SS Thielbek (1940)

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Thielbek was a Template:GRT cargo steamship that was built in Germany in 1940, sunk in an air raid in 1945, refloated in 1949 and repaired, and was in service until 1974. Lübecker Maschinenbau Gesellschaft in Lübeck built the ship in 1940 for the Knöhr and Burchard shipping company of Hamburg. In 1961 Knöhr and Burchard sold the ship to buyers who used the name Magdalene and registered the vessel in Panama. In 1965, the ship was renamed Old Warrior and was scrapped in Yugoslavia in 1974.

Thielbek is notable for having been sunk by RAF aircraft on 3 May 1945, killing 2,750 people aboard. The ship was at anchor in the Bay of Lübeck with the passenger ships Template:SS and the Template:SS, which were sunk in the same air raid. At the time Cap Arcona and Thielbek were crowded with prisoners from the Neuengamme, Stutthof, and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Background

On 17 April 1945. Thielbek was told to prepare for a "special operation". The next day the SS summoned ThielbekTemplate:'s Captain John Jacobsen and Cap ArconaTemplate:'s Captain Heinrich Bertram to a conference where they were ordered to embark concentration camp prisoners. Both captains refused, and Jacobsen was relieved of his command.Template:Citation needed

The order to transfer the prisoners from the camps to the prison ships came from Hamburg Gauleiter Karl Kaufmann acting on orders from Berlin. Kaufmann later claimed during a War Crimes Tribunal that the prisoners were destined for Sweden, but at the same trial Georg-Henning Graf von Bassewitz-Behr, the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) of Hamburg, said that the prisoners were to be killed on Himmler's orders.Template:Sfn

Embarkation of prisoners began on 20 April, with the Swedish Red Cross present. The ship's water supply was insufficient for so many people and 20 to 30 prisoners died daily. The prisoners, with the exception of political prisoners, remained aboard for two or three days before being transferred to Cap Arcona by the cargo ship Template:MV.Template:Citation needed

Sinking

Template:One source Between the two attacks on Cap Arcona, nine Hawker Typhoon aircraft of No. 198 Squadron RAF stationed at Plantlünne attacked Thielbek and Deutschland, five aircraft firing rockets at Deutschland and 4 at Thielbek. Numerous cannon shells and 32 rockets were fired at Thielbek.Template:Sfn The ship caught fire, developed a 30 degree list to starboard, and sank 20 minutes after being attacked. Of the 2,800 prisoners aboard Thielbek, only 50 survived the attack.Template:Citation needed

Subsequent career

In 1949, four years after sinking, Thielbek was refloated. Human remains found aboard the ship were buried in the Cap Arcona cemetery at Neustadt in Holstein. The ship remained in Knöhr and Burchard service until 1961 when sold, renamed Magdalene, and registered under the Panamanian flag of convenience. In 1965, the ship was renamed Old Warrior and was scrapped in Split, Yugoslavia, in 1974.Template:Citation needed

See also

• List of maritime disasters
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• Template:Ship
• Template:RMS
• Template:SS
• Template:Ship
• Template:HMT
• Template:Ship
• Template:MV

References

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External links

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