Artemchenko, Stepan Savelevich

In 1937 he graduated from 7 classes of secondary school. He worked as an electrician at the Zaporizhstal plant.

In January 1941, he was called up to the Red Army by the Krasnoarmeysky district military registration and enlistment office of the Zaporizhia region. He graduated from the Kachin military aviation school named after AF Myasnikov in September 1942. Sent to the service of an instructor pilot in the 22nd reserve fighter aviation regiment of the 6th reserve aviation brigade of the Moscow Air Force military district , which was stationed in the city of Ivanovo ^[1] . From April 1943 he served in the 17th Fighter Aviation Regiment , which was then on the re-formation also in Ivanovo. He served in the regiment for almost 10 years: a pilot, from April 1944 - a pilot, from September 1944 - a senior pilot, from July 1945 - a flight commander , from April 1946 - deputy commander and navigator of a squadron, from April 1949 - deputy squadron commander, from March 1950 - Squadron commander. In the regiment in 1943, he retrained to the fighter Aerocobra . In 1944 he joined the VKP (b) .

In June 1944, Junior Lieutenant S. S. Artemchenko together with the regiment fought in World War II . The regiment fought as part of the 190th Fighter Aviation Division ( 11th Fighter Aviation Corps , 3rd and 15th Air Armies) in the 1st Baltic , from February 1945 on the 3rd Belorussian Front ^[2] . He participated in the Belarusian , Baltic , East Prussian offensive operations. In an air battle on January 16, 1945, near the city of Gumbinen in East Prussia, he was shot down and was considered missing ^[3] and was held captive in a prisoner of war camp in Konigsberg . During the storming of Konigsberg on April 7, 1945, he was released. In the short term of his participation in the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant S. S. Artyemchenko proved himself to be a skilled air fighter and became an ace pilot : he flew 101 combat sorties, conducted 19 air battles, personally shot down 6 enemy aircraft (won all victories over FW 190 fighters ).

After checking, S. Artyomchenko returned to his regiment, and in his composition he managed to make several more sorties before the end of the war. The last sortie made on May 8, 1945 to attack the German troops in the Kurland boiler , destroying 2 vehicles with German soldiers. In July 1945, he was appointed flight commander. In the summer of 1945, the regiment was re-armed with Kingkobra fighters, deployed to the Far East and transferred to the 9th Air Army . In August 1945, he participated in the Soviet-Japanese war , during the Manchurian offensive operation, performed 4 combat sorties (all to accompany bomber aircraft ).

After the Victory, he continued service in the 17th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was transferred to the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Corps of the 54th Air Army of the Primorsky Military District .

From March 25, 1951 to February 20, 1952, the entire regiment was on a government mission in China , where it participated in the air battles of the Korean War . In the battles over the territory of the DPRK, Major S. S. Artemchenko made 152 sorties, conducted 64 air battles, personally shot down 6 enemy aircraft (all victories over jet fighters). In this war, he became once again an ace fighter. The squadron commanded by S. Artemchenko became the best in the regiment: its pilots shot down 44 US aircraft, their losses amounted to 1 fighter. It was in this squadron that Nikolai Sutyagin , the best jet ace of world aviation, fought, winning 19 victories in her ranks. For personal heroism and skillful command of the squadron, the commander of the 303rd Fighter Division, Hero of the Soviet Union, Alexander Kumanichkin introduced Stepan Artemchenko to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, in Moscow, the award was replaced by an order.

Participating in two wars, Stepan Artemchenko became an ace on piston fighters in World War II and on jet fighters in the Korean War. Such an outstanding result, besides him, was achieved only by a few pilots: Hero of the Soviet Union Stepan Bakhaev , Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Karasyov , Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Kolyadin , Hero of the Soviet Union Grigory Dmitryuk , Sergey Vishnyakov , Alexei Mitusov , US Air Force fighters George Davis , Vermont Harrison , James Hagerstrom , Francis Gabreski , John Bolt , William Wisner , Harrison Ting . In his two wars he shot down 12 airplanes in person.

After returning from China in February 1952, he was appointed senior navigator of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division in the Far Eastern Military District . In November 1961, Colonel S. S. Artemchenko was transferred to the reserve.

He lived in the city of Zaporozhye . For many years he worked as an instructor-pilot-methodologist at the Zaporizhia flying club DOSAAF . He died on August 17, 2009.

• Sergeant (September 1942)
• Junior Lieutenant (06/26/1943)
• Lieutenant (10/01/1944)
• Senior Lieutenant (11/7/1945)
• captain (02/25/1949)
• Major (11/11/1951)
• Lieutenant Colonel (08/20/1955)
• Colonel (4.11.1959)

• Four Orders of the Red Banner (27/12/1944 ^[4] , 15/05/1945 ^[5] , 10.10.1951, 23.09.1952)
• Order of the Patriotic War , 1st degree (09/30/1945 ^[6] )
• 2 orders of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree (08.22.1944) ^[7] , 11.03.1985
• 2 orders of the Red Star (05/14/1956, 12/30/1956)
• Medal "For Military Merit" (05/17/1951)
• other medals of the USSR
• Medal "Sino-Soviet Friendship" ( China )

• Bykov M. Yu. All Aces of Stalin, 1936-1953 .. - Popular science publication. - M .: Yauza-Press LLC, 2014. - p. 61. - 1392 p. - (Elite Encyclopedia of the Air Force). - 1500 copies - ISBN 978-5-9955-0712-3 .
• Seidov I. Soviet Aces of the Korean War. - M .: Foundation for the promotion of aviation "Russian Knights", 2010. - 451 p. - ISBN 978-5-903389-35-3 .
• Seidov I. "Red Devils" in the sky of Korea. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2007. - P. 704. - ISBN 978-5-699-19160-4 .

• Biography and photos of S. S. Artemchenko on the website "Soviet Aces".