What are some reasons why sailors thought of the Gustloff as unlucky?

Sailors thought her an unlucky ship – her captain died of a heart attack on her official maiden voyage – and she made only a few cruises before war broke out, after which he became a hospital ship, troop carrier and a barracks, sitting in the harbour at Gdynia (Gotenhafen) in Poland for four years.

What happened to the bodies on the Wilhelm Gustloff?

They claimed they were diving at the Terra tanker, located seven kilometres from Gustloff. Despite the rescue operation, his body was never found. Gustloff was hit by Soviet torpedoes and subsequently sunk only nine hours after leaving Gdańsk on January 30th, 1945.

How did the MV Wilhelm Gustloff sink?

The Gustloff sinking happened in the Baltic Sea, when the Soviet submersible S-13 under the skippering of Capt. Marinesko, fired missiles and torpedoed the German vessel. In the many decades, since the incident occurred, there have been many who have raised the question of whether the incident could have been averted.

How long was the Wilhelm Gustloff?

684′
MV Wilhelm Gustloff/Length

How many died on the Wilhelm Gustloff?

9,000 passengers
Wilhelm Gustloff, in full Motor Vessel Wilhelm Gustloff, German ocean liner that was sunk by a Soviet submarine on January 30, 1945. An estimated 9,000 passengers were killed in the sinking, making it the greatest maritime disaster in history.

What was the purpose of the Wilhelm Gustloff?

Aside from its operation as a cruise ship, the Gustloff was used for public-oriented missions. On April 10, 1938, it functioned as a polling place for Germans and Austrians living in England to vote on the annexation of Austria.

Who assassinated Wilhelm Gustloff?

David Frankfurter
Gustloff was shot and killed in Davos in 1936 by David Frankfurter, a Yugoslav Jewish student from what is now Croatia, incensed by the growth of the NSDAP. Frankfurter surrendered immediately to the Swiss police, confessing “I fired the shots because I am a Jew”.

How cold was the water when the Wilhelm Gustloff sank?

Only very few, 1,252 to be precise, made it off the steamer alive, of the well over 10,000 – mostly women and children, but also navy sailors. The ship had been hit by three Soviet torpedoes within an hour; the temperature outside was minus 18 degrees Celsius.

What submarine sank the Wilhelm Gustloff?

submarine S-13
Lying in wait in the dark waters of the Baltic Sea was the Soviet submarine S-13 under Captain Alexander Marinesko. As Wilhelm Gustloff steamed slowly to the west, Marinesko shadowed it, then, at 9 pm, fired a spread of four torpedoes. Three of them hit home, striking Wilhelm Gustloff on the bow, stern, and amidships.

What was the biggest ship sunk in ww2?

Yamato – The largest battleship ever built, Yamato was sunk on 7 April 1945 by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and others. 280 of Yamato’s 2,778 crew were rescued. This was the greatest loss of life in a single warship in World War II.

Who torpedoed the Wilhelm Gustloff?

Soviet

What caused the Wilhelm Gustloff to sink?

The third torpedo struck the Wilhelm Gustloff amidships, near the engine room. The blast disabled the engines and cut the ship’s power. It also extinguished the lights and silenced the vessel’s communications system. Over the next 90 minutes, the ship sank.

How many people died in the sinking of the Gustloff?

About 1,000 German naval officers and men were aboard during, and died in, the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff. The women on board the ship at the time of the sinking were inaccurately described by Soviet propaganda as “SS personnel from the German concentration camps”.

Who was the captain of the German submarine that sank Wilhelm Gustloff?

The sub’s captain, Alexander Ivanovich Marinesko, was posthumously made a hero of the Soviet Union in 1990 for his role in the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Image Courtesy WikiCommons. At around 8 p.m. that same evening, Hitler delivered a speech commemorating the 12th anniversary of the Nazi party’s rise to power.

How did the S-13 kill Wilhelm Gustloff?

One thing is certain. Lying in wait in the dark waters of the Baltic Sea was the Soviet submarine S-13 under Captain Alexander Marinesko. As Wilhelm Gustloff steamed slowly to the west, Marinesko shadowed it, then, at 9 pm, fired a spread of four torpedoes. Three of them hit home, striking Wilhelm Gustloff on the bow, stern, and amidships.