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SS ''General von Steuben'' was a German
passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
and later an armed
transport ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...
of the
German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...
that was sunk in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. She was launched in 1923 as ''München'' (after the German city, sometimes spelled ''Muenchen''), renamed ''General von Steuben'' in 1930 (after the famous German officer of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
), and renamed ''Steuben'' in 1938. During World War II, the ship served as a troop accommodation vessel, and from 1944 as an armed transport. On 10 February 1945, while evacuating German military personnel, wounded soldiers, and civilian refugees during
Operation Hannibal Operation Hannibal was a German naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the Courland Pocket, East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania from mid-January to May 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the ...
, the ship was
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
ed by the Soviet submarine ''S-13'' and sank. An estimated 4,000 people lost their lives in the sinking.


Early history

In 1923, ''München'' became the first German trans-Atlantic passenger liner to be launched, and also the first to enter New York Harbor, since the end of World War I. She arrived in July 1923 on her maiden
transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...
voyage."New York City, NY (Hudson River) Liner MUENCHEN Fire"
''Associated Press'', 11 February 1930


1930 fire and sinking

On 11 February 1930, after ''München'' docked in New York City and discharged passengers and most of her crew from a voyage from
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
, Germany, a fire broke out in a paint locker on board and quickly spread to another storage hold. The massive fire and explosion resulted in a five-alarm fire and all of the city's fire equipment was sent to the burning ship. The fire could not be controlled and the ship sank next to the wharf where it had docked. In one of the largest shipping salvage efforts of its time, ''München'' was raised, towed to a
dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
, repaired, and returned to service. Shortly afterwards, the ship's owner renamed her ''General von Steuben.''


World War II

The ship, now called ''Steuben'', was commissioned in 1939 as a ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
'' accommodation ship. In 1944, she was pressed into service as an armed transport ship, taking German troops to eastern Baltic ports and returning wounded troops to
Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
.


Operation Hannibal

Along with the and numerous other vessels, ''Steuben'' was part of the largest evacuation by sea in modern times. The
Operation Hannibal Operation Hannibal was a German naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the Courland Pocket, East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania from mid-January to May 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the ...
evacuations surpassed the British evacuation at
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
in both size of the operation and number of people evacuated. By early January 1945, Grossadmiral
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
realized that Germany was soon to be defeated. Wishing to save his submariners, he radioed a coded message on 23 January 1945 to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
port of Gotenhafen (the Polish city and port of
Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...
under German occupation) to evacuate to the West, under the code name ''Operation Hannibal''. Submariners at that point were schooled and housed in ships floating in the Baltic ports, most of them at Gotenhafen. Among the ships were , , ''Hansa'', and ''Wilhelm Gustloff''. Notwithstanding the losses suffered during the operation, over two million people were evacuated ahead of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
's advance into East Prussia and Danzig (now Gdańsk,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
). In the winter of 1945,
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
n refugees headed west, away from the city of
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
and ahead of the Soviet advance into the Baltic States and East Prussia. Thousands fled to the Baltic seaport at Pillau (now
Baltiysk Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separ ...
, Russia), hoping to board ships that would carry them to the relative safety of Western Germany. ''Steuben'' was part of the fleet sent for the purpose.


Final voyage

On 9 February 1945, the 14,660-ton ''Steuben'' sailed from Pillau, near Königsberg on the Baltic coast, for Swinemünde (now
Świnoujście Świnoujście (; ; ; meaning " Świna ivermouth"; ) is a city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, in the extreme north-west of Poland, mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, and Karsibór island, once ...
, Poland). Official reports listed 2,800 wounded German soldiers; 800 civilians; 100 returning soldiers; 270 navy medical personnel (including doctors, nurses and auxiliaries); 12 nurses from Pillau; 64 crew for the ship's anti-aircraft guns, 61 naval personnel, radio operators, signal men, machine operators and administrators, plus 160 merchant navy crewmen, for a total of 4,267 people on board. Due to the rapid evacuation ahead of the Red Army's advance, many Eastern German and Baltic refugees boarded the ''Steuben'' without being registered, increasing the number of those on board to approximately 5,200. Just before midnight on 9 February, the Soviet submarine ''S-13'', commanded by Alexander Marinesko, fired two
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
es 14 seconds apart at the ''Steuben''; both hit her
starboard Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front). Vessels with bil ...
bow, just below the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
, where many of the crew were sleeping. Most were killed by the impact of the torpedoes. According to survivors, the ''Steuben'' sank by the bow and listed severely to starboard before taking her final plunge, within about 20 minutes of the torpedo impacts. An estimated 4,500 people died in the sinking. German
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 ...
''T-196'' hastily pulled up beside ''Steuben'' as she sank; its crew pulled about 300 survivors straight from ''Steubens slanting decks and brought them to Kolberg in
Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
(today
Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...
, Poland). A total of 650 people were rescued from the ''Steuben''.


Wreck

The ''Steuben'' wreck was found and identified in May 2004 by
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
hydrographical Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, Coast, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the pr ...
vessel ORP ''Arctowski''. Pictures and graphics appeared in a 2005 ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' article. The wreck lies on its port side at about in depth, and the hull reaches up to in depth. The ship was mostly intact when it was found. In July 2021, the German
news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...
''
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' reported that the wreck had been plundered and severely damaged in the process. The wreck is an official
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 ...
, and entering it is illegal. Due to international treaties, the wreck remains property of the German state, but Poland is responsible for its protection. Over the past decade,
looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
has become one of the biggest reasons for the deteriorating condition of shipwrecks in the Baltic sea.


See also

* * '' Iosif Stalin'' * ''
Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...
'' * * '' Thielbek'' * MV ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' * ''
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
'' *
List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines While submarines were invented centuries ago, development of self-propelled torpedoes during the latter half of the 19th century dramatically increased the effectiveness of military submarines. Initial submarine scouting patrols against surface ...


Footnotes


References


brief data sheet on the ''Dampfschiff General von Steuben''''National Geographic'' story
''
National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'', February, 2005, Marcin Jamkowski *Williams, David, ''Wartime Disasters at Sea'', Patrick Stephens Ltd., Nr Yeovil, UK, 1997, p. 228.


External links


Video of diving the wreck of ''General von Steuben''
{{DEFAULTSORT:General Von Steuben 1922 ships Ships built in Stettin Merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany Maritime incidents in 1930 World War II passenger ships of Germany World War II auxiliary ships of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Ships sunk by Soviet submarines Germany–Soviet Union relations Maritime incidents in February 1945 Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Shipwrecks of Poland