From:Klas Horndahl from Norrköping, Sweden
Re: Request Info 2nd sinking 30 Jan 45

I miss the name of the other ship sunk same time as Gustloff. The number of lost lifes - those ships together, are enormous - Name of other ship was "SS Hermann.....(something), a Red Cross Ship

My reply...

As I had never heard of a second ship having been sunk that night, and much less, an Hospital Ship, Mr. Horndahl's request really got my full interest, to say the least. A search of all 'Hospital Ships' used during the war failed to disclose any ship named "Hermann .??..". However, I discovered that Mr. Horndahl was right on one point: another ship, as large as the Gustloff and, as the Gustloff, an ex-cruise liner had indeed sunk on that night (actually, ... on Jan 31st) but not in the vicinity of the Gustloff and not as a result of a torpedo attack!

The ship in question was the SS Berlin. The SS Berlin had been converted to a Hospital Ship in 1939. For a short period, the Berlin participated in the 'Strength through Joy' cruises. I could find no reference to confirm this but I believe the Berlin had been used in the early part of 45' to evacuate refugees from the Gotenhafen area. On January 31st, 1945, the Berlin hit a mine near Swinemunde. As she was being towed to Kiel for repairs, she again hit another mine and sank. I could find no record of casualties.

If anyone should have more data on sinking of the SS Berlin, I would appreciate them sharing it with me.

From: Tim Rosaire, Sausalito, CA
Re: Titanic and Gustloff....

There's another WWII ship sinking that I would like to learn more about. I don't know the ship's name, but it sailed out of Singapore carrying British nationals attempting to escape before the Japanese captured the city. Unfortunately is sailed right into the Japanese fleet and was sunk with great loss of life. Do you have any details on this disaster?

My reply follows....

Extensive research on the subject disclosed no ship 'sunk' while sailing out of Singapore. However, I did find one which was 'bombed'. The ship in question was the SS Vyner Brooke. It had sailed from Singapore on Feb. 14th, 1942 carrying some 300 evacuees mostly composed of women and children and 65 Australian Army Nurses. It was bombed by Japanese planes while transiting the Banka Strait. It sank shortly thereafter.

Although the record does not indicate the exact number of passengers who drowned, the fate of the 22 nurses and several women and children who survived the sinking is well documented. Upon reaching Radji Beach on Banka Island they surrendered to the Japanese forces as there was no hope of ever escaping the island.  They were repeatedly raped by members of the platoon to whom they had surrendered. The very same night, some forty British soldiers who had survived another sinking nearby arrived on the island. They were captured by the Japanese forces and were never heard from again. As for the nurses, and possibly other women as well, they were forced to wade into the ocean and were then machine-gunned. Only one survived the ordeal.

Following are addresses to some of the Websites discussing the subject

The National Archives of Singapore no longer online

THIS MONTH IN AUSTRALIAN MILITARY HISTORY no longer online

Hyperwar A Hypertext History of WWII no longer online

History Net

and... his follow-up

The SS Vyner Brooke is indeed the ship I am looking for information on and I will check out the sites you recommended. Thank you very much for your quick response. I'm looking forward to seeing the new additions to your own Web site.

From: Helga
Re: Wilhelm Gustloff

My late husband [name witheld by webmaster], born 1936 in Elbing Westprussia with his mother, two younger sisters and 9 month old brother escaped the Elbing Danzig area take-over by the Soviet troops on the ship Walter Rau. The Walter Rau,a whale boat left together with other ships including the W. Gustloff on January 30,1945

My husband's mother had tickets for the Gustloff already ,but due to the difficulty with the 4 kids, got help from a German seaman who got them directly onto the W. Rau. All German military men helped the women and children escape. The men were all gone, as my mother in law's husband was in concentration camp in Siberia.My husband's grandfather stayed in their house in Behrendshagen (today Jagodnik /Milejewo) He said he could not leave the animals. The grandmother was taken by another child. After the soviet troops were through , the people that returned home ,found him shot in bed. They buried him in the yard by the beek (Bach) creek on the property where he is to this day. My late husband and mother ,sisters and brother made it to Eckernfoerde. He told me many times how, during the trek they suddenly came to a stop and there was an eary silence.

Later they found out, because of the Gustloff. By the way the Soviets were apparently not the only ones, bombing the refugee ships. The British apparently did it too. Why are people not aware, you ask? Why are people not aware, that 18million German people were Vertrieben between 1945 and 1947-48? I believe it may have something to do with the fact that you cannot find a concrete answer on who ordered this Vertreibung. Many people did return after the war was over, but the Kontrollratsgesetz -the Allied Control Law of 1947 which abolished the land of Prussia, made the expelling of German people legal. Or did it?

At that time the victorious Allies, England, USA, Soviet Union called the removal of the 9 Million Germans from German Reich plus 9 Million Germans from Freistaat Danzig, Polish Corridor (Land already stolen in 1919) and other eastern european countries, a "Peacefull Resettlement". Today in the Balkans it's called a different name. By the way 2,5 Million Germans did not survive this "Peacefull Resettlement" The reason for the ALLIES to abolish Prussia? It seems the Allies, who had financed dictator Hitler (as counless other dictators since) wanted to do away with the evidence. Hitler had already ousted the legal Prussian Government under Otto Braun in 1932 with Staatsstreich, military take-over. Since the celebrations of the great WWII heros' is still going on , it is not very likely that you will find anyone admitting to giving orders for this vertreibung, of which the Gustloff is a part of. Please contact me with questions (e-mail address witheld by webmaster).

My reply to Helga

Thank you so much for writing and sending this most interesting information. Much of the information you included confirms some of the data I had gathered from various sources and your input is much appreciated. Also, some of your data is new to me.... for example, all my sources indicated that the Gustloff had sailed 'alone'. An escort had been planned for its voyage but, because it would have delayed the sailing by several hours, the Gustloff's Captain elected to depart earlier rather than wait for the escort. I will make some research on the Walter Rau. Most interesting indeed.

You stated: "All German military men helped the women and children escape."

This fact has been confirmed by several eye-witness sources and is a well documented fact. I have made mention of this fact in my account of the incident and, you may not be surprised that by doing so, it has generated some 'hate mail' from certain viewers of the Gustloff pages. It would appear that certain people (better left unnamed) will never accept that German sailors were capable of good, decent basic human actions. What a shame....

I had the good fortune and pleasure to host a survivor of the Gustloff recently in my home for several days and she verbally confirmed to me that indeed, would it not have been for German sailors.... she and her mother and sister would have been among the 8000 reportedly drowned that night !

re: By the way the Soviets were apparently not the only ones, bombing the refugee ships.......

You are correct on both counts! The British indeed did bomb refugee ships later on in the year. The Thielbek was sunk in Lubeck Bay on May 3rd, 1945 by the RAF. Another ship filled with refugees was also sunk during the same attack. It was the luxury liner Cap Arcona. The ships carried some 15,000 prisoners and only 1,600 among them survived.

