MV ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was a German military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
while
evacuating civilian evacuees from
East Prussia,
Lithuania,
Latvia,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
and German military personnel from Gotenhafen (
Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
) as the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
advanced. By one estimate,
["Wilhelm Gustloff: World's Deadliest Sea Disasters". ''Unsolved History'', The Discovery Channel. Season 1, Episode 14. (Original air date: 26 March 2003)] 9,400 people died, making it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.
Originally constructed as a cruise ship for the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Strength Through Joy
NC Gemeinschaft (KdF; ) was a German state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany. Richard Grunberger, ''The 12-Year Reich'', p. 197, It was part of the German Labour Front (german: link=no, Deutsche Arbeitsfront), the national labour or ...
(''Kraft durch Freude'') organization in 1937, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' had been requisitioned by the ''
Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) in 1939. She served as a
hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. I ...
in 1939 and 1940. She was then assigned as a
floating barracks for naval personnel in Gotenhafen before being fitted with anti-aircraft guns and put into service to transport evacuees in 1945.
Construction and naming
''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was constructed by the
Blohm & Voss shipyards. Measuring long by wide, with a capacity of , she was launched on 5 May 1937.
The ship was originally intended to be named ''Adolf Hitler'' but instead was christened after
Wilhelm Gustloff
Wilhelm Gustloff (30 January 1895 – 4 February 1936) was the founder of the Swiss NSDAP/AO (the Nazi Party organisation for German citizens living outside Germany) at Davos. He remained its leader from 1932 until he was assassinated in 193 ...
, leader of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
's Swiss branch, who had been assassinated by a Jewish medical student in 1936.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
decided on the name change after sitting next to Gustloff's widow during his memorial service.
After completing sea trials in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
from 15 to 16 March 1938 she was handed over to her owners.
Cruise ship
''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was the first purpose-built
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
for the
German Labour Front
The German Labour Front (german: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, ; DAF) was the labour organisation under the Nazi Party which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
History
As early as March 1933, ...
(''Deutsche Arbeitsfront'', DAF) and used by subsidiary organisation
Strength Through Joy
NC Gemeinschaft (KdF; ) was a German state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany. Richard Grunberger, ''The 12-Year Reich'', p. 197, It was part of the German Labour Front (german: link=no, Deutsche Arbeitsfront), the national labour or ...
(''Kraft durch Freude'', KdF). Her purposes were to provide recreational and cultural activities for German functionaries and workers, including concerts, cruises, and other holiday trips, and to serve as a public relations tool that would present "a more acceptable image of the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
". She was the flagship of the KdF cruise fleet, her last civilian role, until the spring of 1939.
The ship made her unofficial maiden voyage between 24 and 27 March 1938 carrying Austrians in an attempt to convince them to vote for the
annexation of Austria
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
by Germany.
On 29 March she departed on her second voyage carrying workers and their families from the Blohm & Voss shipyard on a three-day cruise.
[
]
Rescue of ''Pegaway''
For her third voyage ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' left Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
on 1 April 1938 under the command of Carl Lübbe to join the KdF ships ''Der Deutsche'', ''Oceania'' and ''Sierra Cordoba'' on a group cruise of the North Sea.[ A storm developed on 3 April with winds up to that forced the four ships apart. Meanwhile, the 1,836 gross ton coal freighter ''Pegaway'', which had departed the Tyne on 2 April for Hamburg, was also caught up in the storm. Cargo and machinery were washed from ''Pegaway''s decks and the ship lost maneuverability as the storm increased in intensity. By 4 April, it was taking on water and slowly sinking.
At 4 am, Captain G. W. Ward of ''Pegaway'' issued an SOS when the ship was northwest of the island of Terschelling, off the coast of the Netherlands.][ The closest of the ships that answered the distress call was ''Wilhelm Gustloff'', which reached ''Pegaway'' at 6 am. She launched her Lifeboat No. 1, with a crew of twelve under the command of Second Officer Meyer. The oar-powered lifeboat was unable to come aside ''Pegaway'' in the heavy seas and looked in danger of needing rescuing. Lifeboat No. 6, with a crew of ten under the command of Second Officer Schürmann, was then lowered. As it had a motor, it was better able to handle the waves.
