Anatoli Kacharava Explained

Anatoli Kacharava
Birth Date:August 15, 1910
Death Date:May 8, 1982 (aged 71)
Birth Place:Sukhumi, Georgia
Death Place:Batumi, Georgian SSR
Allegiance:Soviet Union
Serviceyears:1927–1967
Rank:Captain 1st rank, prior senior lieutenant
Spouse:Nato Vachnadze
Battles:Arctic naval operations of World War II
Awards:Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of Lenin

Anatoli Kacharava (Georgian: ანატოლი კაჭარავა; 15 August, 1910 – 8 May, 1982) was a Soviet and Georgian sea captain serving in the Soviet Navy. He is known for taking part in the arctic theater of the Second World War where he commanded a Soviet icebreaker A. Sibiryakov until its destruction by a German cruiser Admiral Scheer on August 24, 1942. Kacharava was severely wounded but survived, and was one of 22 of the ship's company that were captured by the Germans.

Early life and naval career

Kacharava was born in the summer of 1910 in a coastal town of Sukhumi, Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire. His parents, Aleksei Kacharava and Natalia Kavtaradze, were traders. He received education in several technical and maritime schools, namely Sukhumi Industrial College, Kherson Maritime School and Fishery College of the Far-East. Afterwards, he joined the navy aboard Soviet icebreaker A. Sibiryakov as a senior lieutenant. He was later promoted to a captain during the Second World War.

His grave is in Batumi.

References