Andrei Yegorovich Durnovtsev ( 1923 - 1976 ) - lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Army , leading nuclear weapons tester in Novaya Zemlya, Hero of the Soviet Union ( 1962 ).
| Andrey Egorovich Durnovtsev | |||||||||||||||
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| Date of Birth | January 14, 1923 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Upper Kuryaty village, Karatuz district , Krasnoyarsk Territory | ||||||||||||||
| Date of death | October 24, 1976 (53 years old) | ||||||||||||||
| A place of death | Kiev | ||||||||||||||
| Affiliation |  the USSR | ||||||||||||||
| Type of army | aviation | ||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1942 - 1965 | ||||||||||||||
| Rank |  | ||||||||||||||
| Battles / wars | Tests of the Tsar Bomb | ||||||||||||||
| Awards and prizes |
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| Communications | Tick, Ivan Nikiforovich , Martynenko, Vladimir Fedorovich | ||||||||||||||
Biography
Andrei Durnovtsev was born on January 14, 1923 in the village of Upper Kuryaty (now the Karatuzsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory ). He graduated from high school. In July 1942, Durnovtsev was called up for service in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army . In 1943 he graduated from the Irkutsk Military Aviation School of Mechanics , in 1948 - the Engels Military Aviation School of Pilots . In preparation for the test on Novaya Zemlya, the most powerful thermonuclear charge in the entire practice of nuclear testing, Lt. Col. Andrei Durnovtsev was appointed lead pilot for nuclear weapons tests [1] .
The tests took place on October 30, 1961 at Cape Sukhoi Nos 15 kilometers from Mityushikha Bay north of the Matochkin Shar Strait. The tests were monitored by a government commission led by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.S. Moskalenko . The carrier carrier Tu-95 was chosen as the delivery vehicle. Its crew consisted of nine people who completed a special training complex. The explosion was carried out at 11 hours 33 minutes at an altitude of 4000 meters above the target. These tests were a major technological achievement of science of that time [1] .
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 7, 1962, for “courage and heroism shown during airborne nuclear tests”, the leading pilot of the TU-95 carrier aircraft, Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Durnovtsev, was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the awarding of the Order of Lenin and the Golden Star medal " Under the number 11127 [1] .
In 1965, Durnovtsev was sacked. He lived in Kiev , died on October 24, 1976 [1] .
He was also awarded the Order of the Red Star and a number of medals [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Durnovtsev, Andrey Egorovich . Site " Heroes of the country ".
Literature
- 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.