Sigizmund Levanevsky: Difference between revisions

Sigizmund Levanevsky
Sigizmund Levanevsky
Native name	Russian: Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский; Polish: Zygmunt Lewoniewski
Born	15 May [O.S. 2 May] 1902; St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	13 August 1937 (aged 35); Arctic Ocean
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service / branch	Soviet Army before 1925; Soviet Air Force since 1925
Years of service	1917–1930
Battles / wars	October Revolution; Russian Civil War
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union

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Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky (Russian: Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский, Polish: Zygmunt Lewoniewski; 15 May [O.S. 2 May] 1902 – 13 August 1937) was a Soviet pioneer of long-range flight who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1934 for his role in the SS Chelyuskin rescue.

Life and career

Sigizmund Levanevsky was born to a Polish family in Saint Petersburg on 15 May [O.S. 2 May] 1902. His brother Józef Lewoniewski (1899-1933) was a Polish military and sports pilot. Sigizmund took part in the October Revolution on the Bolshevik side and later participated in the Russian Civil War, serving in the Red Army since 1918. In 1925 he graduated from the Sevastopol Naval Aviation School and became a military pilot. In 1930 he was withdrawn to reserve. From 1932 to 1933 he was head of flight and training unit of All-Ukraine Pilot School.

In 1933 Levanevsky became a pilot for the Glavsevmorput' (Main Northern Maritime Route's Administration) - providing ice reconnaissance for shipping convoys in the eastern part of the northeast passage. At July 20, 1933 he achieved his first international fame, evacuating from Anadyr to Nome the American pilot Jimmie Mattern who had crash landed to the west of Anadyr during his attempt to break the record for a solo flight around the world.

The following year Levanevsky and fellow-pilot Mavriky Slepnyov traveled to Alaska to obtain a pair of Consolidated Fleetster 17AF transport planes for use in the aerial rescue efforts for the passengers of the crushed steamship Chelyuskin.^[1] During the March 24th flight from Nome, Levanevsky's plane was forced down at Kolyuchin Bay on the north Chukotka coast and during landing its skis were ripped off. Slepnyov evacuated him to the operations base at Vankarem but without a plane Levanevsky did not participate in the rescue efforts. However, he would later shuttle a doctor from Uelen to Saint Lawrence Bay at Chukotka for emergency attention for Bobrov, deputy head of the expedition, who suffered from appendicitis^[2] - for which he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1934 he became member of the Communist Party.

North Pole flights

On 3 August 1935 Levanevsky and a two-man crew (co-pilot Georgy Baydukov and navigator Viktor Levchenko) attempted a transpolar flight from Moscow to San Francisco in a prototype single engine Tupolev ANT-25 long-range bomber. A thousand miles into the flight (just north of the Kola Peninsula) the oil tank developed an oil-leak, being overfilled, and Levanevsky chose to abort the mission.

In the summer of 1936, Levanevsky and Viktor Levchenko evaluated the air route from Santa Monica, California to Moscow, via Alaska and Siberia. The 10,000 mile flight was made in a Vultee V-1AS, though the floats were replaced with wheel landing gear.^[3] For this flight Levanevsky was awarded with Order of Red Banner of Labour.

On 12 August 1937 a type Bolkhovitinov DB-A (no. N-209, a Dalniy Bombardirovshik-Academy, i.e. Long-range Bomber) aircraft with 6-men crew under captaincy of Levanevsky started its long distance flight from Moscow to the United States (to Fairbanks) via the North Pole. The radio communications with the crew broke off the next day, on the 13th of August, at 17:58 Moscow time after the North Pole, when the aircraft encountered adverse weather conditions and suffered failure of its end right engine. The Soviet Government financed two aerial searches for the missing aircraft using purchased US aircraft under the command of Canadian bush and Antarctic pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon in 1937 and 1938. Jimmie Mattern flew a Lockheed 12, "The Texan" from California to assist in the search for his former rescuer in the initial search.^[4] After the unsuccessful search attempts all the members of the crew were presumed dead.

In March 1999, Dennis Thurston of the Minerals Management Service in Anchorage located what appeared to be wreckage in the shallows of Camden Bay, between Prudhoe Bay and Kaktovik. There was conjecture in the media that it was Levanevsky's aircraft, but a subsequent attempt to locate the object again proved unsuccessful.

References

^ "Readon, Jim (2016). Alaska’s First Bush Pilots, 1923-1930. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. p. 174. ISBN 978-1575101477."
^ Levanevsky, Sigizmund (1934). Моя стихия // В сборнике "Как мы спасали челюскинцев". Moscow: Издание редакции «Правды».
^ Thompson, Jonathan (1992). Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947. Santa Ana: Narkiewicz//Thompson. p. 9. ISBN 0913322024.
^ "The diary of Jimmie Mattern, Pioneer Airman part V". AAHS Journal: 22. Spring 1998.