After first assisting their shipmates in Lifeboat No. 1 to head back towards ''Wilhelm Gustloff'', Schürmann was able to reach ''Pegaway''. One by one the 19 men on ''Pegaway'' jumped into the sea and were hauled onto Lifeboat No. 6, with both them and the crew of the lifeboat back at ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' by 7:45 am.][ By now a Dutch ]tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
had arrived but was unable to save ''Pegaway'', which soon rolled to port and sank. Lifeboat No. 1 had been so badly damaged by the waves that after its crew had climbed up via ladders to the safety of their ship it was set adrift, to later be washed up on the shores of Terschelling on 2 May.
Anschluss
On 8 April 1938 ''Wilhelm Gustloff'', under the command of Captain Lübbe, departed Hamburg for England, where she anchored over offshore from Tilbury
Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...
so as to remain in international waters. This allowed her to act as a floating polling station
A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building for German and Austrian citizens living in England who wished to vote on the approaching plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...
on Germany's unification with Austria. During 10 April, 1,172 Germans and 806 Austrian eligible voters were ferried between the docks at Tilbury to the ship where 1,968 votes were cast in favour of the union and ten voted against. Once the voting was complete, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' departed, reaching Hamburg on 12 April.
After undertaking a further voyage on 14 to 19 April 1938, the ship went on an ''Osterfahrt'' (Easter Voyage) before her actual official maiden voyage, which was undertaken from 21 April to 6 May 1938, when she joined ''Der Deutsche'', ''Oceania'' and ''Sierra Cordoba'' on a group cruise to the Madeira Islands
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
. On the second day of her voyage, the 58-year-old Captain Lübbe died on the bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
from a heart attack. He was replaced by Friedrich Petersen, who commanded ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' for the remainder of the cruise. Petersen left the ship until he returned as captain on her fatal voyage.
Condor Legion
Between 20 May and 2 June 1939, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was diverted from her pleasure cruises. With seven other ships in the KdF fleet, she transported the Condor Legion
The Condor Legion (german: Legion Condor) was a unit composed of military personnel from the air force and army of Nazi Germany, which served with the Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legio ...
back to Germany from Spain following the victory of the Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
forces under General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
.
From 14 March 1938 until 26 August 1939, the ship took over 80,000 passengers on a total of 60 voyages, all around Europe.
Military career
From September 1939 to November 1940, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' served as a hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. I ...
, officially designated ''Lazarettschiff'' D. Beginning on 20 November 1940, medical equipment was removed from the ship and she was repainted from the hospital ship colors of white with a green stripe to standard naval grey.
As a consequence of the Allied blockade of the German coastline, she was used as a barracks ship
A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for s ...
for approximately 1,000 U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
trainees of the 2nd Submarine Training Division (2. ''Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision'') in the port of Gdynia
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
, which had been occupied by Germany and renamed ''Gotenhafen'', located near Danzig ( Gdańsk). ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' sat in dock there for over four years. In 1942, was used as a stand-in for in the German film version of the disaster. Filmed in Gotenhafen, the 2nd Submarine Training Division acted as extras in the movie. Eventually, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was put back into service transporting civilians and military personnel as part of Operation Hannibal.