Re: Why are people not aware,you ask? Why are people not aware , that18million German people were VERTRIEBEN between 1945 and 1947-48 ?...

When I first discovered the story of the sinking of the Gustloff, there was but one site on the entire Internet making mention of the sinking. A reader from Stuttgart, Germany had read my page on the Titanic and had written me, (see below) asking if I was aware of a maritime disaster so huge in loss of life that it relegated the Titanic's disaster to a much minimized proportion. As a long time student of maritime disasters in general and of the Kriegsmarine in particular, I was shocked to hear about the Gustloff. Not so much about the dimemsion of the disaster, although it was 'extreme' in the possible but about the fact that 'no one seemed to have heard of it'! I already knew about large disasters at sea, such as the Junyo Maru and the Leopoldville but the Gustloff.... ? It was a shock, to say the least and it prompted me to 'publicize' the fact and make it known to as many people around the world as I could. Since it's publication on the Net, at least 30,000 individuals have visited the various pages of the Gustloff features and hundreds have written me, such as you did.

Several have offered their help in the form of testimonials, photographs of the epoch and so on. All who wrote, without exception, began by stating they had never heard of the Gustloff sinking.... all of them! It is indeed mind boggling that such a disaster would remain 'unknown' after so many years.I agree with your reasoning as to 'why' it is so. There simply may be too many 'skeletons' left in the closets!

Having said all of this, what surprises me the most is that much publicity has been made about the Gustloff, especially in Germany. One of the survivors, Hans Schoen, has indeed written several books on the subject (six, in fact) and all published in German only (no English translation to date). He also has acted as 'technical advisor' on a made-for-TV video of the sinking which was aired in Germany in the late fifties and several times since then. Yet.... many of my German correspondents said 'they' had never heard of the Gustloff and this.... I find difficult to explain.

A copy of this video was graciously given me so I could view it. The story, just as the latest Titanic mega-success movie is rather pitiful and oddball, to say the least (simple love story to enhance the selling chances of the video) but it did depict the actual sinking and contained relatively accurate data of the event.

I am presently making serious efforts to contact Herr Schoen with the view of obtaining his cooperation in the making of my Gustloff feature and I hope to be successful as it would greatly enhance the contents of the feature. Herr Schoen has made the Gustloff a 'lifetime project' to propagate the truth about this disaster and he is recognized as 'the authority' on the subject. I also have contacted several well known movie and TV producers about cooperating in the making of a film on the Gustloff but, unfortunately, have received little support to date.

I do hope you did not find this long reply 'long-winded'. I felt the efforts you had put in your letter warranted such a long reply. I do have several questions for which I have yet not received an answer and I would like to perhaps send them to you at a later date. I have a great wealth of data which I have received during the past few months from correspondents; data composed of letters such as yours and photographs of the epoch etc... and I would much appreciate it if I could obtain your permission to publish your letter (along with my reply). Should you be able to send me photographs of the epoch, this also would be most appreciated. For example, would you have a photo of the ship Walter Rau?

Again, I would like to sincerely thank you for having taken the time tosend your most interesting letter!

From: John House
Re: Film on Gustloff

I am a German teacher and Gustloff enthusiast. I am also trying to write a novel which includes the Gustloff/ and survivors and victims in the story line. I would also like to write a screenplay about the tragedy unless somebody (like you) beats me to it. It thrills me to know there are other Gustloffites out there. I love your page.

My reply...

You are no doubt aware that a Mr Heinz Schoen has written several books on the subject. Unfortunately for me, none of them have been translated in English (or French) as I would much like to read them all. I do not believe they are in the 'novel' format however; he is known as the 'historian' par excellence on the subject of the Wilhelm Gustloff.

On the other hand, a film was made on the subject in Germany in the fifties and is still shown on TV in Germany. I have a video copy of it and, even with my little knowledge of the German language, I can safely affirm that the said film much resembles a 'novel' and does not concentrate too much on the 'human' or 'technical' aspect of the tragedy. What a pity.

As for my writing a screenplay..... how I wish I could do so. This film would have no need for a 'covering' plot; I can just see it..... sub-zero temperatures, the wind howling, the Hipper rushing to the scene  with sirens and spotlights searching the surface then having to depart; ten foot waves, floating ice, two submarines lurking in the area waiting for the final kill....... with such actual drama, there is no need for a plot, romantic or otherwise.

I have discussed a film project with acquaintances of mine (who have written the screenplays and produced popular American TV shows etc) and the concensus, unfortunately, is that in the wake of the huge success achieved with the latest Titanic film (Cameron) that there would be little interest in another maritime disaster. As one of them said.... "The Titanic is a tough act to follow" 

As I said before... "what a pity" because, should a film be made on the sinking of the Gustloff, it could be one of the most dramatic films ever made, as long as one would 'stick' to what really happened". There are still enough living survivors who could contribute to the scenario by giving 'their' account of the tragedy as they remember it... I personnaly have met some of the survivors and they all, without exception, would dearly love to tell their story so the world would know what really happened but time is short....

Having said all of the above, I can only state that I wish some well known and well-respected producer would take on such a project. My friends have contacted some of them and, for various reasons, each one as valid in their own mind as the other, they all have shown little interest to 'personally' get involved. The only one such producer I (we) agree could and should take on such a venture would be Robert Redford as he has proven himself capable in the past to produce films based solely on 'his' beliefs and not to over worry about financial returns. You can rest assured that serious efforts are presently being carried out to get him interested but, alas, I wouldn't hold my breath.

As you appear seriously involved with this project, there is perhaps another point I believe worth mentioning. I have corresponded and personnally interviewed survivors of the sinking and all, without exception, were very interested in talking about it and sharing whatever information they had and, more importantly, all indicated a desire to 'remain anonymous'. The few testimonials I have posted on the Net were from survivors, and in some cases... dependants of survivors, who granted me permission to do so and list their name. I also have much more data which was given to me under the condition that it would not be posted on the Net and if I did post it, that I was not to associate their name or address with the posted data.

I also have a good contact in Stuttgart who knows several of the survivors and has contact with Herr Schoen. Unfortunately, I have not heard from this contact in a while and am desperately trying to re-establish communication.

I am most interested in your project(s) and if I can be of any assistance at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. With the coming of the winter months, I will concentrate on the Gustloff feature. More and more surfers are visiting this feature and this is a good sign.

Follow up

I have not read the Schoen book or seen the video. Do you know how I can obtain them? I have seen reference to a Polish documentary on the wreck.Are you familiar with that? I have read The Cruelest Night and The Damned Don't Drown, of course. As far as a movie is concerned, Spielberg seems like a producer/director who would be interested in such a story. Do you have his E-mail address? Do you have any knowledge of the connection of the Gustloff and the Amber Room treasure?

