It was the first i can recall of hearing about this ship and then reading of the tragedy in 45. An estimated 9,000 passengers were killed in the sinking, making it the greatest maritime disaster in history. Those on board included 9,000 civilians fleeing an advancing red army, german. Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia or other free sources online.
More than 1500 people died in this worst peacetime maritime disaster. The wilhelm gustloff, like the titanic, was a big passenger liner and was reasonably new and luxurious. The mv wilhelm gustloff was a german ship which was sunk on 30 january 1945 by a soviet submarine in the baltic sea while evacuating german civilians, officials and military personnel the sinking of the wilhelm gustloff near the end of world war ii killed german civilians. The explanation i find most convincing for why this event has been forgotten is that any attempt to integrate it into any particular national memory to put it into a narrative of victory or defeat, right or wrong. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Mv wilhelm gustloff was a german ship which was sank by a soviet submarine. Apr 7, 2017 mv wilhelm gustloff was a german cruise ship that sunk by uboat in 1942 9000 people had died was biggest tragedy maritime disaster in history. Hitlers titanic the deadliest and most secret catastrophe in the hi. The ship in question was the wilhelm gustloff, a former cruise liner that by wars end was deployed towards the evacuation of. This is an classical nazi propaganda film, made by nazis for nazis when the ship was. Wilhelm gustloff in gotenhafen gdynia, poland in 1942.
By promoting and displaying such artifacts, they are prevented from falling into the hands of private collectors to which they will be lost to the world. The wilhelm gustloff had been attacked by soviet submarine s commanded by alexander marinesko. Mv wilhelm gustloff was a german armed military transport ship which was sunk on 30 january 1945 by soviet submarine s in the baltic sea while evacuating german civilian refugees from east prussia, lithuania, latvia, poland and estonia and military personnel from gotenhafen as the red army advanced. By one estimate 9,400 people died, which would make it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Mv wilhelm gustloffthe soviet sinking of mv wilhelm gustloff in january.
The wilhelm gustloff, which was packed with refugees when it sank on the night of jan 10, 1945, in what experts say is the worst maritime disaster. The sinking of the wilhelm gustloff national vanguard. Read this book and over 1 million others with a kindle unlimited membership. Wilhelm gustloff the greatest maritime disaster in history. The museum currently houses the largest public collection of artifacts from. There, it remained in the docks at gotenhafen port near the coast of the baltic sea. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading ship of fate.
I happened to stumble onto crabwalk when i was researching the sinking of the german ocean liner mv wilhelm gustloff, which was torpedoed by a soviet submarine in january 1945 while evacuating civilians from the courland pocket in germanoccupied poland. Dec 11, 2018 snow flurries swirled out of the darkness over the baltic sea. The story of the mv wilhelm gustloff kindle edition by moorhouse, roger. Polar shift, puttnam, new york, 2005, isbn 9780399152719. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Young adult author ruta sepetys revisits the ships 1945 sinking in salt to the sea. The following is from my book, hellstormthe death of nazi germany, 1944. The wilhelm gustloff museum is an online nonprofit museum dedicated to preserving the artifacts from the wilhelm gustloff and her sister ship the e.
The story of the mv wilhelm gustloff kindle edition. This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the axis nations and related topics hosted by the axis history factbook in cooperation with christian ankerstjernes panzerworld and christoph awenders ww2 day by day. On its final voyage, germanys wilhelm gustloff carried soldiers and thousands of civilians, many of them children. Then in 1945, it was used as barracks for the trainees of uboats. Fascinating book of a terrible tragedy that largely remains unknown, difficult to see how this ship was a so called military target but what happened happened short book but very informative. Facebook is showing information to help you better understand the purpose of a page. The accident is termed as the deadliest maritime disaster in the maritime history. Crabwalk by gunter grass wake county libraries book a. The sinking of wilhelm gustloff is undoubtedly a tragedy. Wilhelm gustloff disaster party stormed with inquiries the offices of the party and the navy in all parts of the reich were yesterday stormed by anxious persons, who suspect that their relatives were perhaps onboard the wilhelm gustloff, which was torpedoed by a russian submarine on january 30th at 9. The ship had been built as the flagship of the german labor front and had been used by its strength through joy organization to provide recreational and cultural activities for german functionaries and workers and to serve as a propaganda tool touting the glories of german power. It was a luxury ship but not designed as a playground for the rich, instead, it was to be used to provide cheap, heavily government subsidized vacations to the workers of adolf hitlers third reich. Novel containing lengthy sequences set on the gustloff.
Although he was one of the very few survivors, and wrote a book. The sinking ship resulted in the loss of an estimated 9,300 victims, including 5,000 children. Ship of fate by roger moorhouse is the story of a ship named the mv wilhelm gustloff. When the wilhelm gustloff was sunk by a soviet submarine, with the loss of nearly 10,000 lives in january 1945, it wrote itself an unenviable record in the history books as the deadliest maritime disaster of all time. The sinking of the wilhelm gustloff history smithsonian magazine. It was sunk in the baltic sea on the night of january 30, 1945, by a soviet submarine. Learn more about the sinking of the wilhelm gustloff in this article. Jan 26, 2015 please let me say something to this special film work with 3 parts. Yet, aside from its grim fate in the icy waters of the baltic, the story of the gustloff is a fascinating one, which sheds light. Germany 75 years on, little known about the wilhelm gustloff sinking.