Operation Hannibal – evacuation
Operation Hannibal was the naval evacuation of German troops and civilians from Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and the Baltic states as the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
advanced. ''Wilhelm Gustloff''s final voyage was to evacuate German civilians, military personnel, and technicians from Courland, East Prussia, and Danzig-West Prussia. Many had worked at advanced weapon bases in the Baltic from Gotenhafen to Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
.[Pipes, Jason. ]
A Memorial to the Wilhelm Gustloff
'
The ship's complement and passenger lists cited 6,050 people on board, but these did not include many passengers who boarded the ship without being recorded in the official embarkation records. Heinz Schön, a German archivist
An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...
and ''Gustloff'' survivor who extensively researched the sinking during the 1980s and 1990s, concluded that she was carrying a crew of 173 (naval armed forces auxiliaries); 918 officers, NCOs
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
, and men of the 2 ''Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision''; 373 female naval auxiliary helpers; 162 wounded soldiers and 8,956 civilians, for a total of 10,582 passengers and crew.[ The passengers, besides civilians, included ]Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
personnel, members of the Organisation Todt
Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering pr ...
, and Nazi officials with their families. The ship was overcrowded, and due to the temperature and humidity inside, many passengers defied orders not to remove their life jackets.
The ship left Gotenhafen
Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...
at 12:30 pm on 30 January 1945, accompanied by two torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s and the passenger liner ''Hansa'', which was carrying civilians and military personnel. ''Hansa'' and one torpedo boat developed mechanical problems and could not continue, leaving ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' with one torpedo boat escort, '' Löwe'' (ex-). The ship had four captains (''Wilhelm Gustloff'''s captain, two merchant marine captains, and the captain of the U-boat complement housed on the vessel) on board, and they disagreed on the best course of action to guard against submarine attacks. Against the advice of the military commander, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...
Wilhelm Zahn
Wilhelm Zahn (29 July 1910 – 14 November 1976) was a German '' Kriegsmarine'' officer during the ''Second World War''. He was U-boat First Watch Officer, then became U-boat commander and was finally promoted to ''Korvettenkapitän'' on 1 April ...
(a submariner who argued for a course in shallow waters close to shore and without lights), ''Wilhelm Gustloff'''s captain, Friedrich Petersen, decided to head for deep water which was known to have been cleared of mines. When he was informed by a mysterious radio message of an oncoming German minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
convoy, Petersen decided to activate his ship's red and green navigation light
A navigation light, also known as a running or position light, is a source of illumination on a watercraft, aircraft or spacecraft, meant to give information on the craft's position, heading, or status. Some navigation lights are colour-coded ...
s so as to avoid a collision in the dark, making ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' easy to spot in the dark.
As ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' had been fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and the Germans did not mark her as a hospital ship, no notification of her operating in a hospital capacity had been given and, as she was transporting military personnel, she did not have any protection as a hospital ship under international accords.
Sinking
''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was soon sighted by the , under the command of Captain Alexander Marinesko. The submarine sensor on board the escorting torpedo boat had frozen, rendering it inoperable, as had her anti-aircraft guns, leaving the vessels defenseless. Marinesko followed the ships to their starboard (seaward) side for two hours before making a daring move, surfacing his submarine and steering it around ''Wilhelm Gustloff''s stern, to attack it from the port side closer to shore, from where the attack would be less expected. At around 9 pm (CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
), Marinesko ordered his crew to launch four torpedoes at ''Wilhelm Gustloff''s port side, about offshore, between Großendorf and Leba Leba may refer to:
*Łeba (German: ''Leba''), a town in Pomerania, Poland
*Łeba River
Łeba (pronounced: , Kashubian, Pomeranian and German: ''Leba'') is a seaside town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland. It is located in the Pom ...
. The first torpedo was nicknamed "for the Motherland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...
", the second "for Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
", the third "for the Soviet people", and the fourth, which got jammed in the torpedo tubes and had to be dismantled, "for Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
".[
The three torpedoes which were fired successfully all struck ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' on her port side. The first struck the ship's bow, causing watertight doors to seal off the area where off-duty crew members were sleeping. The second hit the accommodations for the women's naval auxiliary, located in the ship's drained swimming pool, dislodging the pool tiles at high velocity, which caused heavy casualties; only three of the 373 women quartered there survived. The third torpedo scored a direct hit on the ]engine room
On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into var ...
located , disabling all power and communications.
