The

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Soviet submarine ''L-3'' belonged to the L-class or ''Leninets'' class of

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

. It had been named ''Bolshevik'' and later ''Frunzenets'', before it was decided that submarines should stop having names and carry numbers instead. Under Captain of the 3rd Rank

Vladimir Konovalov Rear Admiral Vladimir Konstantinovich Konovalov, Владимир Константинович Коновалов ( – 29 November 1967) was a Soviet Navy distinguished submarine commander during World War II. Born as Vulf Kalmanovich Konov ...

, ''L-3'' was one of the most successful Soviet submarines of World War II. On 16 April 1945, it sank the German refugee transport MV ''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 The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. After the dismantling of the submarine, part of it was used as the monument in

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

, though the monument was relocated to Moscow in 1995. Today, the conning tower of ''L-3'' is on display in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

as a monument in Park Pobedy ("Victory Park") at

Poklonnaya Gora Poklonnaya Gora (russian: Покло́нная гора́, literally "bow-down hill"; metaphorically "Worshipful Submission Hill"') is, at 171.5 meters, one of the highest natural spots in Moscow. Its two summits used to be separated by the Setun ...

museum. Mines laid by ''L-3'' also damaged the German sailing vessel '' Albert Leo Schlageter'' (1634 GRT) and the German icebreaker ''Pollux'' (4191 GRT). ''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 Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

'', the fictional Soviet Alfa class

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

attack submarine is named the ''V.K. Konovalov''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:L03 World War II submarines of the Soviet Union 1931 ships Leninets-class submarines Museum ships in Russia