The story of the mv wilhelm gustloff by moorhouse, roger isbn. The wilhelm gustloff was the most lethal shipwreck in history, but some. Geschichtliche wirklichkeit als erzahlte erinnerung. The sinking of the wilhelm gustloff bluejacket books sellwood, a. Gotenhafen would be the last port the wilhelm gustloff would sail from. Wilhelm gustloff ship project gutenberg selfpublishing. Reading a book, the scent of secret, that starts off in 1938 with th. Wilhelm gustloff, german ocean liner that was sunk by a soviet submarine on january 30, 1945. I indicated that this is a fictionalized account of the sinking, which means that the accounts are true but that they have been retold in a fictionalized format in order to both flesh them out and merge them together into a readable story. Soon, the ship became officially named mv wilhelm gustloff. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. The author has written a book for young readers called salt to the sea, out tuesday, about four fictional young passengers on the wilhelm gustloff. Over 9,000 people died in the baltic sea on january 30, 1945, in an attempt to evade the red army. Novelist ruta sepetys cant say for sure, but its obscurity made it exactly the kind of story she wanted to tell.
Barbarossa class ocean liners, cruise ships of germany, ferries of germany, ships of north german lloyd, ships of the hamburg america line, victorian era passenger ships of germany, world war ii passenger ships of germany, world war i passenger. The following is from my book, hellstormthe death of nazi germany, 19441947 for millions of germans cut off on the baltic coast by the rapid red army advance, only one avenue of escape remained openthe sea. Even here, however, soviet aircraft controlled the skies above and. Sinking of mv wilhelm gustloff the deadliest maritime disaster. During the first year of the war, the cruise liner first served as a hospital ship. The mv wilhelm gustloff was a german ship which was sunk on 30 january 1945 by a soviet submarine in the baltic sea while evacuating german civilians, officials and military personnel from gdynia gotenhafen, occupied poland, as the red army advanced. Mv wilhelm gustloff torpedoed by a soviet submarine. The story of the mv wilhelm gustloff kindle edition by roger.
Please let me say something to this special film work with 3 parts. The german ship mv wilhelm gustloff plowed through the choppy water, her cabins, decks, saloons, and even her drained swimming pool jammed with refugees. Sinking the wilhelm gustloff warfare history network. 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. Chunks of ice floated on the water, and lookouts shivered at their posts. The former pleasure cruiser was being used to evacuate german refugees from the soviet onslaught on the eastern front. Sellwood to the list of books about the wilhelm gustloff.
One of the most notorious events of world war ii was the sinking of the mv wilhelm gustloff. Wilhelm gustloff 30 january 1895 4 february 1936 was the founder of the swiss nsdapao the nazi party organisation for german citizens abroad at davos. Mv wilhelm gustloff wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre. The sinking of mv wilhelm gustloff by the soviet submarine s resulted in the greatest maritime disaster in history with the largest loss of life at sea. Ship of fate donald cameron naval thriller book 7 by philip mccutchan. Wwii naval disaster 10,000 lost souls on the wilhelm. The sinking of the wilhelm gustloff is the largest disaster in maritime history, with 9,343. At 55 degrees 07 minutes north, 17 degrees 41 minutes east lies the broken and dead body of a once proud and majestic ship. To this day, the deliberate sinking of this refugee ship filled with women and children remains not only the worst nautical disaster in world history but one of the most heartless and sadistic war crimes ever committed. Hitlers titanic the deadliest and most secret catastrophe in the history of maritime warfare. The figures from the research of heinz schon make the total loss in the sinking to be 9,343 total, including about 5,000 children.
Sinking of mv wilhelm gustloff the deadliest maritime. He remained its leader from 1932 until he was assassinated in 1936. On january 30th, 1945 the german liner mv wilhelm gustloff sank in the baltic sea and became the worst maritime disaster in the history of the world. The sinking remains the worst maritime disaster in history but the titanic and other muchpublicised losses tend to shield the wilhelm gustloff from greater scrutiny. Combines historical elements, such as the sinking of the wilhelm gustloff, with fictional elements, such as the book s major characters and events. While not a secret, the incident did not receive nearly as much attention over the years as it would have had it not occurred during the last stages of a bitter war. The wilhelm gustloff was a german ocean liner built in the 1930s and named after one of the leaders of the swiss nazi party who was assassinated. Jan 29, 2016 the author has written a book for young readers called salt to the sea, out tuesday, about four fictional young passengers on the wilhelm gustloff. Nov, 2004 the wilhelm gustloff, which was packed with refugees when it sank on the night of jan 10, 1945, in what experts say is the worst maritime disaster in history, has been stripped of everything from. It was the night of january 30, 1945, and disaster.
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