The Sinking of the Gustloff

The Wilhelm Gustloff sank after being hit by three torpedoes fired by the Soviet submarine S-13 on January 30, 1945, with the loss of over 9,000 lives – the greatest loss of life in maritime history. Why has this tragedy been almost completely forgotten?

An estimated 9,400 people were killed in the sinking, possibly the largest known loss of life occurring during a single ship sinking in recorded maritime history.

The Discovery Channel program Unsolved History undertook a computer analysis of the sinking, using software called maritime EXODUS. Only 996 passengers would survive the event.