Dampfschiff General von Steuben
Encyclopedia
SS General von Steuben was a German
luxury passenger liner. She was launched as the München (sometimes spelled MUENCHEN), renamed in 1930 as the General von Steuben (after the famous German officer
of the American Revolutionary War
), and renamed again in 1938 as Steuben. On 10 February 1945 the liner was torpedoed by a Soviet Submarine S-13 during Operation Hannibal
and sank with a loss of over four thousand lives.
In one of the largest shipping salvage efforts of its time, the München was raised and towed to a dry dock and repaired and returned to service. Shortly afterwards the ships owner renamed it the General von Steuben.
accommodation ship. In 1944 she was pressed into service as an armed transport ship, taking German troops to eastern Baltic ports and returning wounded troops to Kiel
.
By early January 1945, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz
realized that Germany was soon to be defeated. Wishing to save his submariners, he radioed a coded message on 23 January 1945 to the Baltic Sea
port Gotenhafen (the Polish city and port of Gdynia
under German occupation) to evacuate to the West under the code name Operation Hannibal
.
Submariners were then schooled and housed in ships lying in the Baltic ports, with most of them at Gotenhafen. Among them were the , the , the Hansa, and the Wilhelm Gustloff. This justified the rationale behind Dönitz's decision to mount Operation Hannibal.
Notwithstanding the losses suffered during the operation, the fact remains that over two million people were evacuated ahead of the Soviet Army's advance into East Prussia and Danzig (now Gdańsk
, Poland).
n refugees headed west, away from the city of Königsberg
and ahead of the Soviet Army's advance into the Baltic states and East Prussia. These refugees and thousands like them fled to the Baltic seaport at Pillau (now Baltiysk
, Russia), hoping to board ships that would carry them to the relative safety of western Germany. The Steuben was in the fleet of ships sent for the purpose.
, Poland). On board were 2,800 wounded German soldiers; 800 refugees; 100 returning soldiers; 270 navy medical personnel including doctors, nurses and auxiliaries; 12 nurses from Pillau; 64 crew for the ship's anti-aircraft guns, 61 naval personnel, radio operators, signal men, machine operators, and administrators, and 160 merchant navy crewmen: a total of 4,267 people.
Just after midnight, two torpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13
hit the Steuben. According to survivors, she sank within about 20 minutes. Between three and four thousand people died in the sinking. About 300 survivors were saved by torpedo boat T-196 and brought to Kolberg (now Kołobrzeg, Poland).
The wreck lies on its port side at about 70 m depth, and the hull reaches up to 50 m depth. The ship is largely intact.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
luxury passenger liner. She was launched as the München (sometimes spelled MUENCHEN), renamed in 1930 as the General von Steuben (after the famous German officer
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben , also referred to as the Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian-born military officer who served as inspector general and Major General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...
of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
), and renamed again in 1938 as Steuben. On 10 February 1945 the liner was torpedoed by a Soviet Submarine S-13 during Operation Hannibal
Operation Hannibal
Operation Hannibal was a German military operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor from mid-January to May, 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary...
and sank with a loss of over four thousand lives.
Early History
In 1923, the Munchen was the first German trans-Atlantic passenger liner both to be launched, and to enter New York Harbor, since the end of World War I. She arrived in July 1923 on her maiden trans-Atlantic voyage.1930 Fire & Sinking
On July 11, 1930 after docking and discharging passengers and most of its crew from a voyage from Bremen, Germany, a fire broke out in a paint locker which quickly spread to another storage hold; the massive fire and explosion resulted in a five-alarm fire with all fire equipment in New York City being sent to the burning ship. The fire could not be controlled and it sank next to the wharf it was docking at.In one of the largest shipping salvage efforts of its time, the München was raised and towed to a dry dock and repaired and returned to service. Shortly afterwards the ships owner renamed it the General von Steuben.
World War Two
She was commissioned in 1939 as a KriegsmarineKriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
accommodation ship. In 1944 she was pressed into service as an armed transport ship, taking German troops to eastern Baltic ports and returning wounded troops to Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
.
Operation Hannibal
Along with the and many other vessels, she was part of the largest evacuation by sea in modern times. This evacuation surpassed the British retreat at Dunkirk in both the size of the operation and the number of people evacuated. Yet it, like the sinking of the Gustloff' by the submarine S-13, to be mentioned later, is one of the least-known major operations of World War II.By early January 1945, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
realized that Germany was soon to be defeated. Wishing to save his submariners, he radioed a coded message on 23 January 1945 to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
port Gotenhafen (the Polish city and port of Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
under German occupation) to evacuate to the West under the code name Operation Hannibal
Operation Hannibal
Operation Hannibal was a German military operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from Courland, East Prussia, and the Polish Corridor from mid-January to May, 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary...
