Wilhelm Gustloff txt

further torpedo attacks. Many of those dragged out of the water were already dead, and there were so many that nets were used for the purpose. Of the survivors it transpired that most were military personnel, the majority of the victims being civilians. It would appear that the policy of women and children first did not apply on the Wilhelm Gustloff. The most recent research suggests that 9,400 people drowned or were burned to death on the Wilhelm Gustloff, 1,250 were plucked from the water alive. It was the greatest maritime disaster in history.

It would appear that Captain Marinesko was at first unaware of his achievement, but just over a week later on 10 February, he confirmed his reputation as the worlds most deadly submariner when he torpedoed and sank the unmarked hospital ship, Steuben, with 5,000 people on board.

More than 3,000 died. For his achievements Marinesko expected to receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union but his past reputation went before him, he wasn't entirely believed, and he had made a lot of enemies. So instead he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. So outraged was he that when his superiors arrived to present his award he submerged his submarine so that he would be unable to receive it.

Upon the conclusion of the war Marinesko's life quickly 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 got the recognition his many supporters had campaigned for and he was finally awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union he believed his exploits had merited, and statues of him now stand in his home town of Odessa and the port city of Kaliningrad.

Many consider what Alexander Marinesko did on that freezing January morning to be a war crime; but he could not have known that the Gustloff had been primarily a refugee ship. Had he have known would it have made any difference to his decision to fire those torpedos? 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 specialised military personnel. Alexander Marinesko merely did his duty bravely and with considerable daring. But it was a moment of horror in a desparate life.