Memorial Red Banner submarine K-21

Severomorsk is the capital of the Northern Fleet. Military history is carefully treated here. Therefore, it is not surprising that the submarine that was in service became a monument after retirement.

The cruiser-squadron diesel-electric torpedo submarine XIV of the K-21 series was laid down on December 10, 1937 in Leningrad at the A. Marty factory. M.A. Rudnitsky was a chief designer. The submarine was floated out on February 3, 1941. At first it was sent to the Baltic Fleet, but later it became part of the Northern Fleet and entered service in the city of Polyarny.

"K-21" took an active part in combat actions in the North during the Second World War, made 12 military campaigns, 6 minelaying operations. On July 5, 1942, it discovered the German battleship "Tirpitz" in the area of ​​the island of Sørø-Rolvsø, marching to attack the convoy PQ-17. After an unsuccessful torpedo attack, the "K-21" surfaced and reported its coordinates. Intercepting the radiogram, the German command decided to return the battleship to the base. On October 23, 1942, the submarine was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In peacetime, it participated in oceanographic work in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. After being decommissioned for about 20 years, it served as a training base for practicing damage repair.

July 30, 1983 "K-21" was redesigned in Polyarny and installed in Severomorsk as a memorial. The exposition of the ship-museum is dedicated to the history of the K-21 and the military operations of the submarines of the Northern Fleet during the Second World War. Three compartments were converted into a museum (a branch of the Naval Museum of the Northern Fleet), and the fourth remained unchanged.