Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev

Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev was a Russian submariner and a Captain First Rank in the Soviet Navy, notable as the commander of the illfated Soviet submarine K19 in July 1961 during the Hotel class submarines nuclearreactor coolant leak. Zateyev and the actions of his crew managed to avert disaster, despite severe radiation exposure. After the event, Zateyev and his crew were sworn to secrecy by the Soviet government regarding the events that transpired, and were only permitted to reveal the story after its collapse. Zateyev later released his memoirs on the event, which were used as the basis for a number of literary works on the disaster, as well as a 2002 documentary and film. In these memoirs, Zateyev criticised the rushed production of Russias first nuclear ballistic missile submarine. His and his crews actions on July 4, 1961 earned the surviving crewmembers a joint nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in March 2006.

Zateyev was born in Nizhny Novgorod. He was drafted into the Red Army in 1943, and studied in the Baku Naval Preparatory School. He passed the navigator course and was commissioned from the M.V. Frunze Higher Naval School in Leningrad. In the late 1940s he joined the Black Sea Fleet and served on submarines first as navigation officer and then rose through the position of Executive Officer. In 1954 he completed the Advanced Special Officers Course and was given command of his own submarine. For the excellent gunnery performance of his submarine he was rewarded by an early promotion by order of the Defence Minister, Marshal Zhukov. In 1958 he was transferred to the Northern Fleet and was given command of the new submarine K19 when it was commissioned.

Source: Wikipedia