Admiral Kuznetsov's M43 Tunic?

[ekrogh]

This is my first post on this site, and I am very happy to discover it. I am primarily a German U-Boat collector, but have added a few Soviet WWII items to my collection, and am seeking some expert opinions.

I purchased this M43 tunic awhile back at a local militaria show here in Southern California. While not an experienced Soviet collector, I have handled enough German WWII cloth to be of the opinion that this is a period tunic.

While researching the tunic, I came across a picture of Admiral Kuznetsov wearing a similar uniform. I have also read the account of how the Admiral convinced Stalin to allow him to wear the Marshall's star on his shoulder boards in the excellent book "World War II Parade Uniforms of the Soviet Union" by James Sinclair and Douglas Drabik.

Here are some scans of components of the tunic. It was difficult to get a good detailed shot of the full tunic given the image size limitations. Hopefully someone will have insight into the history of this tunic.

Here's a period photo of Admiral Kuznetsov.

[DougD]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I am glad you enjoy the book; we are working on V2 right now, though I think publication is still quite awhile away.

The tunic you have is a very nice Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR M1943 service tunic that could have belonged to Kuznetsov or Isakov. Difficult to tell without ribbons though as the insignia is the same; the tunic was worn when both held the rank. Without really comparing the sizes of Isakov and Kuznetsov, it would be difficult to tell. However, you might be able to nail it down eventually.

Best,
DougD
Moderator - Cloth

[ekrogh]

Doug,

Thank you very much for the information regarding the tunic!
I will look forward to the next volume of your book.

Best Regards,

Erik

[Nack]

As a rule I don't like navy stuff, but that is a really nice piece :thumbsup

[DougD]

A pic of Isakov as Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR circa 1948.

DD

[ekclete]

I have to agree with Nack, I am not a big navy guy but some tunics transcend boundaries and this would fall into that sort of uniform.

Very nice tunic! I am not sure how you are going to top that one in the collection but part of the fun is trying! Thanks Clete

[vvadim]

Originally Posted by DougD

A pic of Isakov as Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR circa 1948.
DD

Title of Hero of Soviet Union was given to Ivan Isakov on May 7 1965. But even if you don’t know that, this picture can’t be taken prior to 1955.

[willie777]

Originally Posted by vvadim

Title of Hero of Soviet Union was given to Ivan Isakov on May 7 1965. But even if you don’t know that, this picture can’t be taken prior to 1955.

Maybe Doug made a typographical error. We arent perfect:) And Admiral of the fleet has golld trouser braid? I never knew that! Is it same pattern as generals, or different?

[DougD]

Willie,

don't worry about it, i am not sure why i put 1948...but there is no room for error amongst some (though if we were all perfect it would sort of kill the need for the forum?)!

As for the Admirals pants, they did have the gold wide general officer stripes for the M1945 uniform, but that seems to be the last uniform to use them as they were not on the post M1945 uniforms (at least gone by the mid 1950's); I also have not seen them for the M1940 and M1943 parade admirals uniforms which leads me to think they were just for the M1945 uniform?... I am sorry I do not have all the regulations for it, just what I have noticed. Also, there did not seem to be any difference between Admirals stripes and those for Admiral of the Fleet of the USSR. The material ( I have only been able to examine three sets of these pants) is not the soft wool of the red generals stripes, but more like gold lace.. As for collectors, the pants are quite a bit rarer than the tunics!

DougD

[vvadim]

Golden stripes were introduced by People’s commissar of the Navy order number 245 on June 6 1945 not only for Admiral of the fleet, but for all admirals and were in use for more than 20 years.
These stripes were made from gold lace similar to what used for shoulder boards, but different pattern and width. This picture is from 1959 regulation that was changed in 1968. and this lace is 1945 pattern that was slightly changed latter on.