Nikolai Lunin

Who was Nikolai Lunin?

Nikolai Alexandrovich Lunin was an Admiral in the Soviet Navy and a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Lunin was born in Mariupol 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 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 Shch class submarine Shch-421 with Fyodor Vidyayev as his second in command. He carried out several successful patrols in this boat, sinking a German transport. In 1942 he was given command of the new K class submarine, K-21. The K-21 made an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in June 1942. He subsequently carried out further patrols in Arctic waters and claimed 17 German transports. In 1943, he became commander of the Northern Fleet's submarine brigade and was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1945.

After the war Lunin was involved in the Soviet exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic. Lunin retired in 1962 and died in 1970. He is buried in the Military Cemetery in St Petersburg.