Nikolai Amelko

Verny, later renamed Leningradsovet, and Amelko's first command. Amelko was born on 22 November 1914 in Petrograd, in what was then the Russian Empire. His father, Nikolai Lukich (1880–1957) was a worker of Belarusian ethnicity. His mother, Tatyana Kalinovna (1882–1917), died when Nikolai was two years old, and he was raised by his stepmother, Anna Mikhailovna. Born during the First World War, Nikolai Amelko grew up during the war and the February and October Revolutions in 1917, seeing the Russian Empire become the Soviet Union. The family lived on the of Vasilyevsky Island, with Amelko becoming involved in local clubs and the Young Pioneers. He travelled to perform in factories and plants, in military units. Having visited the naval and border guard forces on Goloday Island and Kronstadt, Amelko decided to become a sailor. As a cadet he underwent practical training on the schooner Ucheba, other training ships of the school, and the cruiser Aurora. After graduating from the school in 1936, he was commissioned as a lieutenant and sent to Moscow to join the Red Army's Intelligence Directorate as assistant to the head of the directorate's naval department. Caught up in the Great Purge, he was accused of crimes, but soon acquitted. By 1937, he was commander of the electronic navigation department aboard the training ship Leningradsovet. ==Winter and Great Patriotic Wars==

In November 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland, and the Winter War broke out. Still holding his post on the Leningradsovet, Amelko was assigned to command the landing craft in an amphibious assault on Seskar. After completing the task successfully, he was appointed executive officer of the Leningradsovet, and then her commander. He commanded her for training voyages, taking cadets into the Baltic and the North Seas, and was still her captain when in June 1941, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union began. Amelko oversaw the hasty armament of his ship with anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, using them to counter enemy air attacks while based in Tallinn. A group of 20 sailors and petty officers were also deployed from the ship to bolster the city's defences. With the Soviet position fast deteriorating by August 1941, a risky naval evacuation began. Leningradsovet and other ships based in the city evacuated large numbers of people and equipment from the city, undertaking a dangerous voyage to Kronstadt through mined waters, and while under heavy air attack. Leningradsovet provided anti-air gunfire, but suffered several personnel wounded, among whom was Amelko. Nevertheless, they were able to rescue 400 people from sinking ships, and reached Kronstadt. For his performance in the battle, Amelko was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and an early promotion to the rank of captain-lieutenant. Amelko now found himself based in Leningrad as the city endured a 900-day siege. Leningradsovet was sent to bolster its air and artillery defences, and to carry out reconnaissance missions. In January 1942, Amelko was appointed commander of a division of net layers, and then of minesweepers which had been converted to lay smoke screens. The smoke screens provided coverage for the fleet during air and artillery attacks, and allowed ships to operate between Leningrad and Kronstadt, and into the Gulf of Finland to carry out reconnaissance missions and to land troops behind enemy lines. Some instances, such as the landings on the island of during the , turned into fraught battles with German ships. In winter when the gulf froze over, sailors transferred to using aerosledges to provide smoke screens. In late 1943 they supported the crossing of General Ivan Fedyuninsky's 2nd Shock Army from Lisy Nos to the Oranienbaum Bridgehead, beginning operations to lift the siege of Leningrad. For their efforts during the war, the smoke screen boat division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and Amelko received the Order of Nakhimov, 2nd class. Following the lifting of the siege, and the advance of Soviet forces pushing the enemy out of the areas they had occupied, Amelko was appointed in early spring 1945 to be chief of staff of the Kronstadt Naval Defence Region's minesweeping brigade. This consisted of 12 divisions, amounting to 157 ships and boats, working to clear the area of the several hundred thousand mines of various types which had been laid during the war, a task only deemed completed in 1953. ==Postwar service==

, part of Amelko's Pacific Fleet, and deployed by him during tensions over the 1968 capture of the In 1949, Ameklo was given command of a brigade of the Riga Naval Base's defence region, consisting of several divisions of minesweepers, patrol ships, and anti-submarine vessels. Amelko's forces were based at the mouth of the Daugava, and again had to carry out extensive minesweeping operations, with the assistance of naval divers. In 1952, Amelko was appointed chief of staff of the 64th Defence Ship Division based at Baltiysk, promoted to rear-admiral on 31 May 1954, later becoming its commander until 1955. Smirnov pressed Amelko to indicate a culprit, to which Amelko replied "in the fleet, the commander is responsible for everything, report that I was to blame if you see violations in my actions." The commission returned to Moscow, and Amelko received a reprimand for unspecified reasons. The reprimand was expunged three months later by the Council of Ministers. Amelko later came to believe that the K-129 was lost after a collision with the . In 1969, Amelko was appointed by the navy's Commander-in-Chief, Sergey Gorshkov, to the newly created position of deputy for anti-submarine forces. Here he oversaw the introduction of stealthier submarines, and new methods to track and engage enemy submarines. In 1978, he became a Deputy Chief of the , a post he held until 1986. Among his achievements in this position was efforts to prevent incidents between foreign ships, and the reduction of US and Soviet forces in the Indian Ocean. He also worked with Cuban authorities on questions related to the development of their armed forces. In February 1986, he was appointed a military adviser in the Group of Inspectors General, stepping down in December 1987, and retiring from the armed forces. He went to work for a time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's scientific coordination centre, consulting on military and naval issues. He travelled widely, participating in the Edinburgh Conversations, and visiting 28 countries. ==Public, political and scientific work==

Amelko was involved in politics at both the local and national level, having been elected to the Vladivostok city and regional councils during his time with the Pacific Fleet. He had also been a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In retirement he was involved in public works, serving as deputy chairman of the International Committee "Peace to the Oceans", and participating in conferences, discussing the history of the Second World War, and naval affairs generally. He was a candidate of naval sciences, and was awarded the Lenin Prize for his work in the creation of a satellite system covering the oceans. ==Family and later life==

Amelko was married for 51 years to Tatyana Nikolayevna (1917–1990). Their son, Sergei Nikolayevich, was born in 1945. He served in the navy, reaching captain 1st rank in the reserve, and later worked for the Ministry of Defence and the Russian Army. Their daughter, Ksenia Nikolayevna, was born in 1952, and became a project chief architect in Giprozdrav. Their grandson, Sergey Nikolayevich, was born in 1972 and also served in the navy, reaching captain 3rd rank and the position of deputy commander of the cruiser Aurora. Amelko also had two granddaughters. ==Honours and awards==

Over his career Amelko received 43 state awards, divided between Soviet, Russian, and foreign awards. The Russian Federation awarded Amelko the Order of Honour in 2001. == References ==