External links

Check-Six.com - Missing! - Sigizmund Levanevsky
The Search for Russia's Lindbergh Archived 2012-04-19 at the Wayback Machine Alaska Science Forum
Newspaper clippings about Sigizmund Levanevsky in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

[1] "Readon, Jim (2016). Alaska’s First Bush Pilots, 1923-1930. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. p. 174. ISBN 978-1575101477."

[2] Levanevsky, Sigizmund (1934). Моя стихия // В сборнике "Как мы спасали челюскинцев". Moscow: Издание редакции «Правды».

[jt-3] Thompson, Jonathan (1992). Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947. Santa Ana: Narkiewicz//Thompson. p. 9. ISBN 0913322024.

[4] "The diary of Jimmie Mattern, Pioneer Airman part V". AAHS Journal: 22. Spring 1998.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Soviet aviator (1902–1937)}}
 {{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
 {{Infobox military person
 | name          = Sigizmund Levanevsky
-| native_name   = {{lang-ru|Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский}}<br />{{lang-pl|Zygmunt Lewoniewski}}
-| birth_date    = {{birth date|1902|5|15}}
-| death_date    = {{death date and age|1937|8|13|1902|5|15}}
-| birth_place   = [[St. Petersburg]],<br /> [[Russian empire]]
-| death_place   = [[Arctic Ocean]]
 | image         = Sigizmund Levanevsky.jpg
+| native_name   = {{langx|ru|Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский}}<br />{{langx|pl|Zygmunt Lewoniewski}}
-| image_size    = 200
+| birth_date    = {{OldStyleDate|15 May|1902|2 May}}
-| caption       =
+| death_date    = {{death date and age|1937|8|13|1902|5|15|df=y}}
-| nickname      =
+| birth_place   = [[St. Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]]
+| death_place   = [[Arctic Ocean]]
+| image_size    =
 | allegiance    = {{USSR}}
 | branch        = [[Soviet Army]] before 1925<br>[[Soviet Air Force]] since 1925
-| serviceyears  = 1918 - 1930
+| serviceyears  = 1917–1930
 | rank          =
 | commands      =
-| battles       = [[October Revolution]], [[Civil war in Russia]]
+| battles       = [[October Revolution]]<br>[[Russian Civil War]]
-| awards        = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]<br>[[Order of Lenin]]<br>[[Order of Red Banner of Labour]]<br>[[Order of Red Star]]
+| awards        = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]
-| laterwork     =
 }}
-'''Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky''' ({{lang-ru|Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский}}; {{lang-pl|Zygmunt Lewoniewski}}) (May 15, 1902 &ndash; August 13, 1937) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] aircraft pilot of [[Poles|Polish]] origin and a [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] (1934).
+'''Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky''' ({{langx|ru|Сигизмунд Александрович Леваневский}}, {{langx|pl|Zygmunt Lewoniewski}}; {{OldStyleDate|15 May|1902|2 May}} &ndash; 13 August 1937) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] pioneer of long-range flight who was awarded the title [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] in 1934 for his role in the [[SS Chelyuskin|SS ''Chelyuskin'']] rescue.
 == Life and career ==
-Sigizmund Levanevsky was born to a Polish family in [[St. Petersburg]] at May 15, 1902. His brother [[Józef Lewoniewski]] (1899-1933) was a Polish military and sports pilot. Sigizmund took part in the [[October Revolution]] on the [[Bolshevik]] side, later took part in the civil war in Russia, serving in the Red Army since 1918. In 1925 he graduated from the [[Sevastopol]] Naval Aviation School and became a military pilot. In 1930 he was withdrawn to reserve. From 1932 to 1933 Levanevsky was head of flight and training unit of All-Ukraine Pilot School.
+Sigizmund Levanevsky was born to a Polish family in [[Saint Petersburg]] on {{OldStyleDate|15 May|1902|2 May}}. His brother [[Józef Lewoniewski]] (1899-1933) was a Polish military and sports pilot. Sigizmund took part in the [[October Revolution]] on the [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] side and later participated in the Russian Civil War, serving in the Red Army since 1918. In 1925 he graduated from the [[Sevastopol]] Naval Aviation School and became a military pilot. In 1930 he was withdrawn to reserve. From 1932 to 1933 he was head of flight and training unit of All-Ukraine Pilot School.
-In 1933 Levanevsky became a pilot for the [[Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route|Glavsevmorput']] (Main [[Northern Maritime Route]]'s Administration) - providing ice reconnaissance for shipping convoys in the eastern part of the northeast passage. At July 20, 1933 he achieved his first international fame, evacuating from [[Anadyr (town)|Anadyr]] to Nome the American pilot [[James Mattern]] who had crash landed to the west of Anadyr during his attempt to break the record for a solo flight around the world.
