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By the late 1920s, support for the German
Nationalist Party had intensified as the
economic depression and war debts were
having a crippling affect on the country.
The Nationalist Party led by Adolph
Hitler took control of the German nation
after winning the election in 1933.
Hitler's first priorities were to build
up German military forces and create
jobs. German workers were forced to leave
their unions at that time and join the
German Labor Front. To ensure the workers
support, anyone registered with the
German Labor Front was entitled to one
cheap cruise each year. Some of the
smaller ships from the Hamburg Amerika,
North German Lloyd and Hamburg Sud lines
were used for the first of these
cruises.
Wilhelm Gustloff was the worlds
first purpose built cruise ship, designed
solely for this service. Her maiden
cruise throughout the North Sea began
April 2nd 1938. The German invasion of
Poland September 1st 1939 sparked off the
Second World War. After having been used
on cruises in the Mediterranean and
Atlantic for just over one year,
Wilhelm Gustloff was
requisitioned to serve as a hospital ship
in the Polish War. The fall of Poland
September 27th 1939 saw Wilhelm
Gustloff returned to Gotenhafen to
serve as an accommodation ship for the
military. In the dying days of the war,
East Germans were desperately attempting
to flee the advancing Soviet forces.
Wilhelm Gustloff left
Gotenhafen January 30th 1945 with over
6,000 civilians, servicemen and crew on
board. That night, while crossing the
Baltic Sea, an attack by the Soviet
submarine S-13 succeeded in
hitting her with three torpedoes.
Wilhelm Gustloff sank
within an hour with the loss of over
5,000 lives. This tragedy along with the
sinking of the other German liner
Cap Arcona three months
later, are the greatest ever-maritime
disasters.
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