Soviet submarine L-3
 | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| 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) |
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]
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 disaster 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]