Valentina Y. Orlikova (February 19, 1915 – January 31, 1986) – the first female captain of a large freezer fishing trawler, the only female captain of a whaling ship (“Storm”) in the world, a veteran of World War II, the first woman Hero of Socialist Labor.
During the Great Patriotic War, went navigator on the ships of the navy. In August 1941, Valentina Orlikova participated in the evacuation of six thousand wounded from Tallinn. From August 1942 to October 1944, Valentina Yakovlevna Orlikova worked as the third assistant captain on the ship “Dvina”.
Dvina shipped Soviet raw materials to the United States in exchange for American products supplied under Lend Lease. On the first voyage, which began on August 8, 1942, the ship carried manganese ore.
Since the convoy of British ships was delayed, it was decided to send the Dvina alone, unaccompanied. Of the weapons on board were two machine guns and 5 rifles.
Location: USSR
Photo date: 1942