Ivan Golubets was born in the city of Taganrog on 8 May 1916 into the family of a Ukrainian worker. He worked at the iron and steel factory after 7 years in Taganrog's high school No. 2.
In 1937, Golubets enrolled into the Soviet Navy. In 1939, he graduated from the Coast-guard school in Balaklava, and served at the 2nd and in the 1st divisions of the Black Sea Fleet's coast-guard ships in the city of Novorossiysk. He participated in World War II beginning in June 1941, serving as steersman on the corvette (сторожевой корабль) SK-0183 (3rd division of guard-ships), making the brave feat in the spring of 1942 in Sevastopol.
On 25 March 1942 German artillery fired at the Streletskaya Bay, the engine department of another guard ship, SK-0121, was hit and burst into flames. Golubets took necessary measures for extinguishing the fire. After the second shell hit the Soviet ship, there was an explosion of the fuel tanks, which could lead to the explosion of anti-submarine bombs on board, threatening a chain explosion on other ships in the Bay. Golubets understood the situation and started rolling the anti-submarine depth bombs off the ship, until the last bomb exploded, but many other ships and people's lives were saved.