My reply

Herr Schoen wrote at least six books on the subject. Other than the references to him made in my biblio's page I have no new material on him. When I restore contact with my friend in Stuttgart I will ask some more info on Herr Schoen. As for the video, it was obtained for me by a friend who was visiting Munich some months ago.

re: wreck site: I seem to recall having references to that documentary in my biblio's page. As I do not read Polish nor German I am a little at a disadvantage in that area.

re: The book 'The Damned don't drown'... According to my sources, this book is pretty accurate although one of the survivors questioned quite a few facts which I intend to upload on my page soon. re: Spielberg... He was contacted and declined. re: the Amber Room: I have quite a bit of material on the subject. According to a contact, who has made several dives on the Gustloff's wreck, there is no chance the Amber room ever was on the Gustloff. I am tempted to believe him. If there ever was an Amber room on the Gustloff, given the state of the wreck at the present time..... there would be no hope to ever prove it!

From: Kristine Goroll
Re: the Gustloff

As a young girl I met a former crew member of the ship that had accompanied the Gustloff. I found this out from his mother. He himself refused to talk about this horrible incident. He was always very withdrawn and sad. All I remember was his first name which was Georg. I have often wondered why nobody ever mentions the Gustloff. In my opinion, it was one of the most senseless and cruel acts in a war that is unsurpassed in suffering and loss of life. More people need to know about the Gustloff. What was gained by murdering innocent people who had already suffered so much?.

Cruely was not a nazi specialty. Although the fate of the Titanic has always upset me, and I would not ever voluntarily see the movie, it is most likely the sinking of the Gustloff that brought me to this decision. The horror will be with me forever as part of the many horrors we were experiencing then. Good luck with your research. I do hope that the Gustloff an other vessels like her and the people that went down with them, will be remembered.

From: Reuben Epp
Re: Gustloff

Having read what I can find on the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, I would now ask who was, and what was it about the man, Wilhelm Gustloff, that merited the naming of a ship after him? Or is that information also ignored by historians?

My reply..

The information was not ignored by the historians. In fact, Wilhelm Gustloff, the man, is mentioned at great length in noble references such as the Encyclopedia Britannica and such. And if you read the mail from certain 'newsgroups', especially those related to the Holocaust, you would find Wilhelm Gustloff (the man, not so much the ship) mentioned on numerous occasions.

Wilhelm Gustloff, was the leader of the Nazi party in Switzerland. He was assassinated in February of 1936 by a fellow named David Frankfurter. Prior to WW II, the Wilhelm Gustloff was the largest of a group of cruise ships used by the Nazi Party to provide R&R to party members. Knowing the 'raison d'etre' of those ships, it becomes clear why this name was chosen to christen the largest of them all. In the eyes of some, Whilhelm Gustloff was seen as a 'martyr', hence the christening.

Personally, I have always elected (and succeeded) to remain absolutely neutral about any aspect related to the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy which exlains why I have not made any great mention of Wilhelm Gustloff, the man, in my feature. In my view, the ship could have been named the 'Lolllipop' and it would not have lessened nor increased the enormity of the tragedy but to some people, the mere mention of the name Wilhelm Gustloff is enough to generate a ton of hate mail......

I do hope the above has helped answering your query. A search for Wilhelm Gustloff (the man) with any good search engine should generate hundreds of related links.

The follow-up

I thank you. Your information was exactly what I needed. At first I did not find it on Internet, but I now have that too. My old set of Britannica of 1959 vintage does not appear to list that name. Perhaps it is buried somewhere in Swiss or Nazi history..

From Mark Hirst, Scotland
Re: The Lancastria

I am a member of the Lancastria Association. My grandfather Walter hirst was a survivor of the Lancastria. As you will already know the sinking was the worst single loss of life in British maritime history with more people dying on the Lancastria than the Titanic and Lusitania put together.

Through the Lancastria Association I am in regular weekly contact with many of the survivors. In June we went on a pilgrimage to St. Nazaire to commemorate the 58th anniversary of the disaster. The Royal Navy arranged for 4 patrol boats to take us out over the wreck.

You may be aware the the official report in to the sinking has been suppressed until the year 2040. This leads many of us to think that the full facts relating to the sinking have not been fully examined. Perhaps you have heard more details? If you would like any further information please let me know, I would be happy to assist. I would also be prepared to supply you with a detailed account of the sinking for publication on your Web site if you would like.

My reply...

I hasten to reply to your most interesting proposal. I would be most interested in cooperating with you in a special feature about the Lancastria within the Gustloff pages.

(June 17, 1940) The Cunard White Star passenger liner Lancastria (16,243 tons) is bombed and sunk off St. Nazaire, France. While lying at anchor, five enemy planes dive bombed the ship which sank, taking the lives of nearly 3,000 troops and over 1,000 civilians.The Lancastria had been converted into a troopship and set sail from Liverpool on June 14th. to assist in the evacuation of British troops and refugees. She was about to sail to England after loading on board soldiers and RAF personnel of the British Expeditionary Force, plus hundreds of civilians. Many survivors were picked up by HMS Havelock and other ships.The bomb which actually sank the Lancastria went straight down the funnel and exploded in the engine room. The site of the sinking is now an official War Grave.

As mentioned above, I would be most happy to fully cooperate with you in this venture. What made the Gustloff feature so popular with visitors is the fact that I managed to actually meet survivors and post their testimonials about that tragedy. With your resources now available, such as weekly contact with survivors etc, I am sure the posting of their testimonials and perhaps photographs would ensure that many more would discover about the Lancastria.

I am prepared to feature a separate page to the Lancastria and, if you can supply testimonials and, especially photographs, I would post them all and.... server space is no restriction.

If among your contacts you have several survivors who have written about their experience (including photographs) I would make a separate post for each individual.

follow up...

Here is a rough draft of an article which outlines the story of the Lancastria. I have much more information relating to the sinking. If you require specific points then let me know.

HMT Lancastria - An untold story of sacrifice and disaster.The Lancastria is perhaps the least known of all the great ship tragedies. She was built on the River Clyde, Glasgow - the heart of global shipbuilding and originally named the Tyrrhenia. The name proved too unpopular with American passengers who had difficulty pronouncing and spelling the name, so in March 1924 she was renamed Lancastria. Her maiden voyage was made from Liverpool to Quebec. Lancastria was to become the forth worst shipping loss, in terms of human life, this century, and the single worst in British maritime history.

In April 1940 Lancastria was requisitioned as a troopship and immediately saw action during the evacuation of troops from Norway. On her return she was loaded with approximately 1500 tonnes of fuel oil at Glasgow before heading for Liverpool on the 14th of June, her home port, for dry-docking and a well needed overhaul. Within hours her crew were recalled from shore-leave and Lancastria set sail from Liverpool for the last time. Europe at this time was in absolute turmoil. The Nazis had swept across Western Europe in six weeks defeating the armies of Belgium, Holland and France before subjecting the British to the biggest humiliation since the revolutionary war in the Americas.

