The submarine S-13 was built in 1938 at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod. A year later, she was first put under water. Since 1941, the senior lieutenant Malanchenko became the commander of the submarine S-13. Before the war, she participated in exercises near the city of Ascension. A few days after its start, she moved to Leningrad.
History
Until the end of July, the ship was tested, then it became part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Initially, she was ordered to move to the North. However, with the blockade of Leningrad on land, the ship remained in the Baltic.
After his first winter in the besieged city, S-13 goes into battle at the Gulf of Botanical in September 1942. This is the first eyeliner that penetrated this area that year. During this period, Yunakov became the captain of the submarine S-13. Due to the rise of the periscopes, it was repeatedly calculated by an enemy boat near Helsinki. Then she survived the attack of several bombs. By September 9, she was already at the Aland Sea, then moved to the Gulf of Botanical. From here the enemy could not expect the appearance of Soviet forces. Finding a cargo ship full of coal from Finland, the S-13 sank it. Then she drowned the Finnish vehicle, which also carried cargo. Only one sailor survived from him. The ship still had chances to destroy enemy vehicles, but the crew did not succeed. Once in September, she was generally thrown out in shallow water.
As early as September 17, attacks are resuming. This time the Dutch schooner Anna B. is hit. After firing several torpedoes and 24 shells, she lights up. She manages to move ashore, a few days later burning up to the ground. As she mastered the nearest area further, the S-13 submarine more than once found enemy targets, but it was not possible to deploy military operations.
First damage
In early October, an unsuccessful torpedo attack on a convoy took place. By the evening of October 10, the ship returned to base. A few days later, the boat was attacked by patrol boats in Finland. Depth bombs were dropped on it , due to which water began to flow inside. In addition, she was dealt a lot of damage. There was a breakdown of the gyrocompass, echo sounder, vertical steering wheel, battery batteries. Having sunk to the bottom, the crew of the submarine S-13 repaired the ship for 6 hours.
Change of leadership
In this case, the malfunction of the steering wheel was not eliminated. The whole further route the submarine went on the control of electric motors. By October 22, she was already in Leningrad, where she spent the winter and was being repaired. Then the crew of the submarine S-13 was awarded the Orders of Lenin, Red Banner, Red Star, medals "For Courage".
When an incident occurred during another exercise in April 1943, and one of the crew members was killed as a result of hitting a projectile capsule on the fender cover, Malanchenko was removed from his command post. The cause of the incident was negligence. From this moment, the captain of the submarine S-13 Marinesco became.
In October 1944, the ship leaves Kronstadt, occupying positions near the Hel Peninsula. Having discovered the presence of a Zigfrid coaster, the S-13 submarine damages it with an artillery attack. Damaged vehicles are thrown ashore. Recording the noise of enemy ships in the following days, the crew of the submarine do not attack anyone.
Management Issues
Since October 25, being at Vindava, the submarine receives an order to spend the afternoon in the south-west of Lyu Bay. In this area, enemy heavy ships attacked the Soviet parts of the Syrva Peninsula. However, the commander of the submarine S-13 was ordered to remain there at night. When stabilizing the situation, no goals were identified. By November 11, 1944, the ship moored at the Hanko pier. There was expressed dissatisfaction with the commander of the submarine team Vekhovskiy captain S-13 because of a passive reaction to the presence of noise, in-depth searches. Marinesco received the Order of the Red Banner of War along with a satisfactory rating.
There were also questions related to the behavior of the captain. There were reports on him, telling about how he, having not received command permissions, went to the city of Hanko. It went to a military tribunal.
However, in the future he was acquitted in subsequent reports telling about the courage shown by the commander in the course of the performance of combat missions.
Third Combat Campaign
January 11, 1945 was marked by the third Battle of the ship. At that time, the enemy had already established the operation of the anti-submarine defense system. Nevertheless, the bet was on the skills of Marinesco, which he showed during the work. Attempts were made to attack the convoy. They were interrupted, since there was a danger of colliding with defense ships, and weather conditions did not fit either. January 30, the submarine met a large liner Vilgelm Gustlov. Noise from him was caught on the submarine. The captain of the submarine reacted immediately, assessing the situation. The ship was immediately turned towards the enemy. However, the liner sailed west at high speed, and it became impossible to catch it at a depth.
Then Marinesco gave the order to surface and attack on the surface.
Clinging to the shores, the submarine was on the same course with the enemy, catching up with him. Weather conditions did not contribute to the attack, in the conditions of darkness and cold, the S-13 pursued the goal for two hours. Her speed was maximum, the engines were in full swing. But even so, the distance to the liner was not reduced. When the commander ordered the development of the accelerated course, at a speed of 19 knots, distance reduction began.
The situation was complicated by the raid of snow masses, hiding the liner from view. As soon as the submarine S-13 caught up with the target, it turned in combat direction. After a couple of minutes, explosions thundered. Torpedoes were detonated on the fore mast, in the middle of the liner, on the main mast. The fourth salvo did not take place. The enemy ship sank after a couple of minutes.
Thirty minutes later, German patrol ships arrived at the scene, accompanied by a destroyer, minesweepers, rescuing sailors. The search for S-13, bombing began. Her captain gave the order to turn to the shore and go to the bottom instead of diving deeper.
To prevent submarine attacks on her, about twelve bombs were thrown.
This episode will subsequently be called the "attack of the century." To this day, experts dismantle it, and the calculations of victims are constantly changing. The operation itself was notable for a high degree of risk; its execution took place on the surface, near the coast. The ship was there for a long time, which was a risk, since the Germans could easily find it.
