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![]() Wilhelm Gustloff as a hospital ship, before being converted into an armed military transport. Docked in Danzig, 23 September 1939.
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History | |
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Germany | |
Name | Wilhelm Gustloff |
Namesake | Wilhelm Gustloff |
Owner | ![]() |
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 |
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Name | Lazarettschiff D (Hospital Ship D) |
Operator | ![]() |
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 |
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Name | Wilhelm Gustloff |
Operator | ![]() |
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 [1] | |
Class and 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 |
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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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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,[3][4] 9,400 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 had been requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine (German navy) in 1939. She served as a hospital ship in 1939 and 1940. She was then assigned as a floating barracks for naval personnel in Gotenhafen before being fitted with anti-aircraft guns and put into service to transport evacuees in 1945.
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