Why is the Gustloff maritime disaster not known very well? As a consequence of the Allied blockade of the German coastline, she was used as an accommodations ship (barracks) for approximately 1,000 U-boat trainees of the 2nd Submarine Training Division (2. The twelve meter long ship was built as a life boat for the Wilhelm Gustloff at Bloom & Voss shipyards in 1937. Originally constructed as a cruise ship for the Nazi Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy) organisation in 1937, she had been requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine (German navy) in 1939. The sinking of MS WILHELM GUSTLOFF was the worst maritime disaster in the history of the world, with more dead then the Titanic AND Lusitania combined. The first torpedo struck Wilhelm Gustloff's bow, causing the watertight doors to seal off the area which contained quarters where off-duty crew members were sleeping. By one estimate, 9,400 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Less than 40 minutes after being struck, Wilhelm Gustloff was lying on her side. She launched her Lifeboat No. By comparison, the Titanic could take over three thousand passengers and crew. 6 with a crew of ten under the command of Second Officer Schürmann was then lowered. The submarine sensor on board the escorting torpedo boat had frozen, rendering it inoperable, as had Wilhelm Gustloff's anti-aircraft guns, leaving the vessels defenseless. [14] The passengers, besides civilians, included Gestapo personnel, members of the Organisation Todt, and Nazi officials with their families. German forces were able to rescue 1252 of the survivors from the attack: the torpedo boat T36 rescued 564 people; the torpedo boat Löwe (ex-Gyller), 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) V1703, one baby. She had eight decks, a top speed of fifteen knots … Notices Welcome to Boards.ie; here are some tips and tricks to help you get started. [15][16] The ship was overcrowded, and due to the temperature and humidity inside, many passengers defied orders not to remove their life jackets.[17]. 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.[19]. 6, with both them and the crew of the lifeboat back at the Wilhelm Gustloff by 7:45 am. Sign up for a membership to support Red Ice. In 1960, he was reinstated as captain third class and granted a full pension. Just 30 January 1945, would have turned 50 years of “the Martyr of the NSDAP” Wilhelm Gustloff, which in … The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German armed military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilian refugees from East Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Estonia and military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) as the Red Army advanced. She sank bow-first 10 minutes later, in 44 m (144 ft) of water. The ship was soon sighted by the Soviet submarine S-13, under the command of Captain Alexander Marinesko. The sinking of MV Wilhelm Gustloff by the Soviet Submarine S-13 resulted in the greatest maritime disaster in history with the largest loss of life at sea. It is one of the largest shipwrecks on the Baltic Sea floor and has been attracting much interest from treasure hunters searching for the lost Amber Room. In 1963, Marinesko was given the traditional ceremony due to a captain upon his successful return from a mission. Although the Wilhelm Gustloff wreck was an attractive site for divers, in 1994 Polish authorities declared it a war grave and forbid any further expeditions out of respect for the thousands of victims left there. Between 20 May and 2 June 1939, she was diverted from her pleasure cruises. Operation Hannibal was the naval evacuation of German troops and civilians as the Red Army advanced. To put that in perspective, about 1,500 people died on the Titanic, and about 4,400 in the worst peacetime disaster (the Doña Paz in 1987). [12] She served as a hospital ship in 1939 and 1940. Never heard of it? On 8 April 1938 Wilhelm Gustloff under the command of Captain Carl Lübbe departed Hamburg for England where she anchored over three miles offshore of Tilbury so as to remain in international waters. [9] A storm developed on 3 April with winds up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) that forced the four ships apart. 9,000 lives lost. Thereafter, Wilhelm Gustloff became a floating barracks for naval personnel at Gdynia, a Baltic coast port. After undertaking a further voyage on 14 to 19 April 1938, she went on an Osterfahrt (Easter Voyage) before her actual official maiden voyage, which was undertaken between 21 April to 6 May 1938 when she joined Der Deutsche, Oceania and Sierra Cordoba on a group cruise to the Madeira Islands. That same year, she was docked in Poland and remained there until the time came for her … Biden, China, Israel & Crazy Covid Christmas With Adam Green - FF Ep104, Scott Howard - The Transgender Industrial Complex, The True Origins of Kwanzaa, Hanukkah & Christmas (The Story Behind The Yule Celebration). 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, to present "a more acceptable image of the Third Reich". One by one the 19 men on Pegaway jumped into the sea and were hauled onto Lifeboat No. From September 1939 to November 1940, she served as a hospital ship, officially designated Lazarettschiff D. Beginning on 20 November 1940, the medical equipment was removed from the ship, and she was repainted from the hospital ship colours of white with a green stripe to standard naval grey. Wilhelm Gustloff was the first purpose-built cruise ship for the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF) and used by subsidiary organisation Kraft durch Freude (KdF) (Strength Through Joy). It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."[26]. The Gustloff sinking has never been a secret, and was the subject of Günter Grass’s short final novel, Crabwalk. On January 30, 1945, the greatest maritime disaster in history occurred when the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a German luxury liner turned military transport ship sank in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Russian submarine. The first was nicknamed "for the Motherland", the second "for Leningrad", the third "for the Soviet people", and the fourth, which got jammed in the torpedo tubes and had to be dismantled, "for Stalin". If you want to help advance our efforts further, please: Design by Henrik Palmgren © Red Ice Privacy Policy, A Memorial for the Victims of the Wilhelm Gustloff sinking, Jan. 30th, 1945 – A “hate crime” of epic proportions - Justice4Germans.com, Voter Fraud & Election Meddling Evidence Floods…. Fire Safety Engineering Group, University of Greenwich. Wilhelm Gustloff's final voyage was to evacuate German refugees, military personnel, and technicians from Courland, East Prussia, and Danzig-West Prussia. It was intended for the German workers of the Third Reich. My only intent with this video is to honor the 9,500 victims of the Gustloff disaster. 1 to head back towards the Wilhelm Gustloff, Schürmann was able to reach Pegaway. "Wilhelm Gustloff: World's Deadliest Sea Disasters". [25] 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 one vessel in maritime history. He was downgraded in rank to lieutenant and dishonorably discharged from the Soviet navy in October 1945. They said the tragedy of Wilhelm Gustloff was a war crime. [9] On 29 March 1938 she departed on her second voyage carrying workers and their families from the Blohm & Voss shipyard on a three-day cruise.[9]. Later, in 44 m ( 144 ft ) of water. 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