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The
criminal sinking of the Gustloff:
9,372 human beings (including 3,000 children)
The largest non-natural maritime disaster in
history
On September 22nd, 1939, shortly after the Second World War broke out,
the Wilhelm Gustloff was offically commissioned into the Kriegsmarine by
the German Armed Forces for use as a hospital ship. It was classified as
Lazaretschiff D, or Hospital Ship D. Lazaretschiffe in the German Armed
Forces served as floating hospitals for the sick and wounded, and as with
many other nations during the period, their use was strictly monitored and
followed a specific set of international procedures for their employement.
Depending on their intended region of use, they were required to be
painted entirely white, with the inclusion of a green band running the
length of the ship on all sides and various red cross markings on the deck,
stacks, and sides. They were also prohibited from carrying any form of
offensive of defensive weapons. It was in this role that the Gustloff
would first enter WWII.
From May of 1940 until July of the same year, the Gustloff was on station
in Norway in Oslo as a floating hospital for the sick and wounded from the
Norwegian Campaign. The Gustloff left Oslo and headed for Stettin on July
2nd, 1940, carrying on board 563 wounded.
Rare color photo of the ship.
During the late summer and early fall of 1940, the Gustloff was ordered to
prepare for operations during the planned Invasion of England, which
eventually were cancelled in late summer 1940. Once more, on October 20th,
1940, the Gustloff sailed again to Oslo and took on 414 wounded for
transport back to Swinemünde.
Shortly after this trip, the Gustloff was to end its service as a
Lazarettschiff when it was directed that it move to Gotenhafen for service
as a barracks ship for the U-boot arm of the Kriegsmarine.
From September 22nd, 1939 until November 20th, 1940, the Gustloff took on
a total of 3,151 wounded and sick, and over the course of four trips,
transported 1,961 wounded back to Germany.
 When
the Gustloff left the relative protection of the harbor at Gotenhafen on
January 30th, 1945, the weather was very poor; wind strength of 7, it was
snowing, the temperature was 10 degrees below zero, and ice flows were in
the water. Any chance of survival once in the water in weather like this
was next to impossible. Under its own power, the Wilhelm Gustloff began to
punch its way through the choppy, blustery Baltic Sea, un-escorted against
the threat of submarine attacks, with its only protection being the few
anti-aircraft guns it had onboard to protect against air attack. Against
the deadly submarine, the Gustloff was naked.
Taking a patient on board
Ddansk on the days the ship left the city.
According to the ships own records, the list of passengers on the 30th
included 918 Naval officers and men, 173 crew, 373 members of the Woman's
Naval Auxiliary units, 162 wounded, and 4,424 refugees, for an official
total of 6,050 people. This is according to the official list though, and
doesn't take into account the many hundreds of other people that one way
or another, were able to make their way onto the seemingly safe decks of
the Gustloff. In fact, new research has now shown that the total number of
people on the Gustloff at the time it was sunk was actually 10,582! Newly
published research by Heinz Schon has set the number of people on the
Gustloff as follows: 8,956 refugees, 918 officers NCOs and men of the 2.Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision,
373 female naval auxiliary helpers, 173 naval armed forces auxiliaries,
and 162 heavily wounded soldiers, for a total of 10,582 people on board on
January 30th.
Then, at 2108 01.30.45, (9:08pm, January 30th, 1945 Gotenhafen time;
7:08pm Moscow time; 2:08pm Milwaukee, WI, USA time), the Soviet sub S-13,
commanded by Alexander Marinesko, hit the Gustloff with a spread of three
torpedoes:
"Marinesko narrowed his range on the GUSTLOFF to 1,000 meters before
ordering all torpedoes set to run at a depth of three meters. He waited
for the doomed ship to lumber into the crosshairs of his periscope and
then gave the order that would be a death sentence for the more than 9,000
hapless victims: "Fire One--for the Motherland". Three seconds later: "Fire
Two". Then, "Fire Three--this one is for the Soviet People".