Reportedly, only nine lifeboats could be lowered; the rest had frozen in their davits and had to be broken free. About twenty minutes after the torpedoes' impact, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' suddenly listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
so dramatically to port that the lifeboats lowered on the high starboard side crashed into the ship's tilting side, destroying many lifeboats and spilling their occupants.
Many deaths were caused either directly by the torpedoes or drowning in the onrushing water. Some fatalities were due to the initial stampede caused by panicked passengers on the stairs and decks. Many passengers jumped into the icy Baltic. The water temperature in the Baltic Sea in late January is usually around ; however, this was a particularly cold night, with an air temperature of and ice floe
An ice floe () is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least 20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across. Drift ice is a floating field of sea ice composed of several ice floes. They may cau ...
s covering the surface. The majority of those who perished succumbed to exposure in the freezing water.
Less than 40 minutes after being struck, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was lying on her side. She sank bow-first ten minutes later, in of water.
German forces were able to rescue 1,252 people: the torpedo boat rescued 564; the torpedo boat ''Löwe'', 472; the minesweeper ''M387'', 98; the minesweeper ''M375'', 43; the minesweeper ''M341'', 37; the steamer ''Göttingen'', 28; the torpedo recovery boat (''Torpedofangboot'') ''TF19'', 7; the freighter '' Gotenland'', two; and the patrol boat (''Vorpostenboot
''Vorpostenboot'' (plural ''Vorpostenboote''), also referred to as VP-Boats, flakships or outpost boats, were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars. They were used around coastal areas and in coastal operations, and were tasked w ...
'') ''V1703'', one baby. Thirteen survivors died later. All four captains on ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' survived her sinking, but an official naval inquiry was only initiated against Lieutenant Commander Zahn. His degree of responsibility was never resolved, however, because of Nazi Germany's collapse in 1945.
Losses
The figures from Schön's research make the loss in the ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' sinking to be "9,343 men, women and children".[Pipes, Jason. In ]
A Memorial to the Wilhelm Gustloff
' Pipes cites Heinz Schön as reporting in ''Die Gustloff Katastrophe'' that the loss of life was 9,343. His more recent research is backed up by estimates arrived at by a different method. An '' Unsolved History'' episode that aired in March 2003, on the Discovery Channel, undertook a computer analysis of the sinking. Using ''Maritime Exodus'' software, it estimated that 9,600 people died out of more than 10,600 on board, by taking into account passenger density based on witness reports, and a simulation of escape routes and survivability with the timeline of the sinking.[Michael Leja, References (a source in German)]
Aftermath
Many ships were sunk during the war by the Allies and by the Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. However, based on the latest estimates of passenger numbers and those known to be saved, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' remains by far the largest loss of life resulting from the sinking of a single vessel in maritime history. Günter Grass said in an interview published by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in April 2003: "One of the many reasons I wrote '' Crabwalk'' was to take the subject away from the extreme Right... They said the tragedy of ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was a war crime. It wasn't. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."
About 1,000 German naval officers and men were aboard and died in the sinking of ''Wilhelm Gustloff''. Women aboard the ship at the time of the sinking were inaccurately described by Soviet propaganda as " SS personnel from the German concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
". There were, however, 373 female naval auxiliaries amongst the passengers, only three of whom survived.
On the night of 9–10 February, just eleven days after the sinking, ''S-13'' sank another German ship, , killing about 4,500 people.
Before sinking ''Wilhelm Gustloff'', Captain Marinesko was facing a court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
due to his alcohol problems and for being caught in a brothel while he and his crew were off duty. Marinesko was thus deemed "not suitable to be a hero" for the sinking and, instead of gaining the title Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
, he was awarded the lesser Order of the Red Banner
The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of t ...
. He was downgraded in rank to lieutenant and dishonorably discharged
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...
from the Soviet Navy in October 1945. In 1960, Marinesko was reinstated as captain third class and granted a full pension, and in 1963 was given the traditional ceremony due a captain upon the successful return from a mission. He died three weeks later from cancer at age 50. Marinesko was posthumously named a Hero of the Soviet Union by Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990.