At 06.00 Hrs on the 17th of June 1940, the Lancastria lay 5 miles off St. Nazaire, France, Latitude 47.09º North, Longitude 2.20º West. It was a bright but cool start to the day. Captain Sharp and Chief Officer Grattidge receive orders to load as many troops and refugees as possible and to disregard international law on passenger limits. It was to prove a fatal decision for most of the 6000 + souls that boarded the Lancastria. Royal Navy Destroyers and smaller craft continued bringing the troops out. By lunchtime the decks were packed with hundreds and thousands of troops and refugees.

A nearby destroyer signaled the Lancastria to get under way if she was full to capacity, but offered no escort. The skies were full of the sound of aircraft. Suddenly another troop transport, the Oronsay, lying not far from the Lancastria was attacked and hit near her bridge. Debris fragments shot out towards the Lancastria. Witnessing this some troops that were presently below decks decided to make their way Topside. Most had no life jackets.

The air-raid siren from the harbour at St. Nazaire suddenly sounded again. Then out of the sun a German bomber appeared, bomb doors open. A salvo of four bombs ripped through the Lancastria and the ship began to buck and shudder. One bomb detonated in number 2 hold where a contingent of around 800 RAF personnel had been placed. Flames and thick black smoke began billowing from number 2's main hatch cutting off their exit. The second bomb appeared to have struck near or, perhaps even gone down the funnel. The smoke covered the forward section of the vessel. One bomb hit in number 3 hold, releasing 1400 tons of fuel oil.Signalmen in the Bridge frantically shouted down the bridge telegraph, Hello.... Engine-room, Engine-room.... Only silence greeted them.

One bomb landed in the water but near enough to the Lancastria to blow a searing hole in her side. Panic ensued Grattidge grabbed a megaphone and ordered the crew to clear away the boats. Initially the liner had begun listing to Starboard but as the order came for men to move over to her Port side she leveled off. It was a hopeless task. The Lancastria was dying and with her thousands of people.Hundreds of men, women and children were now in the oil soaked sea. The overwhelming majority of them were men of the British Expeditionary Force, the BEF. Hundreds, possibly thousands were still aboard the turning hulk of the Lancastria as she began her death-roll over to her Port-side.

As the propellers appear out of the water men began standing on the side of the ship. Some started singing - Roll out the Barrel. It was a truly macabre spectacle. For the people in the water there was no singing. Oil was everywhere, congealed it stuck to their clothes, their hair. It stinged the eyes, it forced its way up the nostrils and into the lungs.The horror was not over. The Luftwaffe aircraft continued to circle. They came diving out of the sky, strafing the survivors in the water and on the sinking ship. Some aircraft were seen dropping incendiaries into the water in an attempt to light the free-flowing oil which was escaping from the Lancastria.In just over 20 minutes the 16,243 ton Lancastria disappeared beneath the waves.

The sea became awash with wreckage, upturned lifeboats, dogs, refugees, soldiers. Many of those with life jackets lay motionless in the sea having jumped into the water at some height and instantaneously met their death as the life jacket rode up and broke their necks. The two destroyers present, HMS Havelock and HMS Highlander started taking survivors aboard as did the many merchant ships present such as Glenaffaric, Oronsay, Fabian and the John Holt. Many of the survivors were seriously wounded.Fewer than 2,500 people were rescued. The exact death toll will never be known as the Chief Purser stopped counting after more than 6,000 had boarded the Lancastria. Her usual compliment, including crew was 2,180. Estimates of Lancastria's complement at the time of the sinking range from 6,000 to over 9,000.

Amongst the survivors were Captain Sharp and Chief Officer Grattidge. Sharp later lost his life as master of the Laconia after she was torpedoed in September 1942. Only 972 survivors were picked up. Under Sharp's command at least 5,200 people lost their lives. Lancastria remains Cunard's worst marine loss. 36% of all casualties suffered by the British Expeditionary Force from September 1939 to June 1940, were due to the disaster of the Lancastria.

In June 1998 survivors and members of the Lancastria Association undertook a pilgrimage to St. Nazaire to commemorate the anniversary of the sinking. Four patrol boats of the Royal Navy took the party out over the wreck for a wreath laying ceremony where the Association's bugler sounded Last Post. The Association also holds an annual ceremony in London to commemorate the victims of the disaster.Written by Mark Hirst

Note This information has since been included within the main feature page

From: Patricia Saengerr
Re: The Gustloff

In Russel Ash's book, The Top 10 of Everything - 1998, The Wilhelm Gustloff, Goya, and the Cap Arcona are listed on page 168 under the 10 worst marine disasters. It was the first time I had ever heard of these! I am homeschooling my daughters and we are studying German history. Of course it was amazing to us that such large disasters involving substantial numbers of civilians were not more well known. So, we decided to search for info and found your web page. Please continue your research! We will be coming back for more info. as you post it. Thank you for publishing this information as I don't know where else we could find it!

My reply

I am presently corresponding with several survivors and relatives of survivors and the new info will soon be uploaded. One of the survivors, now living in Australia, was a baby when the Gustloff sank and her survival, along with that of her mother (since deceased) was mentioned at great length in the book "The damned don't drown" (see biblio page). She will send me a copy of the original 'pass' which all survivors were given certifying they were sirvivors of the Gustloff thus giving them access to rail transportation and more... so they could evacuate to Northern Germany.

From: Jean triquet, Madrid
Re: The Leopoldville

I was very interesested in reading your web-page concerning the sinking of the Leopoldville: my grand-uncle was the captain of the ship ! Since I was born in 60s I had not the opportunity to know him and know very few on that tragedy ! I was at first surprised that people died with the sinking of the ship. What I can remember from family documents is that only the captain and another crew member died in the tragedy. Secondly I was also surprised that my grand-uncle did not send a distress message ('The captain did nothing'). An explanation of his attitude could be that he believed that the ship could be rescued. I will try to get a copy of the book which has been written on that issue and would be very pleased to keep contact with you in order to investigate a part of my family past.

My reply..

Dear Jean,

Thank you so much for writing and sharing your thoughts on this terrible tragedy and I apologize for taking so long to reply.

Re the events in question, what I believe made it such a tragedy, besides the fact there were so many lives lost, is the fact it was kept secret for so many years. I can understand how the descendants of those who lost their life felt, not knowing for so many years after the war had ended,  the fate of their loved ones. It was this 'not knowing' which here, I believe,  represents the real tragedy. There were several witnessed and recorded acts of bravery carried out by those who drowned which were never made known to the world and especially, to the descendants of those brave souls. Many sons and daughters lived for years thinking their husbands or father had died somewhere but exactly where? And how?