Alexander Marinesko Meanwhile, all attempts
to contact the engine room failed. All lines were dead. The ship was
listing badly to port, preventing the starboard lifeboats from being
launched. Worst of all was his sudden realization that the forward
compartments were flooded--the compartments housing his prized life-saving
team! With little supervision of the lifeboat loading, several became
overloaded. The forward falls on one boat gave way with a loud snap,
tumbling dozens of people into the freezing water 60 feet below. Other
lifeboats were being cast off with only a few passengers. Many of the
passengers appeared topside without lifejackets and, unfamiliar with the
deck plan, were pushing and shoving against the flow. The scene was one so
often repeated in disasters at sea. Some people responded with heroism and
self-sacrifice while others displayed abject poltroonery. One deck officer
was supervising the loading of a lifeboat with the standard order, "Women
and children first". But before the boat was even half full he suddenly
abandoned his responsibility and simply took a seat in the boat.
By now, the ship’s list was making it difficult to move around on the
deck and people were jumping overboard. Escort ship LÖWE was alongside
within 15 minutes and the scene her captain found was one of hellish
confusion--made many times worse by the frigid conditions. Survivors were
taken aboard as quickly as possible, but it was not long before the LÖWE’s
crew were as tired, stiff and frozen as the refugees. After a half-hour in
the water, many were being hauled aboard as deadweight. Desperate calls
for help came from all sides. But in some instances, the survivors were
not helpful. One woman, wearing an expensive fur coat made slippery by the
sea water, continually slipped through the hands of the rescuers. She was
last seen drifting away in the darkness.
As every nook and cranny aboard the LÖWE became full of huddled
survivors, the heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER suddenly hove into view. The
HIPPER was now the largest German warship in the Baltic, but it too had
been ordered west and was herself carrying a load of about 1,500 refugees.
She had sailed from Danzig a few hours later than the GUSTLOFF, but was
moving at flank speed of 32 knots. Wild cries of jubilation broke out
among passengers still aboard the GUSTLOFF. Peering through his binoculars,
Captain Henigst took stock of the situation. Three empty lifeboats still
hung in their davits, there were nine empty life rafts and the ship now
had a 30 degree list to port.
The Gustloff immediately leaned
to starboard, righted itself, and then leaned to again. She then launched
rescue flares and broadcast an SOS. According to an eye-witness account of
Oberbootsmannsmatt Karl Hoffman, the first torpedo struck the Gustloff at
the bow, directly below the helm deep below the waterline. The second
torpedo exploded under the area of the ship that was the swimming pool,
and the third torpedo hit amidship in the forward part of the engine room,
ripping the ship hull and shattering the machinery. Soon, the forecastle
was nearly underwater, with the stern beginning to rise above the
waterline. In under 50 minutes time, the Gustloff was gone, taken beneath
the icy black waters of the Baltic, and with her, 9,343 men, women and
children. Amazingly, 1,239 people were saved by the heroic and selfless
work of a number of German ships in the area. Torpedoboot T-36 rescued 564
people, Torpedoboot Löwe 472 people, Minensuchboot M387 98 people,
Minensuchboot M375 43 people, Minensuchboot M341 37 people, steamer
Gottingen saved 28 people, Torpedofangboot TF19 saved 7, freighter Gotland
2 people, and Vorpostenboot 1703 saved one person, a 1 year-old child.
Name
-
Wilhelm Gustloff
A.K.A
-
Lazarettschiff D
Company
-
Kraft durch Freude
Sister ships
-
Robert Ley
Builders
-
Blohm & Voss
Length
-
684 feet
Gross tonnage
-
25,484 tons
Number of funnels
-
1 funnel
Propulsion
-
twin screw
Service speed
-
15 knots
Accommodations
-
1,465 Passengers, or 500 Patients
Maiden voyage
-
April 2, 1938
Final voyage
-
January 30, 1945
Demise
-
sunk by torpedos
Pictures of the wreck at: http://www.deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/wilhelm-gustoff/wilhelm-gustloff_wreckimages.htm |
