On the night of January 30, 1945, standing at the periscope of the Soviet submarine S-13, Captain Alexander Marinesko saw only what war had trained him to see: a large hull painted naval gray, running lights where none should have been, and the shapes of guns along an iced-over deck.
For three weeks, he had searched the Baltic in worsening weather, waiting for a target big enough to silence the officers who wanted him court-martialed.
This one filled the lens—slow, steady, thousands of tons of German steel pushing west, away from the Red Army.
His hands tightened on the grips.
Four torpedoes waited in their tubes, each one chalked with a promise of revenge—and one pull from starting the deadliest night the sea had ever seen.
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got what you voted for, NOW PAY UP LOSERS
The ship was painted gray and without red cross markings and so was a worthy legal target .
I was an accident
Just not true that the embarkation was in panic mode. Know from eye witnesses that it was all in complete order that night, the commanding naval officials even noted every name and gave exact instructions where to stay at the vessel. But it was definitely overcrowded to the maximum possible. Maybe that’s also a reason why only few were saved, as the paperwork was lost no one exactly knew later on how many people drowned. Also a main factor for the huge loss of lives were the privilege of mothers with children, Hitlerjugend, wounded which were the mainly embarked as this ship had a working field hospital on board.
In Gotenhaven harbor there was in fact a panic, but the Wehrmacht had still control over the embarkation area. Most of the people on board already waited in kasernes of Wehrmacht and hospitals, got informed by authorities when to go to the embarkation and to which ship.
The whole area was crowded with refugees and mainly wounded soldiers. Typical for NAZI party everything had to be done by order and under strict control. Usually an embarkation was made only if a camp or similar institution was ready to take the refugees, the officials didn’t want people to be running around in non war zone cities and panicking others.
Shouldn’t have had troops on board. It was a legitimate target.
I keep thinking of what the Bible says… That when the moment comes, "The seas shall bring forth their dead…"
We will all be aghast at that number.
From the first death below the surface of the world's seas, to the last, the number is really unknowable.
What was truly heart wrenching, was the number of children that perished, so close to the end of WWII.
So much needless death, in the name of victory…
No more brothers wars
The Soviet submarine captains were desperate to deliver results and shot at anything that moved, acting with no professionalism or honor. M/S Hansa, M/S Wilhelm Gustloff, and a lot of passenger ships in the Baltic Sea were hastily classified as German destroyers and sunk. Luckily, the incompetence on the Soviet submarines got them sunk in known minelines, e.g. S-8 off the island of Öland. Having visited both the shipwreck of S-8 and Wilhelm Gustloff, they are still evidence of this dark episode in humanity.
What makes this worse is that 6x the Titanic is probably an underestimate. Some sources give the loss of life as 12,000 to 14,000 people. It was a great tragedy which ever way you look at it.
A terrible tragedy
Crew: "For Stalin!" Torpedo: "Nope."
So, what happened with Capt Marinesco? Was he able to dodge the impending court-martial?
Karma,,,, the German sub families killed by a enemy sub.
The captain of the submarine should have been executed for a terrible and senseless war crime.nine thousand civilians and noncombatants killed because Russia wanted revenge for operation Barbarossa and Stalingrad.
Please can you look into RMS Lancastria's sinking, June 17, 1940. Thousands lost.
I’ve seen your previous video on this horrible tragedy a few times and liked it. Thank you for this newer more detailed version.
It doesn’t matter who these people were. They didn’t deserve what happened to them. At the end of the day, we’re all still humans created by the same God. He’s the first to weep when his children are killed by their fellow man. RIP to all the victims of this horrible tragedy.
People also forget the Lancastria, bombed not torpedoed but still appalling loss of life. War is terrible and nobody really wins.
ive had enough of these AI voices, downvoted.
Ya know, it would be REALLY REALLY nice if the Closed Caption did not take random 1 & 2 second smoke breaks while the video is still playing and apparently being narrated. I just wanna throw that out there.
I haven't checked in with you for a long time, but now it's much more pleasant to listen to you because you speak much more slowly.
Back then, I found it very difficult to listen to you because you spoke so fast, as if you had consumed something.
No offense, but that's how it was!
The shoes! Children are top heavy and bodies bobbed feet up.
Es gab 3 Schiffe Wilhelm Gustloff,Goya,und die General von Steuben die versenkt wurden es gab etwa 20500 Tote.
I've been waiting for someone to cover this again
Ma cosa dici ? Non si capisce nulla.
Avete rotto con queste voci A.I..