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The Forgotten Sinking That Was 6x Deadlier Than The Titanic
The deadliest maritime sinking in history
The MV Wilhelm Gustloff began its life as a civilian cruise ship designed to provide entertainment for the German people through the Strength Through Joy program. The ship took its maiden voyage in 1938 but only conducted two leisure cruises until war came calling in 1939. With the outbreak of WWII, the Wilhelm Gustloff was requisitioned by the German Navy for use as a hospital ship and later a floating barracks.
If history had been kinder, the Wilhelm Gustloff would have been forgotten alongside the hundreds of other similar ships that were pressed into service during the war. Shipping was highly valuable, and governments around the world vacuumed up as much free shipping as they could through official requisitions or leasing. Unfortunately, the Wilhelm Gustloff would go down in history for all of the wrong reasons.
MV Wilhelm Gustloff Specifications
Tonnage: 25,484 GRT
Length: 208.5 m (684 ft)
Beam: 23.59 m (77 ft)
Height: 56 m (183 ft)
Draught: 6.5 m (21 ft)
After serving as a barracks, the Wilhelm Gustloff was pressed into service once more but this time as a transport ship used for German refugees fleeing the advancing Red Army. In 1944, the Soviets smashed through Byelorussia during Operation Bagration. The victory in Byelorussia put the Red Army in close proximity to East Prussia, the first slice of the German homeland accessible to the Soviet forces. This caused a panic in East Prussia and the nearby Baltic states. Soldiers, refugees, families, Nazi officials, scientists, and wealthy Germans all rushed to leave the region before the Soviet armies arrived.
In order to help with the evacuation, the government launched Operation Hannibal, which saw ships, like the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, start to ferry desperate people away from the frontlines to the safer (albeit not safe) lands of Germany proper.
At 12:30 pm on 30 January 1945, the MV Wilhelm Gustloff left the Baltic port of Gotenhafen in present day Poland. The ship was packed with over 10,000 people looking to survive the war…
