MV Wilhelm Gustloff

Name: Opinca Ana-Liliana

Class XII-UA
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.
MV Wilhelm Gustloff
 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.
Sinking
 Date of birth: 30 January 1935 at the time of the 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.
Sources

https://www.britannica.com/topic/MV-Wilhelm-Gustloff