Kamanin, Nikolai Petrovich
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[edit] Biography
Kamanin was born on October 18th, 1909[1], in the city of Melenka, part of the Vladimirovsk region of Russia. Upon entering the Army, Kamanin listed his birthday as one year earlier, so his birth year is sometimes incorrectly reported as 1908[2].
Kamanin joined the Red Army in 1927. He completed the Leningrad Air Force Military Theory School in 1928, and the Borisoglebsk Military Pilots School in 1929[2].
In February, 1934, Kamanin was made commander of a special detachment of aircraft tasked to save the crew and passengers of the steamship Chelyuskin, which was stranded in arctic ice. Over the course of nine flights, the Soviet airmen managed to save 34 people. For his actions, Kamanin was one of the first to receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union[2].
In 1938, Kamanin completed the Zhukovskii Military Air Academy. He commanded an air brigade from 1938 to 1940, and participated in the Soviet-Finnish War. In 1940 he became deputy commander of the Central Asian Military District Air Forces[2].
Kamanin spent the early part of the war in the Central Asian Military District, forming and training air units to be sent to the front. In July, 1942 he became commander of the 292nd Ground Attack Division, which served on the Kalinin Front. In February, 1943 he became commander of the 8th Mixed Air Corps and the 5th Ground Attack Corps, which served on the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. He continued serving as an air corps commander through the end of the war[2].
In 1947 Kamanin started work in the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet. From 1951-1955 he served as deputy chairman of DOSAAF for aviation. From 1956-1958 he was again in the military air forces, serving as commander of an air army. In 1958 he became deputy Chief of Staff for Military Preparedness. In 1960 he became assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff for Space and participated in the selection and training of the first Soviet cosmonauts[2].
Kamanin retired in 1971, at the rank of Col. Gen. He passed away on March 11, 1982[2].
[edit] Publications
- Pilots and Cosmonauts, 1971.
- The Secret Cosmos (Скрытый космос), 1995-2001, Kamanin's diaries published in four volumes. An abridged version covering the years 1960-1971 is available at Astronautix.com in English.
[edit] Sources
- Kamanin, Nikolai Petrovich at National Heroes (Герои Страны) (in Russian)
- Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin at Astronautix.com
[edit] References
- ↑ October 5th, 1909, according to the old-style Julian Calendar which was in use in Russia at the time
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=604