+In 1933 Levanevsky became a pilot for the [[Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route|Glavsevmorput']] (Main [[Northern Sea Route|Northern Maritime Route]]'s Administration) - providing ice reconnaissance for shipping convoys in the eastern part of the northeast passage. At July 20, 1933 he achieved his first international fame, evacuating from [[Anadyr (town)|Anadyr]] to Nome the American pilot [[Jimmie Mattern]] who had crash landed to the west of Anadyr during his attempt to break the record for a solo flight around the world.
-The following year Levanevsky and fellow-pilot [[Mavriky Slepnyov]] traveled to Alaska to obtain a pair of Consolidated Fleetster transport planes for use in the aerial rescue efforts for the passengers of the crushed steamship [[Cheliuskin (ship)|Cheliuskin]].<ref>"Readon, Jim (2016). Alaska’s First Bush Pilots, 1923-1930. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. p. 174. {{ISBN|978-1575101477}}."</ref> During the March 24th flight from Nome, Levanevsky's plane was forced down at [[Kolyuchin Bay]] on the north Chukotka coast and during landing its skis were ripped off. Slepnyov evacuated him to the operations base at [[Vankarem]] but without a plane Levanevsky did not participate in the rescue efforts. However, he would later shuttle a doctor from [[Uelen]] to [[Saint Lawrence Bay, Chukotka|Saint Lawrence Bay]] at Chukotka for emergency attention for Bobrov, deputy head of the expedition, who suffered from [[appendicitis]] <ref>{{Cite book|title=Моя стихия // В сборнике «Как мы спасали челюскинцев».|last=Levanevsky|first=Sigizmund|publisher=Издание редакции «Правды»|year=1934|isbn=|location=Moscow|pages=}}</ref> - for which he was awarded the title of the [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]. In 1934 Levanevsky became member of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]].
+The following year Levanevsky and fellow-pilot [[Mavriky Slepnyov]] traveled to Alaska to obtain a pair of [[Consolidated Fleetster|Consolidated Fleetster 17AF]] transport planes for use in the aerial rescue efforts for the passengers of the crushed steamship [[SS Chelyuskin|Chelyuskin]].<ref>"Readon, Jim (2016). Alaska’s First Bush Pilots, 1923-1930. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. p. 174. {{ISBN|978-1575101477}}."</ref> During the March 24th flight from Nome, Levanevsky's plane was forced down at [[Kolyuchin Bay]] on the north Chukotka coast and during landing its skis were ripped off. Slepnyov evacuated him to the operations base at [[Vankarem]] but without a plane Levanevsky did not participate in the rescue efforts. However, he would later shuttle a doctor from [[Uelen]] to [[Saint Lawrence Bay, Chukotka|Saint Lawrence Bay]] at Chukotka for emergency attention for Bobrov, deputy head of the expedition, who suffered from [[appendicitis]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Моя стихия // В сборнике "Как мы спасали челюскинцев".|last=Levanevsky|first=Sigizmund|publisher=Издание редакции «Правды»|year=1934|location=Moscow}}</ref> - for which he was awarded the title of the [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]. In 1934 he became member of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]].
 == North Pole flights ==
 [[File:Stamp of USSR 514I.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Postage stamp, USSR, 1935: <small>Sigizmund Levanevsky stamp with commemorative red overprint for "Moscow - San Francisco flight via the North Pole", August 1935.</small>]]
-On August 3, 1935 Levanevsky and a two-man crew (co-pilot Georgy Baidukov and navigator Victor Levchenko) attempted a transpolar flight from Moscow to San Francisco in a prototype single engine Tupolev ANT-25 long-range bomber. A thousand miles into the flight (just north of the Kola Peninsula) the oil tank developed an oil-leak, being overfilled, and Levanevsky chose to scuttle the mission. The following year Levanevsky and navigator Levchenko sought to prove the possibility of an air route between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. via the Alaskan-Bering Strait, and completed an 11,800+ mile multistage flight from Los Angeles to Moscow in a [[Vultee V-1|Vultee V-1A]] floatplane.
+On 3 August 1935 Levanevsky and a two-man crew (co-pilot [[Georgy Baydukov]] and navigator Viktor Levchenko) attempted a transpolar flight from Moscow to San Francisco in a prototype single engine [[Tupolev ANT-25]] long-range bomber. A thousand miles into the flight (just north of the Kola Peninsula) the oil tank developed an oil-leak, being overfilled, and Levanevsky chose to abort the mission.
+In the summer of 1936, Levanevsky and Viktor Levchenko evaluated the air route from [[Santa Monica, California]] to [[Moscow]], via Alaska and Siberia. The 10,000 mile flight was made in a [[Vultee V-1|Vultee V-1AS]], though the floats were replaced with wheel landing gear.<ref name="jt">{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Jonathan |title=Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947 |date=1992 |publisher=Narkiewicz//Thompson |location=Santa Ana |isbn=0913322024 |page=9}}</ref> For this flight Levanevsky was awarded with Order of Red Banner of Labour.
