Soviet submarine S-13
{{Short description|Stalinets-class submarine of the Soviet Navy}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Russian stamp 304 S-13 1996.jpg |Ship caption= S-13 portrayed on a Russian stamp, issued in 1996 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= Soviet Union |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} |Ship name= S-13 |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down= 19 October 1938 |Ship launched= 25 April 1939 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= 31 July 1941 |Ship decommissioned= 7 September 1954 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= 17 December 1956 |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= Kronstadt |Ship fate= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass2|Soviet S|submarine}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|840|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship length= {{convert|77.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|6.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= {{convert|4.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=*2 × diesels {{convert|2000|hp|0|abbr=on}} each
|Ship speed=*{{convert|19.5|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=50 officers and men |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*6 × {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes (4 forward, 2 aft)
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
S-13 was an S-class submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down by Krasnoye Sormovo in Gorky on 19 October 1938. She was launched on 25 April 1939 and commissioned on 31 July 1941 in the Baltic Fleet, under the command of Captain {{ill|Pyotr Malanchenko|ru|Маланченко, Пётр Петрович}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.sovboat.ru/means/mens_m.php3#m2|title=Люди|website=Великая Отечественная под водой: О подлодках и подводниках 1941 – 1945 гг.|lang=ru|access-date=2 March 2024|editor-last1=Chirva|editor-first1=Evgeniy|editor-last2=Metelev|editor-first2=Dmitriy}} The submarine is best known for the 1945 sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff, 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 Malanchenko's command, S-13 sank two Finnish ships, Hera and {{SS|Jussi H.||2}}, and a German ship Anna W, totaling 4,042 tons. When S-13 sank the freighter Hera, she fired on the ship's lifeboat but failed to hit it.{{cite web | url=https://haverit.hylyt.net/index.php/2020/12/01/hera-1942/ | title=Hera (1942) – höyrylaiva – Haverit.net }}
On 15 October 1942, caught on the surface while charging her batteries, S-13 was attacked by the Finnish submarine chasers VMV-13 and VMV-15. During her crash dive, the submarine hit the bottom, severely damaging her rudder and destroying her steering gear. The following depth charge attack worsened the damage, but S-13 escaped and made it back to Kronstadt.
During the next three years, Malanchenko was relieved by Alexander Marinesko 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 {{MV|Wilhelm Gustloff||2}} under Kriegsmarine ensign, overfilled with civilians and military personnel, with three torpedoes. Recent calculations estimate more than 9,000 people were killed, the worst loss of life in maritime history.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200709/ai_n19511170/pg_1 "Greatest Wartime Sea Tragedy Becomes Major Film"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414125709/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200709/ai_n19511170/pg_1 |date=2008-04-14 }}, a Sea Classics magazine September 2007 article{{cite web|author1=Irwin J. Kappes|title=Wilhelm Gustloff – The Greatest Marine Disaster in History|url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/wilhelmgustloff.aspx|website=MilitaryHistoryOnline.com|accessdate=9 January 2017|date=2003}}"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 the German wounded transport ship {{SS|Steuben||2}} with two torpedoes off the Stolpe Bank just before midnight.[http://bob.plord.net/Ships/MS-3/Germany/GeneralvonSteuben.html Data sheet on the Dampfschiff General von Steuben] Of the 4,267 wounded and refugees on board, 3,608 perished and 659 survived.{{cite web | url=http://www.grani.ru/opinion/sokolov/m.134310.html | title=Грани.Ру: Потопленный миф }}
Marinesko was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.
S-13 was decommissioned on 7 September 1954 and stricken on 17 December 1956.
| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;" | ||
| Date
! Ship ! Flag ! Tonnage ! Notes | ||
|---|---|---|
| 11 September 1942
| Hera | {{flagicon|Finland}} | {{right|1,379 GRT}} | freighter (torpedo) | ||
| 12 September 1942
| Jussi H. | {{flagicon|Finland}} | {{right|2,325 GRT}} | freighter (torpedo) | ||
| 18 September 1942
| Anna W. | {{flagicon|Netherlands}} | {{right|290 GRT}} | freighter (gunfire) | ||
| 30 January 1945
| {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} | {{right|25,484 GRT}} | transport ship (torpedo) | ||
| 10 February 1945
| {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} | {{right|14,660 GRT}} | transport ship (torpedo) | ||
| colspan=3 align=right|Total: | 44,138 GRT |
S-13 also shelled and damaged the German fishing vessel, Siegfried (563 GRT), which was damaged but escaped.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Stalinets class submarine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:S-013}}
Category:Soviet S-class submarines