.
Submariners were then schooled and housed in ships lying in the Baltic ports, with most of them at Gotenhafen. Among them were the , the , the Hansa, and the Wilhelm Gustloff. This justified the rationale behind Dönitz's decision to mount Operation Hannibal.
Notwithstanding the losses suffered during the operation, the fact remains that over two million people were evacuated ahead of the Soviet Army's advance into East Prussia and Danzig (now Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, Poland).
Evacuation
In the winter of 1945 East PrussiaEast Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
n refugees headed west, away from the city of Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
and ahead of the Soviet Army's advance into the Baltic states and East Prussia. These refugees and thousands like them fled to the Baltic seaport at Pillau (now Baltiysk
Baltiysk
Baltiysk , prior to 1945 known by its German name Pillau , is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Bay from the Gdańsk Bay. Baltiysk...
, Russia), hoping to board ships that would carry them to the relative safety of western Germany. The Steuben was in the fleet of ships sent for the purpose.
Final voyage
On 9 February 1945 the 14,660-ton liner sailed from Pillau in the bay of Danzig for Swinemünde (now ŚwinoujścieSwinoujscie
Świnoujście is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. It is situated mainly on the islands of Uznam and Wolin, but also occupies smaller islands, of which the largest is Karsibór island, once part of Usedom, now separated by a Piast...
, Poland). On board were 2,800 wounded German soldiers; 800 refugees; 100 returning soldiers; 270 navy medical personnel including doctors, nurses and auxiliaries; 12 nurses from Pillau; 64 crew for the ship's anti-aircraft guns, 61 naval personnel, radio operators, signal men, machine operators, and administrators, and 160 merchant navy crewmen: a total of 4,267 people.
Just after midnight, two torpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13
Soviet submarine S-13
S-13 was a Stalinets-class submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down by Krasnoye Sormovo in Gorky on 19 October 1938. She was launched on 25 April 1939 and commissioned on 31 July 1941 in the Baltic Fleet, under the command of Captain Pavel Malantyenko.-Service history:In the first half...
hit the Steuben. According to survivors, she sank within about 20 minutes. Between three and four thousand people died in the sinking. About 300 survivors were saved by torpedo boat T-196 and brought to Kolberg (now Kołobrzeg, Poland).
Wreck
The wreck was found and identified in May 2004 by Polish Navy hydrographical vessel ORP Arctowski. Pictures and graphics appear in a 2005 article in National Geographic.The wreck lies on its port side at about 70 m depth, and the hull reaches up to 50 m depth. The ship is largely intact.
See also
- Cap ArconaSS Cap ArconaThe Cap Arcona was a large German luxury ocean liner, formerly of the Hamburg-South America line. It transported passengers between Germany and South America up until 1940 when it was taken over by the German Navy....
- Iosif StalinIosif Stalin class passenger shipThe Iosif Stalin-class passenger ship was a two-strong class of large turbo-electric powered passenger ships, operated by the Soviet Baltic State Shipping Company . The ships were taken over by the Soviet Navy during World War II and used as transport vessels...
- GoyaGoya (ship)The Goya was a German transport ship sunk by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea, near the end of the Second World War, while carrying wounded Wehrmacht troops and civilians who were fleeing the advance of Soviet forces. Most of the crew and passengers died...
- DeutschlandSS Deutschland (1923)SS Deutschland Sometimes called Deutschland IV to distinguish from others of the name was a 21,046 gross registered ton German HAPAG ocean liner which was sunk in a British air attack in 1945, with great loss of life....
- ThielbekThielbekThe Thielbek was a 2,815 GRT freighter that was sunk along with the SS Cap Arcona and the Deutschland during British air raids on May 3, 1945 while anchored in the Bay of Lübeck with the loss of 2,750 lives...
- Wilhelm GustloffWilhelm Gustloff (ship)The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German KdF flagship during 1937-1945, constructed by the Blohm & Voss shipyards. It sank after being torpedoed by the Soviet submarine on 30 January 1945....
, largest known loss of life occurring during a single ship sinking in recorded maritime history.(estimated 9,400 people were killed) - ArmeniaArmenia (ship)The Armenia was a transport ship operated by the Soviet Union during World War II to carry both wounded soldiers and military cargo. It had originally been built as a passenger ship for operations on the Black Sea, one of the first passenger ships constructed in the Soviet Union.Armenia was sunk on...
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines