[1] Under Captain of the 3rd Rank Vladimir Konovalov, L-3 was one of the most successful Soviet submarines of World War II.

On 16 April 1945, it sank the German refugee transport MV Goya, an event that (if calculated by loss of life) is deemed to be one of the worst marine disasters ever, when 6,000 to 7,000 people died in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.

Today, the conning tower of L-3 is on display in Moscow as a monument in Park Pobedy ("Victory Park") at Poklonnaya Gora museum.

[2] Mines laid by L-3 also damaged the German sailing vessel Albert Leo Schlageter (1634 GRT) and the German icebreaker Pollux (4191 GRT).

In the book and subsequent film The Hunt for Red October, the fictional Soviet Alfa class nuclear-powered attack submarine is named the V.K.