Lunin was born in Odessa , the son of a soldier . He studied at the Rostov-on-Don maritime college and joined the merchant marine serving aboard the tanker '' Azneft '' . He joined the Soviet Navy in 1935 and was arrested in the 1938 purge but released after 13 months . He was transferred to the submarine arm . In 1941 , Lunin commanded the with Fyodor Vidyayev as his second in command . He carried out several successful patrols in this boat , sinking a German transport . In February 1942 he was given command of the new K-class submarine , '' K-21 '' . '' K-21 '' made an unsuccessful attack on the on 5 July 1942 ( Soviet propaganda claimed that the battleship was damaged ) . He subsequently carried out further patrols in Arctic waters and claimed 17 German transports . Confirmed are two ships 2975 BRT in total . In November 1943 , he became commander of the Northern Fleet 's submarine division . He was promoted to rear admiral in 1958
1938 purge
Great Purge
Nikolay Lunin