Legendary Soviet naval officer, dubbed the personal enemy of Hitler. His naval career began as a cadet at the age of 17 at Odessa. On January 30 of 1945 the S-13 sub he commanded sank the German ship ‘Wilhelm Gustloff' which was participating in the evacuation of military personnel and Nazi officials who were surrounded by the Red Army in East Prussia. The incident has been described as "torpedo attack of the century" and, due the loss of over 9,000 lives the single worst maritime disaster in history Marinesko thus effectively foiled the Germans' entire naval operations in the Baltic. During the return to base his submarine sank another German ship, the SS General von Steuben a luxury passenger liner used as a hospital ship with over 4,000 casualties. He was not decorated for either event because the scale of losses was not believed at the time and his record showed that some of his earlier claims had been exaggerated for which he was regarded as "not suitable to be a hero". Nevertheless his confirmed kills made him the most successful Soviet submarine commander and he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the war he spent years working in obscure positions without any recognition of his wartime heroism. He died in Leningrad of an ulcer at the age of only 50. In 1990, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously and subsequently he has been considerably revered in the annals of Soviet naval history.
Legendary Soviet naval officer, dubbed the personal enemy of Hitler. His naval career began as a cadet at the age of 17 at Odessa. On January 30 of 1945 the S-13 sub he commanded sank the German ship ‘Wilhelm Gustloff' which was participating in the evacuation of military personnel and Nazi officials who were surrounded by the Red Army in East Prussia. The incident has been described as "torpedo attack of the century" and, due the loss of over 9,000 lives the single worst maritime disaster in history Marinesko thus effectively foiled the Germans' entire naval operations in the Baltic. During the return to base his submarine sank another German ship, the SS General von Steuben a luxury passenger liner used as a hospital ship with over 4,000 casualties. He was not decorated for either event because the scale of losses was not believed at the time and his record showed that some of his earlier claims had been exaggerated for which he was regarded as "not suitable to be a hero". Nevertheless his confirmed kills made him the most successful Soviet submarine commander and he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the war he spent years working in obscure positions without any recognition of his wartime heroism. He died in Leningrad of an ulcer at the age of only 50. In 1990, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously and subsequently he has been considerably revered in the annals of Soviet naval history.
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