MV Wilhelm Gustloff
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 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 25,484 GRT |
| Length | 208.5 m (684 ft 1 in) |
| Beam | 23.59 m (77 ft 5 in) |
| Height | 56 m (183 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) |
| Decks | 5 |
| Installed power | 9,500 hp (7,100 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) |
| Range | 12,000 nmi (22,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Capacity | 1,465 passengers (as designed) in 489 cabins |
| Crew |
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| Armament |
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![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H27992,_Lazarettschiff_"Wilhelm_Gustloff"_in_Danzig.jpg){kind=link}
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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, 9,343 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 was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine (German navy) in 1939. She served as a hospital ship from 1939 to 1940, and then as a floating barracks for naval personnel in Gotenhafen until 1945, when she was fitted with anti-aircraft guns and used to transport evacuees.