Orel, Aleksandr

Orel, Aleksandr Evstaf’evich 

Born Aug. 12 (25), 1908, in St. Petersburg. Soviet naval leader, admiral (1964); professor (1970). Member of the CPSU since 1937.

Orel entered the navyin 1929. He graduated from the M. V. Frunze Naval College in 1932 and from the K. E. Voroshilov Military Academy in 1953. He served on submarines of the Black Sea, Pacific, and Baltic fleets. In the Great Patriotic War (1941–45), Orel held high positions on the staff of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet until 1943 and then commanded large submarine units of the Baltic Fleet. He held high posts in the Main Headquarters of the Soviet Navy. He was commander of the submarine forces of the Northern Fleet from 1956 to 1959. Orel was commander of the Baltic Fleet from May 1959 to January 1967 and became chief of the Naval Academy in January 1967. He was a deputy to the sixth and seventh convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Orel has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Ushakov Second Class, the Order of the Patriotic War First Class, the Order of the Red Star, various foreign orders, and a number of medals.