Your parents and son-in-law went out on the steamer W. Gustloff, Gustloff was. Their ship, the, January, 1945 - Gotenhafen. Jesus! Knowing the temperature outside, he bundled up and grabbed a Kriegsmarine blanket which was nearby. turned it over to a German auction house in 2008 to be sold along with other items from the personal collection. Throughout history, countless ships have been lost; but to this very day, MV Wilhelm Gustloff remains the deadliest marine accident, dwarfing even those of RMS Titanic and RMS Lusitania. Once completed, the boat measured 684 feet in length and weighed more than 25,000 tons. piece from the wreck which was transformed into a Madonna, Will Wilhelm Gustloff Museum. The Wilhelm Gustloff (built in 1937) had many different roles in its short period of service, as did the motor vessel the Oranje (constructed in 1938). Her wreck remains at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, and her story remains as a reminder of the horrors of the Second World War. But it took a while for construction to be completed, and in the meantime, the Second World War was brewing. Construction. Author: Darkone, Sioux – CC BY-SA 2.5. However, the story doesn’t end here, as the Poles were not the first to come across the divers body. He and his colleagues were ordered to move cabins from the port side of the ship to make way for those coming on. The location of the MV Wilhelm Gustoff has never been a mystery. Many ships have sunk with horrible loss of life, but never have so many lives been lost with a single ship. MV Wilhelm Gustloff was the German armed military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilian refugees from East Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland as well as Estonia in addition to military personnel from Gotenhafen Gdynia as a Red Army advanced. Trivia - It is widely considered by many historians that the sinking of another German ship Goya, by two torpedos of the Soviet sub L-3, on April 16 1945, is the greatest maritime disaster of all time. "At the Gotenhafen fortress, Ms. D. was to be transferred by ship to the less endangered area of the Reich. By one estimate 9,400 people died, which would make it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. To the many refugees streaming toward ports in the Danzig, escape to the West is the only hope of avoiding certain suffering and death. The above description is a general translation from the German letter. The Wilhelm Gustloff sank to a depth of 44 m leaving the keel at the geographical coordinates 55 ° 04'22 "N 17 ° 25'17" I / 55.07278, 17.42139. Highly overcrowded, the ship was sunk by a Russian submarine, killing more than 9,000 people, mostly civilians. Ticket for access to Gotenhafen during WWII. Although the Wilhelm Gustloff wreck was an attractive site for divers, in 1994 Polish authorities declared it a war grave and forbid any further expeditions out of … Christian ran a front page article in the newspaper on January 30th, 2016 in Wilhelm Gustloff Death Card from January 30th, 1945. The. The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German KdF flagship during 1937–1945, constructed by the Blohm & Voss shipyards. While not a secret, the incident did not receive nearly as much attention over the years as it would have had it … The ship was securely docked at Oxhöft Pier, and people were getting on board to be transported to safety. Recently I added The Damned Don't Drown by A.V. - Used for medicine out of the ship's pharmacy, measures 15cm high with the marking "200" on the bottom. For this purpose, MV Wilhelm Gustloff was put to use. One of the most notorious events of World War II was the sinking of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff . Originally had four painted scenes, one on each side. Movie video of the ocean liner MV Wilhelm Gustloff. Who struggled onto a lifeboat with this blanket during that fateful night, whose occupants were subsequently taken on board and rescued by a German torpedo boat, which I have been made aware of by his son. (Left to Right) - E.S. The silverware in the RMS Republic museum photo fared even better than this for having been submerged for twice as long. Inhaber dieses Ausweises ist berechtigt, das Kriegshafengelände zwecks Einschiffung auf H.K.S. When the Wilhelm Gustloff set sail on January 30th, 1945, among thos... e who were "lucky" enough to gain passage on board were 373 Marine Helferin or Women's Naval Auxiliary. One year later, she was once again repurposed and this time served as a carrier. On January 31 1945, this passenger ship sailed from Gotenhafen (Gydnia) in the Baltic, evacuating Germans who sought to escape the Russian offensive in Eastern Prussia. Please, dear family Georgi, do not be angry with me, I wanted to write to you, if you, have any wish, please let me know. The current count for the casualities for the. The year was 1945, and Germany was losing its grasp on the Second World War. PAP/EPA/Press materials. Nobody on board the massive ship suspected anything, but close to their location a Russian submarine was operating: the Soviet S-13. MV Wilhelm Gustloff before the war (Augst, Federal Archive). Many got crushed by the stampede of people and even more perished as lifeboats capsized and threw people into the deadly cold water. JD-Contractor A/S Denmark. Mr. With not much left to do, the Germans were looking for a way out. which I express my thanks a thousand times. Originally, however, she was to be named Adolf Hitler. This included a piece of her deck plank measuring 17”x5”x1” which was picked up Then the S-13 took up her position on the Wilhelm Gustloff's port side and fired three torpedoes at the liner. is now 92 years old and suffering from dementia in a nursing home on January 27. the hopes that someone out there may know more about the Madonna (possibly who carved it) and be able to Author: Unknown. 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 German civilians, German officials, refugees from Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Croatia and military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia) as the Red Army advanced. He will find it soon enough. See More. One of our contacts in Germany, who is also a, collector, purchased several pieces for his personal collection. Naval Document Centre                                                                                                        (21a) Minden i.W., den November 22nd, 1946. The decomposing body of a diver discovered on the sunken wreck of a WWII transport cruiser has been identified as that of Robert Szlecht, a diver from Poznań who went missing in 2012. Throughout history, countless ships have been lost; but to this very day, MV Wilhelm Gustloff remains the deadliest marine accident, dwarfing even those of RMS Titanic and RMS Lusitania. Photo of the ship and some of the lifeboats. along the coastal town of Leba, Poland, roughly 50 miles SE of the wrecksite. It has a 4" wide interwoven red stripe positioned near each end. The first torpedo hit at the bow, but the second found its mark at the swimming pool. His account of the post war period when the wreck was used and abused is particularly poignant and I continue to admire his determination and enthusiasm to see the project through. Noted as "Obstacle No. Titanic´s tragic sinking, with 1.500 people lost, is smashed by her staggering over 3.600 no of victims. Both the side edges of the blanket have the typical, tightly woven, interlocking, reinforcement threads to prevent fraying. Passing with the "Wilhelm Gustloff" 18 North side of Helgoland early 8 o'clock 19, 20. in Helgoland Begegung with mine room boat and fish steamer.