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TheNakhimov Naval School (Russian:Нахимовское военно-морское училище,romanized: Nakhimovskoye voyenno-morskoye uchilishche) orNakhimov School (Russian:Нахимовское училище,romanized: Nakhimovskoye uchilishche) is a form ofmilitary education forteenagers introduced in theSoviet Union and once also located in other cities. They are named after well-known RussianadmiralPavel Nakhimov.[1]
The first Nakhimov School was introduced inTbilisi in 1943 during theGreat Patriotic War, for sons of military personnel who died in action. TheTbilisi Nakhimov Naval School existed between 1943 and 1955.[2] In 1944 theLeningrad Nakhimov Naval School opened. TheRiga Nakhimov Naval School (Latvian:Rigas Nachimova Skola) existed during 1945–1953.[3]
Today in Russia, only theSt. Petersburg Nakhimov School[1] continues to exist. The school today offers teenage boys preparation for service as officers in the Russian Navy, secondary education, and military-style training in national naval traditions. As of 2017, the school has branches in Vladivostok, Murmansk and Sevastopol, with schools being located in all four fleets of Russia. Plans for a branch inDagestan, connected with theCaspian Flotilla, were announced in 2018.[4] On 13 August 2019Defence MinisterSergey Shoygu laid the foundation stone for a new branch of the school inKaliningrad, due to open in September 2020.[5]
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Today, all Nakhimov schools have the traditional honor of opening allVictory Day Parades in their local city with theircorps of drums (sans Saint Petersburg since the 1990s). It also participated in the now defunctOctober Revolution Day parades. In 2015 Major GeneralTimur Apakidze, a Soviet naval aviation pioneer who had died in a flying accident in 2001, was added to the rolls of the Nakhimov Naval School in perpetuity.[6] The general service march of the schools is theMarch of Nakhimovtsev (Марш Нахимовцев), written byVasily Solovyov-Sedoi in 1949.[7] Students at the Nakhimov Naval School and its graduates are known as "Nakhimovites".[8]
| Name | Location | Foundation date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nakhimov Naval School | St. Petersburg | 1944 | |
| Murmansk Nakhimov Naval School | Murmansk | 2017 | On 31 August 2016, PresidentVladimir Putin instructed Defense MinisterSergey Shoigu to establish a Nakhimov Naval School inMurmansk. Construction of the building continued for a little over a year until it was completed on 1 September 2017. The complex was the first Nakhimov school built in Russia since the first school was opened in St. Petersburg in 1944. |
| Vladivostok Presidential Cadet School | Vladivostok | 2013 | |
| Sevastopol Presidential Cadet School | Sevastopol | 2014 | |
| Mariupol Nakhimov Naval School[9] | Mariupol | 2024 or 2025 | A new Nakhimov Naval School was advocated to be built onthe occupied territories de jure under Ukrainian control by specialists from theRussian Armed Forces. It is alleged to have a capacity of 600 students and be around 60,000 meters squared, although information is not widely available on its construction. |
TheRiga Nakhimov Naval School existed from 1945 to 1953 in the capitalLatvian SSR, operating from the building that is now theLatvian War Museum throughout its 8 year existence.[10] A notable alumni of the school includedAfro-Russian actor and poetJames Lloydovich Patterson.[11][12]
TheTbilisi Nakhimov Naval School[13] was created by order of the People's Commissar of the NavyNikolai Kuznetsov on 16 October 1943. It was the first Nakhimov school to be founded in the USSR. Being located in theGeorgian Soviet Socialist Republic, it was one of two schools to be located outside of theRSFSR. It was disbanded in 1955. Among its notable alumni is Yuri Pivnev, the longtime head of the LeningradDOSAAF.[14]