I have not read the book mentioned on my page yet, nor do I believe I ever will,  given it's asking price but, based on the little I have managed to gather, I have no doubt the entire rescue operation was 'botched' from all aspects. Perhaps it was because of the festive season... everyone on shore just having a good time and not noticing a mere five miles aways what was happening. For example,  where I live, there is an island five miles directly away from my house. I can easily see a small intra-island ferry when located five miles away. It absolutely behooves me to try to understand how so many people in Cherbourg, a mere five miles away, could not see nor detect there was something horribly wrong going on out there... right in their backyard! So I am not at all surprised that the American, British and Belgian goverments opted to classify the whole mess as a war secret. Which it absolutely remained so until many years later.

Having said all of the above, I understand that you be very interested in finding more about the tragedy as a whole and in particular, as one would expect, the part your great-uncle would have played in it.

As dark as the whole situation may appear, I can see some good and redeeming points in the whole affair for your uncle.  To begin with, the Leopoldville (and I assume under the command of your great-uncle) had until that fateful night succeeded in transporting nearly 125,000 troops to various destinations without any undue mishap, probably under very adverse conditions, both weather wise and danger of enemy action.

Secondly, it is a matter of record that the entire crew successfully succeeded in leaving the ship and saving their lives except, as my records indicate, only one crew member your uncle. I am certain as all the other crewmembers survived, your great-uncle surely could also have done so, him being the Captain  but, by all appearances, he chose not to do so. In a way, this is to his credit.

You mentioned in your letter, the following:

"Secondly I was also surprised that my grand-uncle did not send a distress message ('The captain did nothing'). An explanation of his attitude could be that he believed that the ship could be rescued."

I tend to believe as you do in this matter. Having had so many successful crossings without any mishap and, the Channel being 'thought' secured and free from enemy submarines at that time, one can easily believe there would be no incident. Once the torpedoe strucked, the ship did not, for a long while, give any sure indication if was to sink.  (in the case of the Gustloff... it was immediately apparent she did not have long  and sank in fifty minutes) After all it did take the ship two and a half hours to sink. What I fail to understand however is that so many of the crewmembers could leave the ship in lifeboats without anyone in authority shooting a few of them at point blank, if only as an example to others who would choose to do the same. This is the one point I am still trying to clear up.

You also mentioned the following.....

"What I can remember from family documents ......." If you do have documents and or photographs which could shed a light on the whole matter and would be willing to share them with me, I would be more than happy to include them in the Leopoldville pages. Perhaps you would like to have your own impressions made a matter of record. Whichever you decide, I would be most happy and willing to cooperate with you in this matter. For example, a photograph of your great-uncle would be of great interest.

I would like you to remember that the sole purpose of my feature on the Gustloff, Leopoldville, Junyo Maru and all of those tragedies depicted in my feature is to let the world know what happened, on all sides, so that, armed with the knowledge of what has happened, the world  might just opt not to repeat history.

I thank you for having written and would much love to hear from you again, soon.

Best regards,

From: Anthony Tully
Re: Cap Arcona, Gustloff, Steuben and others

I am very impressed with your site dedicated to these neglected disasters to the German liners in the Baltic Sea. It was with considerable delight that I found pictures displayed from an actual German book on the Cap Arcona! I too have taken the time to try to find sources of naval history in other languages, for I am a contributor to the Nihon Kaigun site on the Japanese Navy.

In any case, I am writing to ask if that book had any pictures other than the one you showed of the Cap Arcona's wreck? If it is post-war, did the caption explain why it is *smoking furiously*? It is possible you have alot more information than you displayed, but in case you don't, I wanted to mention that I have a magazine article that shows Cap Arcona in a photograph at Gydnia in *1944*. It wasn't one of the ones I saw on your site. If there isn't another shot of the wreck in the book, I can tell you where to find one taken within a day or so of the attack. Though one source gives figures lost for Thielbek (see below), have you found any for Deutschland?

Further, I too have read the "Dentist of Auschwitz" account, and it is very vivid and turns out pretty accurate too in times and details. However, I have found a little bit of historical notes you may find useful in your work:

April, 14/45 : Cap Arcona has to heave to off Lubeck with engine trouble.

4/18 The Germans evacuate Neungamme concentration camp.

4/26 More than 4,000 from the camp are loaded on Cap Arcona despite the protests of the skipper.

5/1/45 A further 300 or so are apparently loaded, some from Stutthof. (This is the dentist's group?).

5/3/45 Hit by 40 rockets that set the Cap Arcona ablaze at about 2:15. The nearby Thielbek is blasted and sinks withing 20 minutes with 2,500 lost aboard. Cap Arcona lingers much longer, but gradually rolls some 50 degrees onto her port side and comes to rest. Deutschland is reported also sunk, but a photograph clearly shows here still afloat though burned out, off the starboard bow of Arcona.

I should also mention that I have a vivid article written by a survivor of the sinking of the General Steuben that if you don't have it, is a must read. look forward to hearing from you,

regards

Anthony Tully

My reply...

All the photos on the Arcona, and several on the Gustloff, were sent to me by a correspondent in Germany. Since I received these photos, and, after a voluminous correspondence, I have totally lost contact with my correspondent. I am trying very hard to reopen the lines of communication but, alas, with negative results so far. I am therefore unable to shed any more light on the subject at hand. What a pity!

You wrote: "If it is post-war, did the caption explain why it is *smoking furiously*?".......

I would be interested in sharing with you any and all information I have on the subject and would appreciate a reciprocal arrangement on your part.

I found the above 'new' information you provided most interesting. I would much appreciate it if you could send me a copy of any article and new data you might have on any of the ships mentioned in my feature. Of course, I would give you proper credit for any info I upload (unless you indicate you would rather remain anoymous, in which case I would respect your wishes.)

I was very happy to hear from you and hope you will keep in touch,

From: Michel Schwab, Paris France
Re: Thank you

Hello from Paris. Not a lot people know about the tragedy of Whilhem Gustloff. Your page is good and instructive for the ones who doesn't know. Sorry for my poor english and have a nice day.

My reply..

Hello Michel,

Etant natif de Montréal, Québec et présentement retraité sur l'Ile de Vancouver (Colombie Britannique Canada) j'ai le plaisir de pouvoir vous répondre en Francais.

Merci beaucoup pour m'avoir envoyé cette note. Effectivement, tres peu de personnes semblaient etre au courant de cette terrible tragédie du Wilhelm Gustloff et de tant d'autres mentionnés dans cet article de Omega. Il semblerait que la majorité des visiteurs croyait que le Titanic était l'hapothéose des désastres maritimes. Maintenat, ils savent que tel n'est pas le cas. Encore une fois, merci et j'espere que vous reviendrez souvent visiter Omega.

