Killer Submarine

[redcoat]

Wilhelm Gustloff is used indeed as a military training ship by the Germans for Mr. Marinesko to shoot using just only 3 torpedos and earned himself everlasting fame and glory in the annals of Soviet military history of The Great Patriotic War as the best Soviet soldier in WW2 with the highest enemy kill rate. (Un?)Fortunately, Mr. Marinesko's training happen only once and there weren't anymore ocean-liner-converted-into-hospital-ship-and-then-converted-back-to-military-training-ship for the Soviet submariners to sink

Your claim that the Russian/Soviet people consider that Marinesko the 'best soldier' in WW2 is just an invention on your part in order to justify your politically motivated rant.

It does you no credit :roll:

[David Thompson]

Panzermahn -- You wrote:

Wilhelm Gustloff is used indeed as a military training ship by the Germans for Mr. Marinesko to shoot using just only 3 torpedos and earned himself everlasting fame and glory in the annals of Soviet military history of The Great Patriotic War as the best Soviet soldier in WW2 with the highest enemy kill rate. (Un?)Fortunately, Mr. Marinesko's training happen only once and there weren't anymore ocean-liner-converted-into-hospital-ship-and-then-converted-back-to-military-training-ship for the Soviet submariners to sink

(1) What does this statement have to do with war crimes?

(2) Haven't you already made this point, whatever it is, several times since you re-opened this old thread from 2002? If so, why are you repeating it again? Our rules prohibit both opinion posts and redundant posts, and it seems to me that you're trying to double up.

[bf109 emil]

... she was a legitimate target.

I never said she wasn't. All I wanted was for Okyzm to present evidence/source for his claim that Wilhelm Gustloff served as military training ship.

CONVERSION TO FLOATING U-BOAT BARRACKS

It is November 20, 1940 and winter beckons in Gotenhafen. The Wilhelm Gustloff once again begins a process of metamorphosis – its second in just over a year. Over the next few weeks, the ship is converted for use as “floating barracks” for the Second Submarine Training Division, housing approximately 1,000 U-Boat sailors.

Inside, the ship is gutted. Medical equipment is dismantled and removed. Doctors, nurses and medics are gone – discharged or reassigned. Only a handful of the engine maintenance crew is ordered to remain. Captain Bertram also stays on board, though he no longer can take the Gustloff to sea – a frustrating position for any experienced sailor of such rank.

Outside, naval grey paint eventually replaces the bright white coating and green stripes the Gustloff displayed as a hospital ship. Red crosses are removed on the funnel, leaving barely visible raised imprints of colourless KdF logos. The goal is no longer visibility but camouflage. International law no longer protects the Wilhelm Gustloff as it did while operating as Lazarettschiff D. For the first time, the former purveyor of affordable leisure cruises is a legitimate military target.

It is in the role of U-boat barracks that the Gustloff will spend the majority of its life (just over four years). The structured and disciplined training of the young U-boat personnel produces effective results in the early years of the war. Taking command of the recruits in 1942, U-boat officer Lieutenant Commander Wilhelm Zahn ensures a rigorous training program.

However, as war continues, recruits become younger and training becomes shorter. The odds are not good for those commissioned to feared German submarines – as few as 1 in 10 will survive during the war.http://wilhelmgustloff.com/history_navyship.htm

[zmija]

Hi, bf109 emil. The problem (for me) is not Lazarettshiff Wilhelm Gustloff, but military training ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Okyzm wrote that Wilhelm Gustloff was a military training ship, but provided no souces for this claim.

Cheers.

[bf109 emil]

Hi, bf109 emil. The problem (for me) is not Lazarettshiff Wilhelm Gustloff, but military training ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Okyzm wrote that Wilhelm Gustloff was a military training ship, but provided no souces for this claim.

Cheers.

she was a barracks ship for the 2nd Submarine Training Division (2. Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision) in the Baltic port of Gotenhafen for u-boat crews during training and sat for 4 years.

[zmija]

TISO and redcoat already covered that, and I think redcoat provided the most probable answer to my question.

[David Thompson]

A flamebait opinion post by vszulc, which added nothing of informational value to the thread, was deleted by this moderator - DT.