SS General von Steuben
German military transport ship; sank 1945, killing thousands / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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SS General von Steuben | |
History | |
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→ → Germany | |
Name |
|
Namesake | Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben |
Owner | Norddeutscher Lloyd |
Builder | AG Vulcan Stettin, Germany |
Launched | 1922 |
Maiden voyage | 23 June 1923 |
In service | 23 June 1923 |
Out of service | 10 February 1945 |
Renamed | 1930 |
Fate | Sunk, 10 February 1945 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Passenger ship |
Tonnage | 14,660 Gross Register Tons |
Length | 168 m |
Beam | 19.8 m |
Decks | 6 |
Propulsion | Steam reciprocating, exhaust turbine, twin propellers |
Speed | 16 knots |
Capacity | 793 (214 cabin class, 358 tourist class, 221 third class) |
SS General von Steuben was a German passenger liner and later an armed transport ship of the German Navy that was sunk in the Baltic Sea during World War II. She was launched in 1923 as München (after the German city, sometimes spelled Muenchen), renamed General von Steuben in 1930 (after the famous German officer of the American Revolutionary War), and renamed Steuben in 1938.
During World War II, the ship served as a troop accommodation vessel, and from 1944 as an armed transport. On 10 February 1945, while evacuating German military personnel, wounded soldiers, and civilian refugees during Operation Hannibal, the ship was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine S-13 and sank. An estimated 4,000 people lost their lives in the sinking.