From:Alar Pastarus
Re: The Goya

My name is Alar Pastarus and I was born 1943 in Estonia. First of all, I would like to thank you for an excellent web-site. Very interresting! When I was a little boy (6 or 7 years old), my father told me that we were passengers on a big ship that was attacked by a submarine and that the ship was broken in to two parts. This happened in the spring of 1945 when we were trying to leave Germany. Probably, I was a passenger on the Goya. Please notify my by e-mail when the Goya-section is updated.

Kindest regards

Alar Pastarus

My reply..

To date,I have very little information on the Goya, other than what I have been able to find while searching the Internet. As the Gustloff's feature gets more 'known', I am sure I will be getting new material on the Goya and will certainly notify you (via my Compuflash Bulletins) of any new addition to the Omega site. I have added your name to the mailing list and you should receive any new Bulletin issued.

I have also visited your site and found it most interesting. The history of Estonia is quite interesting and I was very happy to learn about your country.

From: (Christoph Preussler
Re: Cap Arcona

The pages are very interesting to me. Recently I met a person, which sailed to Brazil on the Cap Arcona in the early thirties. She had a lot of photos about that. We are just thinking about to make the arcona in a quicktime 3D Film. On one of your photos is the DO X, which is a huge waterbased aircraft by dornier. We now have that machine in a quicktime animation, which cost us about 1 monthto construct.

My reply...

Very interesting indeed. If you find some photographs among your friends'  collection which you believe would add to the interest of my Arcona page and would be willing to contribute them to the page, I would be more than pleased to add them to the feature.  Please just let me know.

The animation for the DO X looks very interesting.

From: Edmundo Abad Munoz, Santiago-Chile
Re: Good wishes

To the survivors of Wilhelm Gustloff.

In 1984 I read for the first time on the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, and actually I felt a great pain by those forgotten victims to the history. Goes for the dead and surviving, my deeper recognition. I wait that the survivors may have a Happy Christmas 1988, and that they know that there are persons in the world, that have not forgotten them

My reply...

Dear Edmundo,

Thank you so much for your message. Indeed, there are now many in the world who are aware of this great disaster and.... they remember. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones,

From: Robyn S. Wills
Re: Prinz Eugen

I am a writer attempting to compile (at least on a part time basis) any and all information for use in a potential book concerning the DKM Prinz Eugen. As such, I had already heard of the disaster with the Willhelm Gustloft, but details are a little sketchy (at least on my end). I do know that Jason Pipes has done some research on this subject for his WWII site. I hope you have better luck in contacting him than I have.

In addition to this information, I would like to place a link to your site on the Gustloft on my page concerning the Eugen.

My other request is that if you learn of Eugen's relative position near any of the early 1945 disasters (the evacuation perations) you would forward them to me. I will do likewise if I come across anything else on the Gustloft. As always, any information regarding survivors I will forward, and hope you would do the same for me with the Eugen.

Further correspondence re: The Hipper...

One fact has to be kept in mind when discussing DKM Hipper and the rescue: at that point in the war, few true capital class ships remained in Kriegsmarine service. Scharnhorst was gone, Tirpitz lay upside-down in a Norwegian fjord, Gniesenau was sunk. The only ships left were either hopelessly obsolete or very busy elsewhere. these included the Prinz Eugen, and the destroyer Nuremberg (the two largest ships to survive the war).

Within the DKM there was almost a paranoia regarding the safety of these ships, and rightfully so. The Allies were making good at their efforts to sink these ships as fast as they could be located. Also, unlike WWI where battles were often determined by size of combatants, both Allied and Axis experience indicated a single large ship could be rendered helpless by a ship far smaller than convention would first indicate.

Take Scharnhorst and HMS Gloworm. Although sunk in action against Scharnhorst, the Gloworm succeeded in ramming the heavy battle cruiser - putting the ship out of action for 6 weeks worth of repairs. During this delay, Gniesenau, the other ship trapped in Brest with Scharnhorst was damaged by a mine while operating in local waters.During the last battle fought by Bismarck, a single 5" shell from the light cruiser Norfolk is credited with taking out the battleship's main fire control station - putting an end to an effort which was begining to get results against HMS Rodney, the only battlewagon effective fire was concentrated upon.

Rodney was stradled several times before CMD Scheider (Bismarck's chief gunnery officer) was killed. It is quite likely had the shelling continued for a few more salvos, Rodney would have gone down like Hood! Thus, it is possible Hipper may have disregarded standing orders and stayed to make these efforts. I have no direct knowledge to prove this assumption, but it does seem reasonable.If I find out anything relevent to such in my research of DKM Prinz Eugen, I will forward it to you.

Robyn S. Wills

My reply...

Thank you so much for your feedback.

I tend to agree with you when you wrote:

Quote: Thus, it is possible Hipper may have disregarded standing orders and stayed to make these efforts.  I have no direct knowledge to prove this assumption, but it does seem reasonable. Unquote

I much appreciated your input on the subject and am looking forward to read any additional thought you may have on the subject.

From: Wolfgang Eisfeld
Re: Cap Arcona

Just recently I met a nice old lady that told me her story of escaping from the Cap Arcona before it was sunken by British bombers. This very much sparked my interest in this subject since I heared of an event like this before, but almost nothing is known in the public. I had to find out that it is very hard to find any information about this disaster, especially not about any background.

Can you give me any information about this, or where to find information about this, respectively? I would highly appreciate to learn more about this topic.

With best regards,

Wolfgang Eisfeld

My reply....

Dear Wolfgang,

To the best of my knowledge, my site provides the most information about, not only the Cap Arcona but all those other major disasters such as the Whilhelm Gustloff, the Goya etc. It also has a large biography of reference books, movies, other sites etc.

As you are writing me, I can only assume you already have visited my 'Disasters' page. If not, you can find it at

http//www.compunews.com/~jsav/gus/pending.htm

Those pages are updated on a continuous basis as I receive new information from survivors and other sources. Note also that the Cap Arcona feature includes several photographs which, I hope, you will find interesting.

On March 5th, 1998 I received the following e-mail...

From: Ursula Schairer, Germany

Re: Titanic and Gustloff....

"Dear Mr. Sauvageau, your Titanic page is very interesting (the others, too) .... But maybe I have an interesting hint for you. I read what you wrote about that ship leaving the port of Danzig in February 45 that was torpedoed by a Russian submarine. (No, it was not february, but January, 30, the day of the Nazi's takeover 12 years earlier, and it was not Danzig, but Gdingen, in Nazi Germany called "Gotenhafen", and today the place belongs to Poland and the name is Gdynia.)

The ship's name was "Wilhelm Gustloff" and there exists a book in English about her! It was written by Christopher DOBSON, John MILLER and Ronald PAYNE, and the title is THE CRUELLEST NIGHT (German Title: Die Versenkung der "Wilhelm Gustloff"). The book was released in 1979. Perhaps you will find a copy in a library. Good luck and au revoir."

