Alexander Marinesko award received Order of Lenin
Wilhelm Gustloff and Steuben
Marinesko left Porkkala Naval Base on 11 January 1945 and took position near Kolberg on January 13. During the next few days his submarine was attacked several times by German torpedo boats. On 30 January 1945, S-13 attacked and sank the Wilhelm Gustloff, which was evacuating civilians, mostly families with children and military personnel from East Prussia. There were probably 9,400 casualties.
Days later, on 10 February, Marinesko sank a second German ship with two torpedoes, the Steuben, carrying mostly wounded military personnel, and over 800 civilians, evacuating East Prussia and Memel (now Klaipėda) with an estimated total number of 4,267 casualties. Marinesko thus became the most successful Soviet submarine commander in terms of gross register tonnage (GRT) sunk, with 42,000 GRT to his name.
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