Everyone the world over has heard of the Titanic. Everyone knows the events – or at least a heartbreakingly romantic, beautifully underscored version of them – that occurred on that fateful night in 1912, where more than 1,500 men, women and children died in tragic circumstances. You may even have heard of the Lusitania, the British ocean liner sunk by a German submarine in May 1915, during World War 1. Of nearly 2000 people aboard, around 1,200 lost their lives – causing international outcry due to the large number of civilian passengers aboard at the time the ship was torpedoed, around 11 miles off the coast of Ireland, in what Germany had declared a “war zone” just months earlier. But it is likely that you have not heard the fate of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff – which resulted in the single largest loss of life in a individual ship sinking in history. The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was launched in 1937 and was originally to be named the MV Adolf Hitler – but was instead named for a Nazi leader from the party’s Swiss branch who had been assassinated in 1936. Hitler had chosen the name himself after sitting next to Gustolff’s widow at his funeral. It was the first purpose built cruise liner used by Kraft durch Freude (German for Strength through Joy), a leisure organisation conceived to promote National Socialism, and which became the largest tourism operator in the 1930s. The purpose of the ship was to provide middle-class leisure activities to the general populace, regardless of status, and this was used as a tool to suggest equality between the members of the German “master-race”. During the summer of 1939, the Wilhelm Gustloff served as a hospital ship, and later was used as accommodation for U boat trainees in the newly named Gotenhafen, near Danzig in Poland. In 1945, as the Red Army advanced on Germany, “Operation Hannibal” was put it to action, seeing the naval evacuation of troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia. As the ship left Danzig on January 30th, 1945, there were over 10,500 passengers on board – including a crew of 173, 918 officers and submariners, 373 female naval volunteers, 162 wounded soldiers, and over 8,900 civilians – including Gestapo personnel and an estimated 5000 children. The ship was overcrowded and due to this, many passengers refused to wear their life jackets – against strict instruction. MV Wilhelm Gustloff had 4 captain’s on board – the ship’s captain, 2 merchant mariner captains and 1 U boat captain, yet between the 4 they could not agree on the best course to take to guard against submarine attacks. Finally, the captain of the Wilhelm Gustloff - Friedrich Petersen – decided to set course for deep waters which were known to have been cleared for mines. Later, he was informed via a mysterious radio message of a German minesweeper convoy in the area, and thus activated the ships navigation lights to as to avoid collision. This made the ship stand out like a beacon on the dark waters and later investigation and speculation would introduce the theory that the radio transmission was a false report delivered by German POWs who had been “turned by the Soviet’s” in order to mark the ship out as a target. Captain Fredrich PetersenCaptain Alexander MarineskoThe ship was soon sighted and tailed (for nearly two hours) by Soviet Submarine S-13, under the command of Captain Alexander Marinesko.
The submarine sensors and anti-aircraft guns upon the Gustloff and her accompanying torpedo boat escort; Lowe, had frozen leaving the vessels defenceless. Three torpedoes were launched under Marinesko’s instruction; the first was named "for the Motherland," the second "for Leningrad," the third "for the Soviet people" and there was also a fourth torpedo which got jammed in the torpedo tubes, called "for Stalin”. All three torpedoes hit the liner on her port side. The third torpedo hit the engine room directly, disabling all power and communications. Only 9 life boats were able to be lowered – the rest had frozen in their restraints. Less than 40 minutes after being hit the Wilhelm Gustloff was on her side, her occupants spilling in to the freezing Baltic waters – many of whom were not wearing their life jackets. The majority of deaths were caused either directly from the hit of the torpedoes, or from drowning as the water rushed on to the vessel – though others were crushed in a stampede caused by understandably panicked passengers on the stairs and decks. Only 996 survivors were rescued by German forces – making the total loss of the sinking over 9,300 passengers – making this event the largest loss of life from one vessel in maritime history. Submarine Captain Alexander Marinesko was facing a court martial for his problems with alcohol and for being caught in a brothel before he had embarked on the voyage which saw him sink the Wilhlem Gustloff. For these reasons, he was deemed unsuitable to be titled a “hero” for his actions and was awarded the lesser title of “Combat Order of the Red Banner”. He was dishonourably discharged from the navy 9 months later - though was reinstated in the 1960s. Marinesko was posthumously named a Hero of the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. The wreckage of the Wilhelm Gustloff is classified as a war grave and is one of the largest shipwrecks on the Baltic Sea floor – the site is now protected and diving is forbidden, though it has for years attracted much attention from those searching for the missing Amber Room. But that’s another blog for another time.
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Author - Helena ChristieLittle Welsh Sprite. A Manager of people. A wearer of heels. A drinker of gin. A disciple of musical theatre and medieval history. You can find me on Twitter under @HistoryWithHelz and @HelenaChristie4 Archives
July 2018
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