Yaroslav Iosseliani (1912 — 1978) was a Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 commander of Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 ethnicity. He was awarded the honorary title

Honorary title

Honorary title may refer to:*Honorary title , primarily exists in Britain as well as some universities and colleges in the United States and Canada*Title of honor, as an award in recognition of their merits...

 Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

.

Iosseliani was born in the village of Lakhiri in the Svaneti

Svaneti

Svaneti is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svans, a geographic subgroup of the Georgians.- Geography :...

 region of Georgia and was educated in Gagra

Gagra

Gagra is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains...

. He joined the Soviet Navy in 1934 and finished the Leningrad

Leningrad

Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...

 Naval branch of the Frunze Military Academy

Soviet military academies

There were/are a number of military academies in the Soviet Union/Russia of different specialties.Unlike Western military academies such as West Point, Soviet, now Russian, military and police institutions referred to as "academy" are post-graduate professional military schools for experienced...

 in 1938.

Iosseliani was posted to the Black Sea Fleet

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....

 where he served on submarines Shch -207

Shchuka class submarine

The Shchuka class submarines , also referred to as Shch or SC class submarines were a medium-sized class of Soviet submarines, built in large numbers and used during World War II...

 and Shch -207 before commanding the submarine M-111. He completed 11 war patrols, made 12 attacks, sinking 2 enemy transports and a lighter.

In 1944 Iosseliani was given command of the former HMS Ursula

HMS Ursula (N59)

HMS Ursula was a British U class submarine, of the first group of that class, built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 19 February 1937 and was commissioned on 20 December 1938....

 which was transferred to the Soviet Navy under lend lease. This boat was renamed V-4 and also given the name Svanetia after Iosseliani's homeland.

Iosseliani retired in 1966 and moved to Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, where he died in 1978.