SS Thielbek (1940)
SS Thielbek | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Operator | Knöhr and Burchard (1940–61) |
| Port of registry | |
| Builder | Lübecker Maschinenbau AG |
| Yard number | 382 |
| Launched | 1940 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 2,815 GRT |
| Length | 105 m (344 ft) |
| Beam | 14.7 m (48 ft) |
| Propulsion | 2-cylinder compound steam engine |
| Speed | 11 kn (20 km/h) |
Thielbek was a 2,815 GRT cargo steamship that was built in Germany in 1940, sunk in an air raid in 1945, refloated in 1949 and repaired, and was in service until 1974. Lübecker Maschinenbau Gesellschaft in Lübeck built the ship in 1940 for the Knöhr and Burchard shipping company of Hamburg. In 1961 Knöhr and Burchard sold the ship to buyers who used the name Magdalene and registered the vessel in Panama. In 1965. the ship was renamed Old Warrior and was scrapped in Yugoslavia in 1974.
Thielbek is notable for having been sunk by RAF aircraft on 3 May 1945, killing 2,750 people aboard. The ship was at anchor in the Bay of Lübeck with the passenger ships Cap Arcona and the Deutschland, which were sunk in the same air raid. At the time Cap Arcona and Thielbek were crowded with prisoners from the Neuengamme, Stutthof, and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps.