Hero of the Soviet Union
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Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest honorary title awarded by the Soviet Union, given for heroic deeds in service of the state. The award was created by a resolution of the Central Committee of the USSR on April 16, 1934[1].
The initial Hero of the Soviet Union awards were given along with the Order of Lenin, and this became standard practice after a resolution by the Central Committee on July 29, 1936. An order by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on August 1, 1939 introduced a medal specifically to accompany the Hero of the Soviet Union title, named the "Gold Star" medal. From then on, the Hero of the Soviet Union title was awarded along with an Order of Lenin and a Gold Star medal.
In total, the title Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded 12,771 times, including 152 two-time recipients, three three-time recipients, and two four-time recipients. During World War II, the award was given 11,695 times, including 115 two-time awards[1].
Soviet aviators were frequent recipients of the title. The first recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union was an aviator, as were two of the three three-time recipients (World War II aces Pokryshkin and Kozhedub).
[edit] Some Notable Heroes of the Soviet Union
| Arkhipenko, Fyodr | Soviet World War II fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Bakhchivandzhi, Grigorii | Soviet test pilot who led the flight testing of the Soviet's first rocket-powered fighter, the BI-1 |
| Blagoveshchenskii, Aleksei | |
| Chernikh, Sergei | Soviet fighter pilot, participant in the Spanish Civil War, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Chkalov, Valery | Famous Soviet test-pilot and long-distance arctic flier, who made the first non-stop flight from Moscow, across the North Pole, to the United States in 1937. |
| Denisov, Sergei | Soviet military aviator, participant in the Spanish Civil War, and one of the earliest two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Emelyanenko, Vasily | Soviet ground attack pilot during World War II, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Eryomin, Boris | Soviet World War II fighter ace |
| Evstigneev, Kirill | The Soviet Union's fifth-highest scoring fighter ace of World War II, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Glinka, Dmitrii | One of the Soviet Union's top scoring fighter aces during World War II with a total of 50 victories, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Golubev, Vasiliy | Soviet fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union, who served primarily with the Baltic Fleet during World War II |
| Gorelov, Sergei | Soviet World War II fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Goryunov, Sergei | |
| Gritsevets, Sergei | Soviet fighter ace who participated in the Spanish Civil War, and was one of the first people to become a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Gromov, Mikhail | Soviet military aviator and test pilot, senior air commander during World War II, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Gulayev, Nikolai | The third-highest scoring Soviet fighter ace of World War II, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Gusev, Aleksandr | Soviet fighter pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union who served in the Spanish Civil War, the Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, and World War II |
| Kamanin, Nikolai | Soviet air officer, Hero of the Soviet Union, and participant in the Soviet space program |
| Kamozin, Pavel | World War II Soviet Fighter ace with 35 victories and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Khryukin, Timofei | Soviet aviator, volunteer pilot in the Spanish Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War, senior air commander during World War II, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Kokkinaki, Vladimir | Soviet test pilot for the Air Force Scientific Test Institute and later the Ilyushin Design Bureau, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Koldunov, Aleksandr | A top-scoring Soviet fighter ace during World War II, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Kopets, Ivan | Soviet volunteer pilot in the Spanish Civil War and commander of the Western Special Military District--which was hit hardest by the German attack--at the start of World War II |
| Kozhedub, Ivan | Soviet fighter pilot, three-time Hero of the Soviet Union, and the highest scoring World War II ace of both the Soviet Union and all Allied nations, credited with 62 victories. |
| Krasovskii, Stepan | Soviet military aviator, senior air commander during World War II, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Kravchenko, Grigorii | Soviet fighter ace and one of the first to become a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Kutakhov, Pavel | Soviet World War II fighter ace and later Commander in Cheif of the Soviet Air Forces, two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Kutsevalov, Timofey | Soviet fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, and senior air commander during World War II |