-On August 12, 1937 a type [[Bolkhovitinov DB-A]] (no. N-209, a ''Dalniy Bombardirovshik-Academy'', i.e. Long-range Bomber) aircraft with 6-men crew under captaincy of Levanevsky started its long distance flight from Moscow to the United States via the [[North Pole]]. The radio communications with the crew broke off the next day, on the 13th of August, at 17:58 [[Moscow time]] when the aircraft encountered adverse weather conditions.  The Soviet Government financed two aerial searches for the missing aircraft using purchased US aircraft under the command of Canadian bush and Antarctic pilot [[Herbert Hollick-Kenyon]] in 1937 and 1938.  Jimmie Mattern flew a [[Lockheed 12]], "The Texan" from California to assist in the search for his former rescuer in the initial search.<ref>{{cite journal|magazine=AAHS Journal|date=Spring 1998|title=The diary of Jimmie Mattern, Pioneer Airman part V|page=22}}</ref> After the [[List of aerial disappearances|unsuccessful search attempts]] all the members of the crew were presumed dead.
+On 12 August 1937 a type [[Bolkhovitinov DB-A]] (no. N-209, a ''Dalniy Bombardirovshik-Academy'', i.e. Long-range Bomber) aircraft with 6-men crew under captaincy of Levanevsky started its long distance flight from Moscow to the United States (to Fairbanks) via the [[North Pole]]. The radio communications with the crew broke off the next day, on the 13th of August, at 17:58 [[Moscow Time|Moscow time]] after the North Pole, when the aircraft encountered adverse weather conditions and suffered failure of its end right engine. The Soviet Government financed two aerial searches for the missing aircraft using purchased US aircraft under the command of Canadian bush and Antarctic pilot [[Herbert Hollick-Kenyon]] in 1937 and 1938. Jimmie Mattern flew a [[Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior|Lockheed 12]], "The Texan" from California to assist in the search for his former rescuer in the initial search.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=AAHS Journal|date=Spring 1998|title=The diary of Jimmie Mattern, Pioneer Airman part V|page=22}}</ref> After the [[List of missing aircraft|unsuccessful search attempts]] all the members of the crew were presumed dead.
-In March 1999, Dennis Thurston of the Minerals Management Service in Anchorage located what appeared to be wreckage in the shallows of [[Camden Bay]], between [[Prudhoe Bay]] and [[Kaktovik]]. There was conjecture in the media that it was Levanevsky's aircraft, but a subsequent attempt to locate the object again proved unsuccessful.
+In March 1999, Dennis Thurston of the Minerals Management Service in Anchorage located what appeared to be wreckage in the shallows of [[Camden Bay]], between [[Prudhoe Bay, Alaska|Prudhoe Bay]] and [[Kaktovik, Alaska|Kaktovik]]. There was conjecture in the media that it was Levanevsky's aircraft, but a subsequent attempt to locate the object again proved unsuccessful.
 == See also ==
-* [[List of people who disappeared mysteriously: pre-1970|List of people who disappeared]]
+*[[List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea]]
 == References ==
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 == External links ==
+{{Commons category}}
 *[http://www.check-six.com/lib/Famous_Missing/Levanevsky.htm Check-Six.com - Missing! - Sigizmund Levanevsky]
-*[http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF14/1456.html The Search for Russia's Lindbergh] Alaska Science Forum
+*[http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF14/1456.html The Search for Russia's Lindbergh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419072230/http://www2.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF14/1456.html |date=2012-04-19 }} Alaska Science Forum
 * {{PM20|FID=pe/011364}}
@@ Line 51: / Line 52: @@
 {{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Levanevsky, Sigizmund}}
 [[Category:1902 births]]
 [[Category:1937 deaths]]
 [[Category:1930s missing person cases]]
-[[Category:People from Saint Petersburg]]
+[[Category:Military personnel from Saint Petersburg]]
-[[Category:People from Saint Petersburg Governorate]]
+[[Category:People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd]]
+[[Category:People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent]]
 [[Category:Russian people of Polish descent]]
+[[Category:People of the Russian Revolution]]
+[[Category:Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War]]
 [[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
 [[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]]
-[[Category:Russian aviators]]
+[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
-[[Category:Soviet aviators]]
+[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]]
-[[Category:Soviet military personnel]]
+[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star]]
-[[Category:Soviet Navy personnel]]
+[[Category:Personnel of the Soviet Air Force]]
+[[Category:Soviet Army personnel]]
 [[Category:Soviet people of Polish descent]]
 [[Category:Missing aviators]]
+[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1937]]
+[[Category:Explorers of the Arctic]]
+[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters]]

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