Under Attack
9:16 p.m. -- The first torpedo hits the port bow. The second torpedo hits further astern near the swimming pool. The third hits the engine room. Chaos ensues on the ship.
The watertight doors are shut to seal off the forward part of the ship. This traps many of the off-duty crew in their quarters, and leaves the ship without many of the men trained in lowering lifeboats and emergency procedures.
The second torpedo has hit near the swimming pool where 373 members of the Women’s Naval Auxiliary were accommodated. Most were killed instantly.
The third torpedo hits the engine room and disables the engines and power on the ship. The lights and communications are lost. The ship begins to list to the port side, while the emergency lights come on.
Radio room operator Rudi Lange uses an emergency transmitter to transmit the SOS. Due to a transmission range of only 2,000 metres, the torpedo-boat escort Löwe is the only ship to receive the message. The Löwe re-transmits the Gustloff’s SOS, and turns towards the ailing ship.
Those who were able to reach deck struggle with the chaotic scene. Ice has made the listing deck slippery, and has frozen many of the lifeboats to their davits.
10:30 p.m. -- The Gustloff sinks below the surface of the icy Baltic. The people left in the freezing waters die quickly.
The Löwe is the first rescue vessel to arrive, and is busy picking up close to 500 survivors. The torpedo boat T-36 arrives next and picks up over 560 people. The Admiral Hipper, the cruiser that the T-36 had been escorting, arrives later but leaves the area for fear of a U-boat attack.
Three minesweepers eventually arrive and save almost 200 survivors. A total of approximately 1,230 people are rescued, while over 9,000 are killed.
The Following Morning
5:30 a.m. -- When a small patrol boat VP-1703 arrives, all passengers appear to be dead, floating in the water. They find a lifeboat, which Petty Officer Werner Fick jumps in to inspect. He finds an infant wrapped in a wool blanket -- this is the last official survivor of the Wilhelm Gustloff. He is adopted by Fick and his wife.
^M