Note: The above message is what started it all. I could hardly believe that in spite of my long interest in maritime disasters I had never heard of the Gustloff. The more I discovered about this disaster and all the others which took place within the same time frame, the more I became determined to make a special feature and pass on the information to others.

From:George Muhling
Re: Query

Why is the sinking of the Gustloff described as a maritime disaster and not, as what I think it was, a war crime that went unmentioned and unpunished?

My reply....

The short answer to your question would be "Because it was, by definition, a maritime disaster."  No one can contradict that statement. Defining it as such does not affix any blame nor condone the actions taken on that fateful night.  When I first began work on this feature, some ten months ago, the aim was to document the events (such as the sinking of the Gustloff, the Goya, the Junyo Maru  and all those other ships discussed in the feature) and make the data available to all who cared to visit this site.

To date, over 14,000 have done so and more are visiting every day as the word gets around. It has never been my intention, nor is it at present, to act as judge and jury on the matter. I have vowed to present a totally impartial, apolitical view of those events and will continue to do so. As I am sure you are well aware, there are numerous sites on the Internet and untold newsgroups which are dedicated to discussing the political implications of those events.

One aspect of this feature I am very proud of is the fact that I have not received one so called 'flame' or 'hate message'. Literally hundreds have either sent e-mail or signed the guestbook and not one has written what could be construed as a 'flame' message.  I would like to think this means visitors do recognize the impartiality and the manner with which the material is presented. The majority of those who wrote mentioned the fact they had never heard of the Gustloff (and of the other ships mentioned) and were wondering why this was so. I have attempted in this work to offer an explanation as to why this is so.  It might be for the same reason most people do not know who originated the expression "The Iron Curtain" and erroneously credit Mr Winston Churchill as the author. I invite you to read the article on the subject (listed on the menu).

If you should have any additional information on the Gustloff which you would like to share with our visitors I would be most happy to include it in the feature.

I thank you for sharing your thoughts on the subject.

From:Robyn S. Will
Re: Hipper Involvment

One fact has to be kept in mind when discussing DKM Hipper and the rescue: at that point in the war, few true capital class ships remained in Kriegsmarine service. Scharnhorst was gone, Tirpitz lay upside-down in a Norwegian fjord, Gniesenau was sunk. The only ships left were either hopelessly obsolete or very busy elsewhere. these included the Prinz Eugen, and the destroyer Nuremberg (the two largest ships to survive the war).

Within the DKM there was almost a paranoia regarding the safety of these ships, and rightfully so. The Allies were making good at their efforts to sink these ships as fast as they could be located. Also, unlike WWI where battles were often determined by size of combatants, both Allied and Axis experience indicated a single large ship could be rendered helpless by a ship far smaller than convention would first indicate. Take Scharnhorst and HMS Gloworm.

Although sunk in action against Scharnhorst, the Gloworm succeeded in ramming the heavy battle cruiser - putting the ship out of action for 6 weeks worth of repairs. During this delay, Gniesenau, the other ship trapped in Brest with Scharnhorst was damaged by a mine while operating in local waters.

During the last battle fought by Bismarck, a single 5" shell from the light cruiser Norfolk is credited with taking out the battleship's main fire control station - putting an end to an effort which was begining to get results against HMS Rodney, the only battlewagon effective fire was concentrated upon. Rodney was stradled several times before CMD Scheider (Bismarck's chief gunnery officer) was killed. It is quite likely had the shelling continued for a few more salvos, Rodney would have gone down like Hood!

Thus, it is possible Hipper may have disregarded standing orders and stayed to make these efforts. I have no direct knowledge to prove this assumption, but it does seem reasonable.

If I find out anything relevent to such in my research of DKM Prinz Eugen, I will forward it to you.

From: Ian Kinder
Re: RMS Empress of Ireland

New papers, television programs and talk shows have been discussing the RMS Empress of Ireland. An underwater team of demolition experts and a salvage company is going to dynamite the Empress this summer in order to salvage a load of nickel!!! Historians and representatives of the Salvation Army who are protesting this action, said that legally nothing can be done to stop this destruction of the Empress this summer the wreck has fallen through the cracks in the legal system.

There were over 1,014 bodies entombed inside the wreck, 134 of these bodies were children most of which were never recovered from this tragedy. People would be outraged if someone proposed to dig up a cemetery in a city or village for the same idea! What the difference? The passengers and crew had no choice, to me is like their burial ground and should not be destroyed for greed."

Many concerned groups have approached me expressing their anger at this action. Unfornately at this time the Canadian Government has no law that legally prevents this kind of action against the Empress and the families who were lost or entombed aboard the Empress. It is very important that this site is not dynamited since the passengers and crew of the Empress didn't choose the Empress to be their final resting place.

I have talk to a historian from the muse de la mer in Rimouski which also tells the story of the Empress. They have informed me that a cargo manifest list is extremely hard to find as a matter of fact the museum has never seen one. Also they have never heard of any nickel ingots aboard the Empress. Apprently an insurance companyhas hired this team of diver to salvage the cargo. Name of the company unknown.

I have posted a message on the RMS Empress of Ireland web site to anyone concerned about this matter and I have provided e-mail address of Canadian Government M.P.'s. I ask you please write to and protest against this action of the destruction of the Empress of Ireland before it to late!!!

Best regards,

Ian Kinder

From: Karl Brodowsky, Germany
Re: Submarine Escort

When I went to school I had an English teacher, who was captain of a submarine that accompanied the Gustloff for its protection.

My Reply

Do you happen to know, from talking with him afterwards, if the Gustloff was escorted by submarines on the fateful night of Jan 30th?

reply.....

Yes, definitely. It was escorted by the submarine that he was commanding. I am sure that he said so and I am sure that it is true, but I have no proofs. I try to find out, if he is still alive and how to contact him. He would be 79 years old now. If he is still healthy enough, he would probably be an interesting eye witness.

follow up.....

I, like many interested in the Gustloff, would be very happy to hear from this gentleman, if he is still alive. It would make for a most interesting story indeed. I have never seen any mention of the Gustloff having had a submarine escort. If we could hear from the Captain of the sub who did escort the Gustloff.... it would be fantastic. I do hope you will be able to contact him and hear more from him.

reply....

I found out name:Karl-Heinz Ralf and address:

address followed...[witheld by self] my reply to latest:

Thanks for such a prompt reply and the good news that Herr .Ralf is still alive and hopefully, well.

I am awaiting the result of your correspondence with him with great anticipation.

In the meantime, I am doing research on 'all' submarines (all 1356 of them) in order to find which one he would have commanded. I so far have looked into 58 of them with no luck but, I feel confident to find positive results.

