Nikolai Kulakov

Nikolai Mikhailovich Kulakov
Born	15 February [O.S. 2 February] 1908 Ivanovo, Kimovsky District, Tula Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	25 March 1976(1976-03-25) (aged 68) Leningrad
Buried	Bogoslovskoe Cemetery
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Navy
Years of service	1932–1971
Rank	Vice-Admiral
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin – twice Order of Nakhimov First Class Order of the Red Banner – twice Order of the Red Star

Nikolai Mikhailovich Kulakov (Russian: Николай Михайлович Кулаков) (15 February [O.S. 2 February] 1908 – 25 March 1976) was an officer of the Soviet Navy. He saw action in the Second World War and rose to the rank of vice-admiral, despite being demoted three times in his career.

Born in 1908, Kulakov initially began studying in Kiev for a career as a railway worker, before coming into contact with the navy through the local Komsomol. Joining the navy in 1932, he entered the political branch, serving as a military commissar on several vessels, before sitting on the Military Councils of the Northern and then the Black Sea Fleets. Serving on the Black Sea during the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Kulakov took part in planning the defences of the Black Sea ports, and when they were overwhelmed, the counterattacks. The heavy human cost of these brought the Military Council under investigation and Kulakov suffered his first demotion, from rear-admiral to captain 1st rank, and reassignment.

Returned to useful work and restored to his former rank by the Navy's commander in chief, Nikolay Kuznetsov, Kulakov repaid Kuznetsov by acting as his prosecutor in a trial on charges of giving away military secrets, and succeeded in having Kuznetsov demoted. Kulakov himself was demoted shortly afterwards for "unsatisfactory leadership of party political work", but once more returned to prominence and former rank with service with the Black Sea Fleet. Implicated in the loss of the battleship Novorossiisk in 1955, Kulakov was demoted for a third time and transferred to the Baltic Fleet. Here he rebuilt his career in the navy's political department once more, returning to the rank of vice-admiral and being awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He retired in 1971 and died in 1976.