Alekseev, Konstantin Stepanovich

Beginning of the life path

Konstantin Alekseev was born into a working class family. Russian. He graduated from the Mozhaisk seven-year school and rabfak .

In the Navy since 1936 . In 1938 he graduated from the Yeisk Naval Aviation School. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1941 .

In 1941

By the beginning of World War II, Alekseev served in the 9th Fighter Aviation Regiment. In the fighting since July 1941. Later, Konstantin Stepanovich will thus recall his baptism of fire:

“I always remember with excitement the beginning of World War II, when I received the first baptism of fire in a battle with fascist bombers. It was a hot July day. We, still unfired pilots, were at the airport. An alarm sounded. I took to the air on my I-16 and noticed a black dot in the blue of the sky. It was a German intelligence officer. The town of Ochakov flashed under the wing of my “hawk”, and I felt a keen concern for his fate. My plane was quickly approaching the enemy. He noticed me, turned abruptly and began to retreat towards Odessa . I chased him, but a great distance allowed the enemy to flee.

Soon, I saw the Ju-88 link going towards the Ochakov port, where at that time there were barges with valuable military cargo. I headed straight for the German bombers. A battle ensued. I furiously pressed the trigger of machine guns, trying to defeat the leader. And then one Junkers, having spread its black tail of smoke, flew down into the sea. The rest, randomly dropping bombs, set off.

Already returning to my airfield, I noticed that the sides of the cockpit of my I-16 and the control handle were broken, a sleeve of the jumpsuit was torn with a fragment of an enemy shell.

On the airfield, my comrades met me. Inspecting the plane, they shook their heads in surprise: so the plane was all riddled with ... "

On August 12, in a battle over the Southern Bug River, Alekseev won his first victory - the German Me-109 plane was defeated.

In November 1941, Senior Lieutenant Alekseev was transferred to the 8th Fighter Aviation Regiment (which later became the 6th Guards), based at the Khersonessky airfield, and was appointed deputy commander of the 1st squadron. The task of the 8th air regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Iosifovich Yumashev included the fight against bombers going to Sevastopol and other cities and the Soviet Black Sea naval bases, escorting bombers who attacked individual enemy targets, and assault attacks on the enemy.

Over the sky of Sevastopol

In mid-May 1942, the 3rd German offensive began on Sevastopol. At dawn on May 20, artillery, and then enemy aircraft, began to inflict massive attacks on the city, Soviet troops and military installations. The shelling and raids continued almost continuously until June 7 of the same year. Only from June 2 to 7, German aviation made 9 thousand sorties, dropping up to 45 tons of air bombs, and enemy artillery fired 126 thousand large-caliber shells.

The main burden on countering the enemy’s plans fell to the share of Black Sea aviators. On the very first day of aviation-artillery preparation undertaken by the invaders, fighter pilots captains K. S. Alekseev, M. I. Grib, N. A. Spirov shot down 2 German planes. Alekseev won a number of brilliant victories. In total, in late May - early June 1942, 7 enemy aircraft were shot down personally and in a group in a few days. And in total, since the beginning of the war, he has already counted 13 enemy aircraft.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 14, 1942, for the exemplary performance of command missions on the front of the struggle against Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism of the guard shown to this, Captain Alekseev Konstantin Stepanovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star medal " (No. 857).

In battles at the Lesser Land

The name of Konstantin Alekseev became known among all the Black Sea pilots. So the Hero of the Soviet Union, Minakov Vasily Ivanovich, is the commanding officer of the 2nd Guards mine and torpedo aviation regiment , which in 1942-1943. often accompanied the aircraft of the squadron Alekseeva recalled:

“I knew Kostya Alekseev well. A simple, modest guy. Together with his comrades, he often accompanied us to attacks on Taman. Recognizing his plane from afar, the bombers joyfully exclaimed: “Kostya!”. Since Alekseev is with us, then we can hope for success: “Messer” will not come to us ... "

In the spring of 1943, Konstantin Alekseev distinguished himself again, this time during the defense of Malaya Zemlya . In the three spring months of this year, he managed to bring down another 4 enemy aircraft. From the memoirs of Vasily Minakov:

“... On the night of April 20, 1943, the enemy decided to mine Gelendzhik Bay from the air in order to make it difficult for sailors to transport weapons, equipment and manpower to Malaya Zemlya, where our landing heroically fought. Single enemy aircraft seeped toward the bay under cover of night. A strong “bora” wind blew, it was almost impossible for the fighters to act. And then, Konstantin Stepanovich decided to fly out himself.