I have the biography of some 150+ commanders who have received the top military awards and he is not listed among them.

I will let you know as get some positive results from my searches.

Thank you so much for your help.

more follow up....

Further to my last message, here is some information you might find interesting.

After searching the records of 'each and every' U-boat for the name of their Commanders (over 1300 of them) I found none listing a Commander Karl-Heinz Ralf,.

However, I did find one which leads me to believe could be the one, as it is so 'close' to the name supplied. Here is the info in question.

Boat: U-4712

Laid down 3 January 1945 at Germaniawerft, Kiel

Commissioned 3 April 1945   Oblt. Karl-Heinz Rohlfing

Commander     04.45 - 05.45  Oblt. Karl-Heinz Rohlfing

Scuttled on 3 May 1945 at Germaniawerft, Kiel.   Wreck broken up.

I realize this is not the name (Rolf) but, as there were no 'Rolf' found in the entire archive, I felt this might be the one. Of course, because of its commissioning date, it would make it impossible for 'that' boat to have escorted the Gustloff... but ....

If this is not so, there might be another explanation why Mr Rolf is not listed in the archive as Commander of an active boat. I found several boats which had survived the entire war unharmed and those were 'school boats' used for training. U-351; U-555; U 560 and others were such boats, some operating from Gotenhafen. They do have Commanders listed for those boats but it is quite plausible that Her Rolf would have commanded one such boat for a 'protective' patrol around Gotenhafen etc...

Of course, Her Rolf could easily solve this mystery as I sincerely hope he will agree to do.

Best regards,

John

follow up....

Herr Ralf sent me a letter, so I know his address:

I understand that he did not have the job to accompany the Gustloff, but he was not far away from the place where the sinking of the Gustloff happened.

Final correspondence on subject:

From: Ian Ferguson, U.K.

Re: Submitting Photos
Attached six images in *.jpg format (five original to the best of my knowledge, having personally bought them in Hamburg) of the Wilhelm Gustloff launch and immediately following launch. Again, to the best of my knowledge, these are the only pictures showing the Gustloff and Cap Arkona together.

I can also provide a written account (5-6 pages of A4 text) of the pre-war history of the ship, it’s sinking and details of the wider relevant evacuation, Soviet submarine attack, and subsequent rescue operation conducted by the German Navy.

My reply....

Dear Ian,

Thank you so much for those great photographs. They will be posted on the Gustloff page as soon as possible and of course, I will give proper credit.

Should you have any other photos you would wish to contribute.... they will be accepted with gratitude.

John

From: Arcangel, Argentina

I'm from Argentina and I wish to know if Buenos Aires was a destination to the Cap Arcona or she only sailed to Rio de Janeiro.

my reply.....

To the best of my knowledge, the Cap Arcona only made calls at Rio de Janeiro. I will however investigate further and will contact you with any 'new' information on the subject.

Best regards,

From Hewati
Re: Survivors List

My friend ........is one of the survivors. Is there a list available? She had four sisters and her mother who also were on the ship.

My reply....

From: Dr. Schlichter, Argentina

I am a postal historian , specialized in the German Navy and German Merchant fleet up to 1945. I congratulate you for the nice page. Photos of the Cap Arcona are very nice. I have a lot of wonderful  items from the Cap Arcona: Menus, tickets, Passenger lists, postcards etc.

I enjoyed the Wilhelm Gustlof too. I am now looking for data and biographies of crew members of >German Ships.  For example: Konteradmiral Theodor Frey, born in 1869 and died in 1945. He was commander of the SMS Blitz, SMS Preussen, and SMS Victoria Louise. If you know where to obtain these data, please contact me.

Best regards: Dr. AndresJ. Schlichter

my reply...

Would you accept to share some of the nice mementos you possess on the Cap Arcona, such as photos, menus and especially, passenger lists? Needless to say, should you agree to do so, proper credit would be given to you. I am sure visitors to the Gustloff page would be most interested, especially regarding the passenger lists.

I have found some links I believe might be of interest to you. Unfortunately, given my very limited knowledge of the German language, I could not ascertain the validity of some of them, expecially the 'all-text-only references.

I hope notheless some will be 'news' to you. If I can help in any other way in your research, please do not hesitate to contact me again.

You might find the following link interesting:

http://www.germanworld.com/ma004.htm

The page listed below may one day feature a line drawing of the Preussen...

http://warships.4biz.net/GERpbb05_Braunschweig_pics.htm

The following URL relates to the Victoria Louise:

http://warships.4biz.net/GERcp05_VLouise_pics.htm

http://warships.4biz.net/GERcp05_VLouise_specs.htm

http://warships.4biz.net/German_cruisers.htm

http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~za186/OSA/kaufmas.htm

http://www.rems-zeitung.de/rz/aktuell/s_gmuen.htm

http://users.bart.nl/~delsman/delsman.html

Best regards,

John Sauvageau

Note

The following is representative of dozens of e-mail received from visitors who confirmed they had never heard of the Gustloff tragedy although many had long had an interest in ships in general and ships disasters in particular.

From: Daikar
Re: No previous knowledge of Gustloff Tragedy

I never new of the ship Wilhelm Gustloff, I have a site about The Olympic class ships and some other ships but I never really heard of that ship.

From: J. Gardener U.K.
Re: Request Info

What is the latitude & longtitude of the sinking. I would be most grateful if you could tell me.

my reply....

The Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed at 9:08pm, January 30th, 1945 Gotenhafen time and sank within 50 minutes. The rapidity with which it sank was confirmed to me this summer by one of the survivors. Although I have in my possession several books and other data sources (video films etc), I have yet to find any which give the actual Latitude & Longitude of the sinking.

I have contacted one of the divers who has made several dives on the wreck of the Gustloff and, hopefully, he will be able to clarify this point. I will let you know of his answer as soon as it arrives.

--- COPY OF MESSAGE SENT TO MY CONTACT -----

Hello,

On May 10th, 1998, you posted the following:

I am from a Warsaw skindiving club. We made a lot of dives on a Gustloff wreck. If you need any information contact with me.

I would much appreciate it if you could answer a question one of the visitors to my Gustloff page asked me:

What is the latitude & longtitude of the sinking?

Also.... is there a page on the Net which describes any 'diving' operation on the Wilhelm Gustloff?

I would much appreciate any help you could give.

Regards,

John Sauvageau

Final reply with requested info:

Good news! Since I mailed you my first reply to your query, I have found the answer to your question. Here it is...

The wreck of this 25,484 ton 684' long liner lies at position 55/07 N; 17/42 E in 145' of water, on a flat and hard bottom. The hull is broken in two places, 150' from the bow, and 120' from the stern. The hull is lying on it's port side, with the forward section at a 40 degree angle of list, midships at 60 degrees, and the stern at 30 degrees. The midship section is the most broken up area of the wreck.

Please send all questions & comments to:

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