Wreckage
Noted as "Obstacle No. 73" on Polish navigation charts, and classified as a war grave
A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations.
Definition
The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...
, ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' rests at , about offshore, east of Łeba and west of Władysławowo (the former Leba and Großendorf, respectively). It is one of the largest shipwrecks on the Baltic Sea floor and has attracted much interest from treasure hunters searching for the lost Amber Room
The Amber Room ( rus, Янтарная комната, r=Yantarnaya Komnata, german: Bernsteinzimmer, pl, Bursztynowa komnata) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsa ...
. In order to protect the property on board the war grave, as well as the wreck itself and the surrounding environment, the Polish Maritime Office in Gdynia has forbidden diving within a radius of the wreck.
In 2006, a bell recovered from the wreck and subsequently used as a decoration in a Polish seafood restaurant was lent to the privately funded "Forced Paths" exhibition in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.[Mark Landle]
Poles riled by Berlin exhibition
originally published in The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, 30 August 2006
Popular culture
*Books:
** Günter Grass: '' Im Krebsgang'', translated into English as ''Crabwalk''. Combines historical elements, such as the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, with fictional elements, such as the book's major characters and events.
**Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys ( lt, Rūta Šepetys; born November 19, 1967) is a Lithuanian-American writer of historical fiction. As an author, she is a ''New York Times'' and international bestseller and winner of the Carnegie Medal.
She is a Rockefeller Foun ...
: '' Salt to the Sea''. Young Adult historical fiction about the lives of four fictional characters during the evacuation of East Prussia and the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Carnegie Medal winner (2017).
**'' I"ll Be Damned,'' the autobiography by the German-born American actor Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941) is a German-born film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series '' The Rat Patr ...
, published by Harper Collins in 2017, discusses how he was a survivor of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff sinking.
** The prologue of ''Polar Shift
The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis is a pseudo-scientific claim that there have been recent, geologically rapid shifts in the axis of rotation of Earth, causing calamities such as floods and tectonic events or relatively rapid climate chang ...
'' features the sinking of the ship while a Resistance fighter trying to smuggle a scientist out of Nazi hands is on board.
**The novel ''The Other Side of Silence''. London: Quercus, by Philip Kerr
Philip Ballantyne Kerr (22 February 1956 – 23 March 2018) was a British author, best known for his Bernie Gunther series of historical detective thrillers.
Early life
Kerr was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his father was an enginee ...
, includes in its plot the sinking of ''MV Wilhelm Gustloff'' by combining accurate historical facts and fictional characters.
*Films:
**''Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen
''Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen'' (german: Nacht fiel über Gotenhafen) is a 1960 German drama film directed by Frank Wisbar. It dramatizes the sinking of , which was sunk while carrying German servicemen and around 6,000 civilian evacuees. Heinz Sc ...
'' (''Nacht fiel über Gotenhafen''), feature film by Frank Wisbar
Frank Wisbar (born Franz Wysbar 9 December 1899 – 17 March 1967) was a German film director and screenwriter.
Born in Lithuania, Wisbar directed more than 20 films between 1932 and 1967 in Germany and the United States, as well as amassin ...
, 1960
**''Wilhelm Gustloff
Wilhelm Gustloff (30 January 1895 – 4 February 1936) was the founder of the Swiss NSDAP/AO (the Nazi Party organisation for German citizens living outside Germany) at Davos. He remained its leader from 1932 until he was assassinated in 193 ...
, two-part Television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
by Joseph Vilsmaier
Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as ''Comedian Harmonists''.
Life
Born in Munich. Vilsmaier atte ...
, 2008
*Documentaries:
**"Killer Submarine," an episode of ''History's Mysteries
''History's Mysteries'' is an American documentary television series that aired on the History Channel.
Overview
The 154 episodes of the series were produced from 1998 to 2011. Each season consisted of 12 to 14 one-hour episodes that focused on ...
'', 1999.
