ToW 23: Tragedy in Icy Seas

     In the spirit of the incoming APUSH Unit on WWII, I pulled out an old magazine and found an insightful article on one of the greatest naval tragedies of WWII that nobody knows about: The sinking of the German Evacuation ship MV Whilhelm Gustloff.

     The Gustloff was sunk by a Soviet Submarine, early January, 1945. Carrying anywhere from 8,000 to 10,500 passengers and crew, most of which was refugees and wounded soldiers. When sunk, an estimated 9,500 people perished in the icy waters of the Baltic.

     What the author of the article, Chuck Lyons, discusses is the legitimacy of the Soviet attack, and references several historians who all have different views. Some argue that it was not a legitimate target, and that it should've be considered a war crime because of it's purpose, which was evacuation. The other side of the debate is that, because the Gustloff was not officially marked as a hospital ship and was armed with AA guns, it was a legitimate target.

     Overall, Lyons achieves his dual purpose of both informing people of a naval tragedy that is almost unknown, especially considering that there was more civilian lives loss than triple that of the combine loss of both the Lusitania and the Titanic,  as well arguing that the sinking of the Gustloff was one of the greatest naval tragedies in Naval history.