What Killed all 9000 People Aboard This Ship?

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."In under 50 minutes, the Gustloff was gone, taken beneath the icy black waters of the Baltic, and with her, 9,343 men, women and children while 1,239 people were saved by a number of German ships in the area. Torpedoboot T-36 rescued 564 people, Torpedoboot Löwe 472 people, Minensuchboot M387 98 people, Minensuchboot M375 43 people, Minensuchboot M341 37 people, steamer Gottingen saved 28 people, Torpedofangboot TF19 saved 7, freighter Gotland 2 people, and Vorpostenboot 1703 saved one person, a 1 year-old child.

It is still the case – the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff remains the biggest maritime disaster in history. Over 9,000 people – mostly women and children – perished in the Baltic Sea when a Soviet submarine fired three torpedoes into the port side of the Gustloff on January 30, 1945."...