At the risk of falling under the fire of his own anti-aircraft guns, he unexpectedly attacked the Heinkel 111, captured by the rays of the searchlights, and quickly dealt with him. Then he continued to barrage over the bay. Soon, a second enemy aircraft, a destroyer, was shot down, and after it a third. The enemy’s plan was foiled ... "

Regiment Commander

At the end of May 1943, Major Konstantin Stepanovich Alekseev was appointed commander of the 25th Fighter Aviation Regiment .

This regiment brilliantly proved itself in the air support of the Kerch-Eltigen landing operation and the landing operation in the port of Kerch in late 1943 and early 1944 . During their participation in these operations, Alekseev’s pilots destroyed 76 German aircraft in air battles. His regiment earned gratitude in the order of the Supreme Commander, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the name "Kerch".

Konstantin Stepanovich Alekseev himself deserved such a characteristic ^[1] :

“He flies on all types of fighters day and night, a combat and decisive pilot, fights bravely, calmly in battle, makes bold decisions and practically implements them in practice. By example, the flying crew captivates the defeat of the enemy and boldly leads them to attack. Twice shot down two Me-109s in one day. The battle of the three fighters led by him is known against 12 Me-109, in which 3 German fighters were shot down. “Come closer and hit point blank” - this principle always ensures Alekseev victory in battle ... ”

- CVMA , f. 3, op. 1, d.648, l. 21

In total, during the period of the war, K.S. Alekseev made over 500 sorties, including 60 for reconnaissance and 50 for attack. He spent 110 air battles, in which he personally destroyed 15 enemy aircraft (8 of them at night), and 7 as part of a group. It also caused significant damage to the enemy during assault strikes on clusters of troops and military equipment ^[2] .

Fighter pilots of the 25th Fighter Kerch Aviation Regiment, commanded by Major Alekseev, 119 enemy aircraft were shot down in air battles.

After the war

After the war, Konstantin Stepanovich remained in aviation and in 1948 graduated with honors from the Naval Academy, after which he commanded the Pacific Air Force Air Division, and then taught the tactics of the Navy aviation at the Academy.

In 1970, Colonel Aviation Alekseev resigned. He lived in Leningrad .

He died on February 24, 1971 a. He was buried in Leningrad ( St. Petersburg ) at the Red Cemetery (98 Stachek Avenue , Central Path, right side).

• Grave of Alekseev K.S., Hero of the Soviet Union. 1914-1971 ^[3]

Monument of history.

• Protection Category: Regional
• Type of state registration document. protection: Decision of the City Executive Committee of 3.5.1976 No. 328

Soviet

• Gold Star Medal
• The order of Lenin
• Four Orders of the Red Banner (06.03.42; 24.04.43; 04.25.43; 30.12.56)
• Order of Suvorov 3rd degree (dated 04.30.44 No. 1968)
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (05/28/45)
• Order of the Red Star (12.27.51)
• Medals, including:
  • Medal "For Military Merit" (11/05/46)
  • Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
  • Anniversary medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

Foreign Awards

• Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( Great Britain , 1944) ^[4]
• Medal

In honor of the Hero, a vessel of the USSR Ministry of Fisheries was named.

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1987.- T. 1 / Abaev - Lyubichev /. - 911 p. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN comp., Reg. RCP No. 87-95382.
• Denisov K. D. Under us is the Black Sea . - M .: Military Publishing, 1989. - (Military memoirs).
• Stepanov V. The glorious falcon flew home ...: about our fellow countryman, the Black Sea pilot Hero Council. Guard Union Major K.S. Alekseev / V. Stepanov // New Life, Mozhaysk. - 1967.- Feb 11 - S. 4.

Alekseev, Konstantin Stepanovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".

• Alekseev Konstantin Stepanovich on the site "Red Falcons".
• Alekseev Konstantin Stepanovich. Biography on the website of the Moscow Regional State Scientific Library. N.K. Krupskaya.
• Mozhaytsy - Heroes of the Soviet Union. Alekseev Konstantin Stepanovich.