated Kuznetzov’s former rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union. The Aircraft Carrier Kuznetzov, Russia’s only aircraft carrier is named in his honor.?

Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetzov; Quote,

“My whole life has been the Soviet Navy. I made my choice when I was young and have never regretted it”.

Now to the tunic; Forensics and Curation.

The tunic was very dirty when I received it and it took quite some time for me to get it clean. An Optical-Visor magnifies and helps to really make a difference in getting the garment properly conserved.?

I did an Ultra violet light test, as I always do, to look for synthetic fibers and found nothing that glowed or showed modern thread. This is done on the inside and outside of the garment.

The tunic is original and shows no sign of being altered or re-tailored. The material is a heavy officer grade black wool. The buttons are the correct naval brass officer buttons ( Admiral buttons did not appear until 1945 for the “Victory Parade” uniform ). The buttons have no?manufacturing markings on the back and it doesn’t appear that any of the buttons have been replaced.?The collar and cuff insignia is correct and indicative of the rank of Fleet Admiral.

At this time, Admiral Kuznetzov had been awarded an Order of Lenin, an Order of the Red Banner, the order of the Red Star and the Jubilee Medal “XX Years of the Workers and Peasants’?Red Army”. Russian orders of this period before 1943 are commonly referred to as “screw backs”. The orders have a threaded post on the back that goes through the fabric of the uniform and is attached by a threaded slightly concave metal disc. The metal discs are usually about 20-35mm in diameter. ?

Holes for the placement of the orders are punched through the fabric with a sharp pointed object. Often times on parade uniforms, the holes are embroidered so as to avoid tearing. No embroidery appears around any of the order holes on this tunic.There are very obvious disk marks (metal tarnish stains) on the inside of the tunic where the orders were attached.?

The order holes and disc marks all show the correct order placement relative to importance and the proximity distance between the orders and buttons?measures proportionately with several photos of Kuznetzov in his uniform.?

When uniforms were issued in 1940, Kuznetzov’s uniform would have had only three of the smaller stripes in addition to the wider Admiral’s Stripe. I believe that this uniform was updated with the fourth small stripe in 1944 upon Kuznetzov’s promotion to Admiral of the Fleet.?

Except for a slight tarnishing difference on the highest small braid on each sleeve, there is little noticeable sign that an additional stripe was added. That is possible because he probably used the same tailor, who had made the tunic, to do his sewing. The?tailor used the same gold brocade that he or she had in stock. The machine stitching is identical to the stitching on the other stripes. The stars above the stripes are embroidered right into the fabric on the sleeves. The bottom tips of the stars are exactly 20 mm above the last stripe which is a little close. Photographs show that the stars were anywhere from 20-35mm or more above the last stripe on a naval uniform. I have measured the distance on several of the naval uniforms in the collection and they vary quite a bit. I think that the tailor added the last stripe and because it fell within normal regulation and visual limits it was fine. No one is going to chastise an Admiral for this??Hanging medals became regulation in 1943. If this uniform was made after that, there wouldn’t be any order holes. Orders were worn after 1943 by some officers but were generally phased out and rarely seen after the introduction of the “Victory Parade” Uniforms.

The uniform does show a fair amount of wear but it shows a typical amount for a Parade Uniform that was worn for about three years or so. Parade uniforms didn’t get worn as much as a service uniform. In May of 1945 the very ornate and Czarist inspired “Victory Parade” uniform was issued and the previous parade uniforms became obsolete.

I am showing Admiral Kuznetzov’s M-1945 “Victory Parade” uniform so that one can see how much different the two uniforms are. Notice the Marshal of the Soviet Union boards on the shoulder and the different collar and cuff embroidery. The hole for the Hero of the Soviet Union which is the star with the red ribbon above the other medals was there when I acquired this uniform over 20 years ago. Unfortunately when this photo for Volume 1 of my books was taken, I neglected to add a Marshals Star. I should have,,my mistake. Stalin wanted to show Russia’s arrival as a super power and it’s importance in the world by going back and using designs from?the Czarist naval regulation design books and for the most part replicating the over the top features of that era. I have always thought that the Russian “Victory Parade” uniforms are some of the most beautiful of the 20th century.

It has always been my hope that this entire compendium that not only consists of the uniforms but also a vintage photo collection, paintings, posters, documents?and assorted period memorabilia, would go back to Russia where it belongs. Sadly because of the war and the economic environment in Russia I don’t see any movement in this area. The compendium belongs in a museum or collection for people to see and for scholars to study and conserve. I have devoted much of my life keeping these great pieces of history together.?Sometimes it has been a daunting task. I have written a two volume compendium on the collection and at the moment I am preparing a third volume for publication. I hope that you will take some time to view my website (Link below) and see the rest of the collection. Thank you!

https://www.thesinclaircollection.com