Wilhelm Gustloff: Disaster at Sea
by Alexander Marinesko from Hero or Villain: More Prisoners of Eternity.
On 30 January, 1945, the Wilhelm Gustloff left Gotenhafen harbour bound for Germany loaded to the gunnals with refugees desperate to flee the advancing Red Army. She was never to make her destination. Later that night, in the foullest weather imaginable, she was torpedoed and sank with the loss of up to 10,000 souls. It was the greatest maritime disaster in history. One man was responsible, Alexander Marinesco, the deadliest of submariners.
A frantic rescue operation was by now underway. The message had gone out for all German shipping in the area to rush to the scene. One of the first ships to arrive was the warship Admiral Hipper and it had the capacity to take on board all the survivors but fearing further torpedo attacks she fled without doing so causing great resentment amongst those still struggling for their lives. Many of those dragged out of the water were already dead, and there were so many nets were used for the purpose. Of the survivors most, it was to transpire, were military personnel. Most of the victims civilians. It would appear that the policy of women and children first did not apply on the Wilhelm Gustloff. Both Captain’s Petersen and Zahn, as did the other two captains aboard, survived. The most recent research suggests that 9,400 people were either drowned or burned to death on the Wilhelm Gustloff, 1,250 were plucked from the sea alive. It was the greatest maritime disaster in history.
It would seem that Captain Marinesko was at first unaware of the scale of his achievement, but just over a week later he confirmed his reputation as the worlds most deadly submariner when he took great risks to torpedo and sink the unmarked hospital ship, Steuben. With more than 5,000 wounded German soldiers on board it sank in short time, taking 3,000 with it.
For his achievements Marinesko expected to be honoured with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But his past reputation went before him, and he had made a great many enemies, so instead he was to be awarded with the Order of the Red Banner. Disgusted Marinesko, when his superiors arrived to award him his medal, submerged his submarine so he would be unable to receive it.
Upon the conclusion of the war Marinesko’s life unravelled. By now a hopeless drunk, the alcohol had taken a severe mental and physical toll. In September, 1945, he was demoted and by November of the same year he had been discharged from the Navy altogether. Plunged into poverty his life fell apart. In 1949, he was jailed for 2 years for theft. Broken and forgotten, he finally died on 25 November, 1963, aged just 50, of a burst ulcer.
In May, 1990, he at last received the recognition his many supporters had longed campaigned for, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the very award he so firmly believed his exploits had merited. and statues now stand in his honour in his home town of Odessa and the port city of Kaliningrad.
Many consider what Alexander Marinesko did that freezing January night to be a war crime; but he could not have known that the Gustloff had been primarily a refugee ship. Had he had known would it have made any difference to his decision to launch those torpedoes? I doubt it. Such things are lost in the fog of war, and despite the many civilians on board there were also a great many experienced and specialist military personnel. Alexander Marinesko merely did his duty that night, and he did so bravely, with ingenuity and daring. But it was a moment of extreme horror in an often desperate life.
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