The Wilhelm Gustloff was a former German passenger liner, desiged to carry a maximum of 1,865 people total. On January 31, 1945 she was crossing the freezing waters of the Baltic Sea with 10,582 refugees, soldiers, sailors, and crew, including women, children and elderly. Stalking her was a Soviet sub S-13. A torpedo blast sank the liner in less than 50 minutes, taking 9,343 people into the black icy water.

The Wilhelm Gustloff was not just the greatest naval disaster of the 20th century, but of any century.