| Litvyak, Lidia | Soviet fighter pilot during World War II and one of only two female fighter aces in the world, credited with 12 victories (11 aircraft plus an observation balloon). |
| Lyapidevskii, Anatolii | Soviet naval aviator, participant in the rescue of the stranded crew of the Chelyuskin, and first ever Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Novikov, Aleksandr | Commander of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) for most of World War II |
| Papivin, Nikolai | Soviet senior air commander during World War II and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Pepelyaev, Evgeny | Second highest scoring Soviet fighter ace of the Korean War, with 20 claimed victories |
| Pokryshkin, Aleksandr | One of the leading Soviet fighter aces of World War II (59 victories), a tactical innovator, and the first person to become a three-time recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union award. |
| Polynin, Fyodr | Soviet bomber pilot, participant in the Second Sino-Japanese War, air commander, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Popkov, Vitalii | One of the top-scoring Soviet fighter aces of World War II, and a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Pstygo, Ivan | Soviet bomber pilot during World War II |
| Ptukhin, Evgenii | Commander of the Kiev Special Military District air forces at the start of World War II, but arrested by Stalin shortly after the beginning of the conflict |
| Pushkin, Anatoly | Soviet bomber pilot who served as a volunteer pilot in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and later participated in the Soviet-Finnish War and World War II, earning the title Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Pyatykhin, Ivan | |
| Rechkalov, Grigorii | A top-scoring Soviet fighter ace from World War II, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Rudenko, Sergei | |
| Ryazanov, Vasily | Soviet military aviator, a senior air commander during World War II, and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Rychagov, Pavel | |
| Senatorov, Aleksandr | Soviet aviator, Hero of the Soviet Union, and senior air commander during World War II |
| Serogodskii, Vasily | Soviet fighter pilot in the early part of World War II, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Serov, Anatolii | Soviet fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War, test pilot, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Serov, Vladimir | Soviet fighter ace during World War II and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Shakht, Ernst | Swedish-born Soviet bomber pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union who participated in the Spanish Civil War but ultimately became a victim of Stalin's purges |
| Slepenkov, Yakov | Soviet naval aviator and fighter ace during World War II and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Slepnyov, Mavrikii | Soviet civilian and later military aviator, who was one of the first to receive the Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Slyusarev, Sidor | Soviet bomber pilot, air commander, and Hero of the Soviet Union who fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Soviet-Finnish War, and World War II |
| Smushkevich, Yakov | Soviet Air Force commander and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union who participated in the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, and ultimately fell victim to Stalin's Military Purges |
| Stepanov, Evgenii | Soviet fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union, who flew an I-15 in the Spanish Civil War and Battle of Khalkhin-Gol |
| Stepanyan, Nelson | Armenian ground attack pilot in the Soviet Navy during World War II, who fought over Leningrad, the Crimea, and the Baltic and received two Hero of the Soviet Union awards for completing 239 combat sorties, sinking a total of over 80,000 tons of shipping, shooting down two enemy bombers, and destroying another 25 aircraft on the ground. |
| Sudets, Vladimir | Soviet aviator, senior air commander during World War II, and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Sutyagin, Nikolai | Soviet fighter pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union who was the highest scoring ace during the Korean War |
| Tkhor, Grigorii | Soviet aviator, participant in the Spanish Civil War and deputy commander of an air division during World War II |
| Turzhanskii, Boris | Soviet fighter pilot, participant in the Spanish Civil War, and the first to receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union for action in combat |
| Vershinin, Constantine | Soviet air commander who commanded the 4th Air Army during World War II and later became Commander in Chief of the Soviet Air Forces |
| Vorozheikin, Arsenii | One of the top Soviet fighter aces during World War II, and a two-time Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Yakimenko, Anton | World War II Soviet fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union |
| Zhuravlyov, Ivan | Soviet pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union during the Soviet-Finnish War, and senior air commander during World War II |
| Zimin, Georgii | World War II Soviet fighter ace and air commander |
