Soviet submarine L-3

The World War II Soviet submarine L-3 belonged to the L-class or Leninets class of minelayer submarines. It had been named Bolshevik and later Frunzenets, before it was decided that submarines should stop having names and carry numbers instead.[1]

History
Name: L-3 Фрунзенец (Frunzenets)
Launched: 8 August 1931
Decommissioned: 15 February 1971
Fate: Broken up, with conning tower preserved as a memorial
General characteristics
Displacement:
  • 1,200 tons surfaced
  • 1,335 tons submerged
Length: 81 m (265 ft 9 in)
Beam: 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Draft: 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:
  • Diesel-electric
  • 2 × diesels (1,600 hp total)
  • 2 × electric motors (1,250 hp total)
  • 2 shafts
Speed:
  • 14 knots (26 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged
Range:
  • 7,400 nmi (13,700 km) at 9 kn (17 km/h) surfaced
  • 154 nmi (285 km) at 3 kn (5.6 km/h) submerged
Complement: 53
Armament:
  • 1 × 100 mm (3.9 in) L/68 gun
  • 1 × 45 mm (1.8 in) gun
  • 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern)
  • 12 × torpedoes
  • 14 × mines
Service record
Part of: Baltic Fleet
Commanders: Vladimir Konovalov (1943-1945)
Victories: German transport ship Goya (1945)

Under Captain of the 3rd Rank Vladimir Konovalov, L-3 was one of the most successful Soviet submarines of World War II. On 16 April 1945, it sank the German refugee transport "Goya", an event that (if calculated by loss of life) is deemed to be one of the worst marine disasters ever, when 6,000 to 7,000 people died in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.

After the dismantling of the submarine, part of it was used as the monument in Liepāja, though the monument was relocated to Moscow in 1995. Today, the conning tower of L-3 is on display in Moscow as a monument in Park Pobedy ("Victory Park") at Poklonnaya Gora museum.[2]

Ships sunk by L-3[3]
Date Ship Flag Tonnage Notes
1 October 1941 Kaija 1876 GRT freighter (mine)
19 November 1941 Henny 764 GRT freighter (mine)
22 November 1941 Uno 430 GRT tanker (mine-unconfirmed)
26 November 1941 Engerau 1142 GRT freighter (mine)
18 August 1942 C.F. Liljevalch 5492 GRT freighter (torpedo)
25 August 1942 Franz Bohmke 210 GRT freighter (mine)
17 November 1942 Hindenburg 7880 GRT freighter (mine)
9 December 1942 Edith Bosselmann 952 GRT freighter (mine)
5 February 1943 Tristan ? GRT freighter (mine - probably)
5 February 1943 Grundsee 866 GRT freighter (mine - probably)
30 March 1943 U-416 769 GRT submarine (mine - later recovered)
20 November 1944 T-34 1294 GRT large torpedo boat (mine)
29 January 1945 Henry Lutgens 1141 GRT merchant (mine)
23 March 1945 M-3138 112 GRT auxiliary minesweeper (mine)
30 March 1945 Jersbek 2804 GRT merchant (mine - possibly)
17 April 1945 Goya 5230 GRT transport ship (torpedo)
Total:30,965 GRT

On mines were also damaged the German sailing vessel Albert Leo Schlageter (1634 GRT) and the German icebreaker Pollux (4191 GRT).[4]

L-3 is the twelfth-highest-scoring Soviet submarine (not counting ships sunk by mines she laid), with 10,722 GRT sunk.


Trivia

In the book and subsequent film The Hunt for Red October, the fictional Soviet Alfa class nuclear-powered attack submarine is named the V.K. Konovalov.

References
  1. "National Submarine Fleet Encyclopedia". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. "Poklonaya Gora state museum". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  3. "L-3". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  4. "L-3". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
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