Dampfschiff General von Steuben

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For other meanings see the disambiguation page Von Steuben

The Dampfschiff (DS) General von Steuben^[1] (formerly called the München (after Munich), but renamed in 1938) was a German luxury passenger ship which was turned into an armed transport ship in World War II. She was named after Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Steuben, a famous German officer from the 18th century.

[edit] The sinking of the General von Steuben

The 14,600-ton liner set sail from Pillau in the bay of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) on February 10, 1945, her destination being Swinemünde. On board were 2,000 wounded soldiers, 320 nurses and 30 doctors as well as over 1,000 refugees fleeing the advancing troops of the Soviet Union. Just after midnight, two torpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13 hit the Steuben. According to survivors, she sank within about twenty minutes. Approximately 4,500 people died in the sinking of the General von Steuben; there were 659 survivors.

[edit] References

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ This article is about the World War II German auxiliary cruiser "General von Steuben". For the World War I German auxiliary cruiser that was interned by the Americans and renamed in 1917 as the "Baron Von Steuben", please see the article on the ship Kronprinz Wilhelm, and for other uses please see the disambiguation page Von Steuben