German military transport ship which sank in 1945; former cruise ship
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Wilhelm Gustloff as a hospital ship, before being converted into an armed military transport. Docked in Danzig, 23 September 1939.
History
Germany
Name
Wilhelm Gustloff
Namesake
Wilhelm Gustloff
Owner
German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront)
Operator
Hamburg Süd
Port of registry
Hamburg, Germany
Builder
Blohm & Voss
Cost
25 million ℛ︁ℳ︁
Yard number
511
Laid down
1 August 1936
Launched
5 May 1937
Completed
15 March 1938
Maiden voyage
24 March 1938
In service
1938–1939
Out of service
1 September 1939
Identification
Radio ID (DJVZ)
Fate
Requisitioned into the Kriegsmarine on 1 September 1939
Germany
Name
Lazarettschiff D (Hospital Ship D)
Operator
Kriegsmarine (German navy)
Acquired
1 September 1939
In service
1939–1940
Out of service
20 November 1940
Notes
Converted to floating barracks beginning 20 November 1940, including repainting from hospital ship colours to standard navy grey
Germany
Name
Wilhelm Gustloff
Operator
Kriegsmarine
Acquired
20 November 1940
In service
1940–1945
Out of service
30 January 1945
Fate
Torpedoed and sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13
Notes
Used as floating barracks for the Second Submarine Training Division until the vessel returned to active service ferrying civilians and military personnel as part of Operation Hannibal
MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating civilians and military personnel from East Prussia and the German-occupied Baltic states, and German military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate,[3][4] 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 Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude) organization in 1937, Wilhelm Gustloff had been requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine (German navy) in 1939. She served as a hospital ship 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.
^Gröner 1988, pp. 33–35.
^Kriegsmarine Coastal Forces Gordon Williamson, page 39, Osprey Publishing 2009
^"Wilhelm Gustloff: World's Deadliest Sea Disasters". Unsolved History, The Discovery Channel. Season 1, Episode 14. (Original air date: 26 March 2003)
^Begley, Sarah (29 January 2016). "The Forgotten Maritime Tragedy That Was 6 Times Deadlier Than the Titanic". Time. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
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Global Information
German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront)
Germany
Kriegsmarine (German navy)
Kriegsmarine