''S-13'' was a ''Stalinets''-class submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down by

Krasnoye Sormovo Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard No. 112 named after Andrei Zhdanov (russian: Судостроительное предприятие "Кра́сное Со́рмово" имени А. А. Жданова) is one of the oldest shipbuilding factories ...

in Gorky on 19 October 1938. She was launched on 25 April 1939 and commissioned on 31 July 1941 in the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

, under the command of Captain Pavel Malantyenko. The submarine is best known for the 1945 sinking of ''

Wilhelm Gustloff Wilhelm Gustloff (30 January 1895 – 4 February 1936) was the founder of the Swiss NSDAP/AO (the Nazi Party organisation for German citizens living outside Germany) at Davos. He remained its leader from 1932 until he was assassinated in 193 ...

'', a German military transport ship/converted cruise ship. With a career total of 44,701 GRT (gross register tonnage) sunk or damaged, she is the highest-scoring Soviet submarine in history.

Service history

In the first half of September 1942, under Malantjenko's command, ''S-13'' sank two Finnish ships, ''Hera'' and , and a German ship ''Anna W'', totaling 4,042 tons. When S-13 sank the freighter ''Hera'', she notably fired on the ship's lifeboats but failed to hit them. On 15 October 1942, caught on the surface while charging her batteries, ''S-13'' was attacked by the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

submarine chasers ''VMV-13'' and ''VMV-15''. During her

crash dive A crash dive is a maneuver by a submarine in which the vessel submerges as quickly as possible to avoid attack. Crash diving from the surface to avoid attack has been largely rendered obsolete with the advent of nuclear-powered submarines, as they ...

, the submarine hit the bottom, severely damaging her rudder and destroying her steering gear. The following

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

attack worsened the damage, but ''S-13'' escaped and made it back to

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

. During the next three years, Malantyenko was relieved by

Alexander Marinesko Alexander Ivanovich Marinesko (russian: Александр Иванович Маринеско, uk, Олександр Іванович Марiнеско, ro, Alexandru Marinescu; – 25 November 1963) was a Soviet naval officer and, during ...

and ''S-13'' was repaired and returned to sea. Under the command of Marinesko, then 32, on 30 January 1945, at Stolpe Bank off the Pomeranian coast, ''S-13'' sank the 25,484-ton German armed transport ship ''

'' under

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

ensign, overfilled with civilians and military personnel, with three

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es. Recent calculations estimate more than 9,000 people were killed, the worst loss of life in maritime history."Wilhelm Gustloff: World's Deadliest Sea Disasters". ''Unsolved History'', The Discovery Channel. Season 1, Episode 14. (Original air date: March 26, 2003) On 10 February 1945, ''S-13'' sank another German military transport ship '' General von Steuben''. 3,300 civilians and military personnel from the ship died, and 300 survived. Marinesko was posthumously awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

in 1990. ''S-13'' was decommissioned on 7 September 1954 and stricken on 17 December 1956. ''S-13'' also shelled and damaged the German fishing vessel, ''Siegfried'' (563 GRT), which was damaged but escaped.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:S-013 Soviet S-class submarines Ships built in the Soviet Union 1939 ships World War II submarines of the Soviet Union