Mitrofan Moskalenko

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mitrofan Ivanovich Moskalenko (5 August 1896 – 4 November 1966) was a Soviet Navy officer who became a leading expert in naval logistics and coastal defense. Born in the Voronezh region, he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army in 1915. He joined the Red Army in 1918 during the Civil War and built his career around engineering, supply, and logistics. Over the years he held key roles in the Dnieper Flotilla, Amur Flotilla, and various naval schools, helping to shape naval education and logistics.

In World War II, Moskalenko served in the Baltic Fleet, helping defend the Hanko base, oversee the evacuation of Tallinn, and plan food deliveries to besieged Leningrad in December 1941. He rose to Colonel General of the Coastal Service by 1945 and continued to lead naval logistics after the war.

After the war, he led the Soviet Navy’s logistics organization and held top logistics posts until his retirement in 1956. Moskalenko died in Moscow in 1966 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. His wife, Tatyana Vlasovna Moskalenko, is buried beside him.

Two ships have been named in his honor. The first Mitrofan Moskalenko was an Ivan Rogov-class landing ship launched in 1988 and retired in 2006. A new ship with the same name, a Project 23900 amphibious assault vessel, was laid down in 2020.