The MV Wilhelm Gustloff

The MV Gustloff was the first ship built specifically for the German Labour Front’s Kraft durch Freude (“Strength Through Joy”) program, which subsidized leisure activities for German workers. It measured 684 feet (208.5 metres) in length and weighed more than 25,000 tons. The ship was named for the leader of the Swiss Nazi Party, who had been assassinated on February 4, 1936, and it was launched in the presence of Adolf Hitler on May 5, 1937. The Gustloff started on its maiden voyage on March 24, 1938, and over the course of 17 months it went on some 50 cruises, transporting some 65,000 vacationers.

The ship had enough space to accommodate roughly 1,900 people, including some 400 crew members. For propaganda purposes, all the cabins aboard the Gustloff were sized and apportioned similarly, making the Gustloff—in appearance, at least—a “ship without social classes.” The sole exception was one larger cabin reserved for Hitler. It was not possible to simply book a voyage on the Gustloff, however. The people who were allowed to travel on the Kraft durch Freude flagship were chosen by the party.

The MV Wilhelm Gustloff in port at Oslo, Norway, c. 1940.

Adolf Hitler launching the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, Hamburg, Germany, May 5, 1937.

Aside from its operation as a cruise ship, the Gustloff was used for public-oriented missions. On April 10, 1938, it functioned as a polling place for Germans and Austrians living in England to vote on the annexation of Austria. In May 1939 the Gustloff, along with other ships from the Kraft durch Freude fleet, was ordered to bring soldiers of the Condor Legion back to Germany after the Spanish Civil War ended. With the beginning of World War II, the Gustloff was requisitioned by the German navy to serve as a hospital ship in the Baltic Sea and Norway. From November 1940 onward, it lay at anchor at Gdynia, Poland, to serve as barracks for the 2nd Submarine Training Division. During a U.S. air attack on the harbour on October 9, 1943, the ship took minor damage

The MV Wilhelm Gustloff docked at Tilbury, England, April 10, 1938. The ship carried German and Austrian residents of the United Kingdom into international waters, where they voted in the plebiscite on the annexation of Austria

As the Red Army advanced on East Prussia, Adm. Karl Dönitz began preparations for Operation Hannibal, the mass evacuation of German troops and civilians from the area. Beginning on January 21, 1945, an estimated two million Germans were brought to the west in an operation that far exceeded the British evacuation at Dunkirk. The Gustloff was ordered to bring the soldiers of the 2nd Submarine Training Division to western Germany. On January 25 the ship started taking other refugees on board, and by the afternoon of January 29 the count had reached 7,956 when registration was stopped. Witnesses estimated that perhaps another 2,000 people boarded after that point.

Shortly after noon on January 30, the Gustloff left the harbour. Although it was originally planned that the Gustloff would be but one element in a larger convoy, mechanical problems forced two ships to turn back, and the Gustloff was accompanied by only the torpedo boat Löwe. Because he was worried about the Gustloff’s engines failing after years of sitting idle, Capt. Friedrich Petersen decided that the ship would travel no faster than 12 knots (14 miles [22 km] per hour). In doing so, he ignored the advice of Wilhelm Zahn, commander of the 2nd Submarine Training Division, who argued that increasing speed to 15 knots (17 miles [28 km] per hour) would reduce the likelihood of an attack, as Soviet submarines would not be able to keep up. Petersen also rejected the recommendation of First Officer Louis Reese, who had advised a course that hugged the coastline. Ultimately, the Gustloff headed for a deepwater route that was known to be clear of mines.

At about 6:00 PM a message was brought to the captain warning that a minesweeper convoy was headed their way, prompting him to activate the ship’s navigation lights to prevent a collision. The origin of that message is unknown; none of the radio operators on the Gustloff or the Löwe claimed to have received it, and it is unclear whether it was a misunderstanding or possibly sabotage. The Gustloff did not meet any minesweepers on its way. However, it was spotted by the Soviet submarine S-13 at about 7:00 PM. The Soviet commander, Capt. Aleksandr Marinesko, maneuvered his submarine between the Gustloff and the coast, as an attack from that direction would be least expected.

At 9:16 PM the Gustloff was hit by three torpedoes and proceeded to sink over the course of one hour. The ship was carrying lifeboats and rafts for 5,000 people, but many of the lifesaving appliances were frozen to the deck, and their effective use was further impeded by the fact that one of the torpedoes had hit the crew quarters, killing those best trained to deal with the situation. Nine vessels took on survivors throughout the night. Of the estimated 10,000 people on board the Gustloff, only 1,239 could be registered as survivors, making this the sinking with the highest death toll in maritime history. Despite the high number of civilian deaths, allegations that sinking the Gustloff constituted a war crime are largely unfounded, because of the presence of weapons and nearly 1,000 military personnel on board.

The Bell from the Wilhelm Gustloff.

Gdansk WW2 Museum June 2024