The bay, where the S-13 was located, was home to the Germans. There was a high probability that the boat would be detected. Then she would be quickly destroyed. It is important to consider the number of KBF losses in the Baltic region. It was a large naval theater of operations, and during the Great Patriotic War, 49 of the 65 submarines that operated before the outbreak of hostilities were lost in this area.
Attack Results
During the sinking of the largest airliner, the victims amounted to about 5,000 refugees, 400 officers with sailors, 90 crew members. However, later one of the passenger assistants of the sunken ship changed the data on the number of victims. According to the latest data, about 9,300 people died. This figure is currently quoted by the Germans as official data.
Further, the S-13 submarine continued its path, attacking hostile targets, being attacked by German boats. A German submarine also shot at it.
Destruction of "General Steuben"
In February, near the lighthouse of Yaroslavets, the commander of the ship discovered the large ship General Shtoiben, which was sent with the escort guarding it. The movement was off running lights. For four hours, the captain of the submarine S-13 carried out maneuvers, observing the enemy with the help of acoustic stations. The pursuit of large enemy vehicles began. Since it was guarded, there was interference. At a distance of twelve cables fodder torpedo tubes fired. Two of the two fired torpedoes achieved their goal.
More than 2,500 military Wehrmacht, a hundred soldiers, 900 refugees, medical staff, a crew of 300 people were present at the General Steuben. Only 659 victims of the attack managed to escape.
In February, a warship was in Turk. KBF commanders have already received news of a successful operation carried out by the Soviet Red Navy. The news about the destruction of the liner was published in the newspapers of Finland, and its descriptions coincided with the photos printed in the media. According to the results of these operations, Marisenko was named the most effective submarine captain in the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Navy, and the S-13 submarine is legendary to this day.
Awards
The records of the course of hostilities preserved records, compiled by Captain A.E. Orel, about the courage of the S-13. Activity and literacy in the search for the enemy are noted. According to the results of the sinking of the submarine of the enemy’s transport Emden, Wilhelm Gustlov, full passengers of the enemy, Marinesco was noted as deserving the highest government award - the title of Hero of the USSR.
However, the command of the KBF presented claims of confirmation from intelligence forces. In their absence, these attacks led to the rewarding of Marinesco along with the lieutenants of the submarine with the Order of the Red Banner. Since April 1945, the ship became the Red Banner.
End of service
On April 20, 1945, the last battle of the S-13 submarine took place in sailing near Gotland. Then the ship several times fell under the attack of German submarines, there were also air raids on it. Because of this, she herself did not go on the attack.
At the end of May 1945, the ship was returned to the base. In the postwar period, she swam in the Baltic. After 9 years, she was disarmed by refitting into a Water Cabinet, provided to the Higher Naval School. In 1956, it was disassembled.
The actions of the ship's crew were truly heroic, they made an invaluable contribution to the approach of victory in the Second World War. Submarines of the USSR of that era did not have the ability to detect noise using radio electronics. She was simply not on board then. All data on what is happening on the surface was obtained through the use of periscopes. It was virtually the only data collection device. Also present were devices like Mars, with which noise sources were determined. Their accuracy was with an error of about two degrees.
There were limitations in the range of all these devices. She reached 40 kb.
At that time, the Germans, British and Americans had submarines equipped with sonar stations. Wehrmacht submarine crews were able to detect the ship at a distance of 100 kb. And it was enough to get close to 20 kb to calculate the exact distance to the ship through the Echo mode.
This influenced the work and performance of the submarines defending the USSR. This increased the requirements for the crew, and especially for the command. They needed more skills and knowledge.
In addition, under the water, as elsewhere, the captain directs. All responsibility rests on his shoulders, in a confined space his role becomes unusually important.
Therefore, the character, the figure of the captain and the life and effectiveness of the submarine are one and the same. Of all the submarines of the Soviet state of that era, only 65% managed to hit the target with a torpedo.
Memory
In 2002, an interesting German bestseller book was published. Gunter Grass became its author; it describes the sunken Marinesco Wilhelm Gustloff. Throughout the book, the author’s desire to put the USSR and Germany on one plate in the course of describing the war comes through. The tragic scenes of the death of refugee victims on board a ship are described. The reader is convinced that the refugees on board the ship were fleeing the lawlessness of the Soviet troops. And Marinesco appears as one of the impending barbarians. Grasse constantly characterizes Marinesco as a weak person, evoking emotions from him as a person who has committed a crime. Let there be no reason for this.
According to the testimony of those who knew the captain personally, Alexander Marinesco had a direct, if not the simplest, character. This was inherited from his father, a stoker on a military vessel, who once slapped an officer in the face, and appeared at the tribunal. Alexander was also a controversial figure. Nevertheless, everyone noted the extraordinary decisiveness, resourcefulness and quick wits of a sailor. Thanks to his qualities and their timely manifestation, he went down in history.
Marinesco sank a warship transporting Wehrmacht troops who invaded the territory of his country. "William Gustloff" was equipped with weapons, the flag of the Navy of the Wehrmacht, acted in accordance with military discipline. According to the UN convention, it is a military ship.
And the death of refugees lies with the German command, who did not care about the fate of the civilian population. It sailed on a military vessel in the war zone. And it was surrounded by the armed military.
TK-13
The TK-13 nuclear submarine became the fourth of the Shark series. She was part of the Northern Fleet in 1986.
Already in 1997, its first volleys were heard full of ammunition to destroy obsolete missiles. Since there was no new ammunition, it was withdrawn from the Navy, becoming part of the reserve. Defended by the city of Zaozersk.
In 2006, a plan for the disposal of the TK-13 submarine was prepared. Two years later, the case was cut up. The process was financed by the forces of the USA and Canada. The analysis took place during the implementation of the Global Partnership program in order to reduce the degree of threat. Already in 2009, the process was completed, and a block of six compartments was transferred to the Kola Peninsula.