**''Die große Flucht. Der Untergang der Gustloff'' (The Great Escape. The sinking of ''Wilhelm Gustloff''), 2001.
**"The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff", '' The Sea Hunters'' (television program), 2002.
**"Wilhelm Gustloff: World's Deadliest Sea Disaster", '' Unsolved History'' (television program), 2003.
**''Ghosts of the Baltic Sea,'' 2006.
**''Sinking Hitler's Supership,'' 2008. National Geographic documentary using extensive footage from the 2008 German miniseries.
**''Triumph und Tragödie der Wilhelm Gustloff'', 2012.
See also
* MV ''Goya'', another ship taking part in Operation Hannibal, was also sunk by a Soviet submarine with just 183 survivors out of 7,000 passengers and crew.
* Soviet hospital ship ''Armenia'', sunk by German aircraft with only 8 survivors out of 5,000–7,000 passengers and crew.
* SS ''Cap Arcona''
* MV ''Awa Maru''
* '' Iosif Stalin''
* ''Deutschland
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
''
* '' Thielbek''
* ''Lancastria
RMS ''Lancastria'' was a British ocean liner requisitioned by the UK Government during the Second World War. She was sunk on 17 June 1940 during Operation Aerial. Having received an emergency order to evacuate British nationals and troops f ...
''
* RMS ''Lusitania''
*List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*List of maritime disasters
The list of maritime disasters is a link page for maritime disasters by century.
For a unified list by death toll, see .
Pre-18th century
Peacetime disasters
All ships are vulnerable to problems from weather conditions, faulty design or huma ...
*List of shipwrecks
This is an index of lists of shipwrecks, sorted by different criteria.
By location
* List of shipwrecks of Africa
* List of shipwrecks of Asia
* List of shipwrecks of Europe
** List of shipwrecks of France
** List of shipwrecks of the Unit ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*Heath, Tim & Cocolin, Michela; ''Hitler's Lost State: The Fall of Prussia and the Wilhelm Gustloff Tragedy'' (Pen and Sword Military, 2020).
*Kappes, Irwin J.
The Greatest Marine Disaster in History...and why you probably never heard of it
2003.
*Leja, Michael;
'; ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
(1 August 2005), reports that earlier estimates of approximately 6000 drowned have been revised upwards by more recent sources to about 9300. An article in German.
*Moorehouse, Roger; ''Ship of Fate: The Story of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff'' (Independently published, 2018).
*Niven, Bill; "The Good Captain and the Bad Captain: Joseph Vilsmaier's "Die Gustloff" and the Erosion of Complexity" in ''German Politics & Society'' Vol. 26, No. 4 (89), SPECIAL ISSUE: ''Dynamics of Memory in 21st Century Germany'' (Winter 2008), pp. 82–98.
*Pipes, Jason;
A Memorial to the Wilhelm Gustloff
'.
*Prince, Cathryn J.; ''Death in the Baltic: The World War II Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff'' (St. Martin's Press, 2013).
*Schön, Heinz; ''Die Gustloff Katastrophe'' (Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 2002).
*Sellwood, A.V.; ''The Damned Don't Drown'' (TBS The Book Service Ltd, London, 1974).
*Williams, David; ''Wartime Disasters at Sea'' (Patrick Stephens Limited, Nr Yeovil, UK, 1997) .
Further reading
*Bishop, Leigh;
', 2003
External links
A Memorial to the Wilhelm Gustloff
Lazarettschiff D (Wilhelm Gustloff)
Details, map and position info on www.wrecksite.eu
*
Schiff ohne Klassen - Die Wilhelm Gustloff
' 1938 propaganda film
''Sinking the Gustloff''
(Film about ''Gustloff'' survivors)
The ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' Museum – The Ultimate Visual Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm Gustloff
Cruise ships of Germany
Ships sunk by Soviet submarines
World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea
Ships built in Hamburg
1937 ships
Hospital ships in World War II
1945 in Germany
Maritime incidents in January 1945
Shipwrecks of Poland