MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January by Soviet submarine S in the Baltic Sea while evacuating civilians and military personnel from East Prussia and the German-occupied Baltic states , and German military personnel from Gotenhafen Gdynia , as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate, [ 3 ] [ 4 ] 9, people died, making it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Originally constructed as a cruise ship for the Nazi Strength Through Joy Kraft durch Freude organization in , Wilhelm Gustloff had been requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine German navy in She served as a hospital ship in and She was then assigned as a floating barracks for naval personnel in Gotenhafen before being fitted with anti-aircraft guns and put into service to transport evacuees in Measuring The ship was originally intended to be named Adolf Hitler but instead was christened after Wilhelm Gustloff , leader of the Nazi Party 's Swiss branch, who had been assassinated by a Jewish medical student in Adolf Hitler decided on the name change after sitting next to Gustloff's widow during his memorial service.
Her purposes were to provide recreational and cultural activities for German functionaries and workers, including concerts, cruises, and other holiday trips, and to serve as a public relations tool that would present "a more acceptable image of the Third Reich ". The ship made her unofficial maiden voyage between 24 and 27 March carrying Austrians in an attempt to convince them to vote for the annexation of Austria by Germany.
Meanwhile, the 1, gross ton coal freighter Pegaway , which had departed the Tyne on 2 April for Hamburg, was also caught up in the storm. Cargo and machinery were washed from Pegaway ' s decks and the ship lost maneuverability as the storm increased in intensity. By 4 April, it was taking on water and slowly sinking. At 4 am, Captain G. Ward of Pegaway issued an SOS when the ship was 20 nautical miles 37 km northwest of the island of Terschelling , off the coast of the Netherlands.
She launched her Lifeboat No. The oar-powered lifeboat was unable to come aside Pegaway in the heavy seas and looked in danger of needing to be rescued. Lifeboat No. As it was motor-powered, it was better able to handle the waves.
After first assisting their shipmates in Lifeboat No. One by one the 19 men on Pegaway jumped into the sea and were hauled onto Lifeboat No. This allowed her to act as a floating polling station for German and Austrian citizens living in England who wished to vote on the approaching plebiscite on Germany's unification with Austria.
