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{{Short description|1945 evacuation of German troops from East Prussia and northern Poland by sea}}
{{refimprove|date=May 2008}}
{{distinguish|Hannibal Directive}}
⚫ '''Operation Hannibal''' was a ] ] involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from ], ], and the ] from mid-January to May, 1945 as the ] advanced during the ] and ]s and subsidiary operations.
⚫ {{more citations needed|date=January 2018}}]


⚫ '''Operation Hannibal''' was a ] naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the ], ], ] and ] from mid-January to May 1945 as the ] advanced during the ] and ]s and subsidiary operations. The operation was one of the largest evacuations by sea in history.
⚫ The Soviet ] by 3rd Belorussian Front under Army General ] commenced on January 13, 1945 and, with Marshal of the Soviet Union ] 2nd Belorussian Front, subsequently cut off Prussia between January 23 and February 10, 1945. German Grand Admiral ] ordered General Admiral ], as Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the ] shipping department, to plan and execute the ''Rettungsaktion'' (evacuation operation).<ref>Koburger, Charles W., ''Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees'', Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p.71.</ref> Donitz radioed a message to ] in occupied ] on January 23, 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside of the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed "]". Dönitz stated in his post-war memoirs that his aim had been to evacuate as many people as possible away from the Soviets.<ref>Dönitz, Karl, ''Memoirs, Ten Years and Twenty Days'', Da Capo Press, NY, 1997.</ref>


==Background==
⚫ Right up until his suicide, ] insisted that the war go on. The flood of military personnel and refugees eventually turned the operation into one of the largest ]s by sea in history (over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft<ref>Williams, David, ''Wartime Disasters at Sea'', Patrick Stephens Limited, Nr Yeovil, UK, 1997, p.225 (figure of 494 merchant vessels); Brustat-Naval, Fritz, ''Unternehmen Rettung'', Koehlers Verlagsgeschellshaft, Herford, Germany, 1985, p.240 (figure of 790 vessels of all types); Koburger, Charles W., ''Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees'', Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p.92 (figure of 1,080 merchant vessels).</ref>, and utilizing Germany's largest remaining naval units, would transport between 800,000 - 900,000 refugees and 350,000 soldiers<ref>Andreas Kossert, ''Damals in Ostpreussen'', München, 2008, p.160 ISBN 978-3-421-04366-5</ref> across the ] to Germany and German-occupied ]. This was more than three times the number of people evacuated at ].
Planning for Operation Hannibal started in late 1944, although it was done quietly since ] opposed such measures. The coordination of the evacuations was entrusted to ] {{interlanguage link|Conrad Engelhardt |de|Conrad Engelhardt}}. By the end of 1944, Engelhardt had assembled a fleet of 22 passenger liners, each weighing over {{Convert|10.000|tonnes|ST}}. Overall responsibility of the operation went to ] ]. In early 1945, the Germans had two Escort Divisions in the area, the {{interlanguage link|9th Escort Division|lt=9th|de|9. Sicherungs-Division}} and the {{interlanguage link|lt=10th Escort Divisions|10th Escort Division|de|10. Sicherungs-Division}}. ({{Langx|de|Sicherungs-Division}}){{sfn | Eggleston | Rogers | 2018 | p=154-159}}

The 9th Escort Division mainly consisted of ]s.

⚫ The ] by the ]'s ] under General ] commenced on 13 January 1945 and, with Marshal ]'s ], subsequently cut off East Prussia between 23 January and 10 February 1945. German Grand Admiral ] ordered General Admiral ], as Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the ]'s shipping department, to plan and execute the ''Rettungsaktion'' (evacuation operation).<ref>Koburger, Charles W., ''Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees'', Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p. 71.</ref> Dönitz radioed a message to ] in ] on 23 January 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed Hannibal.<ref>{{cite book|page=159|title=A German Woman's Story of Family, Secrets, and Survival Under Hitler|publisher=]|author=Svenja O'Donnell|date=28 April 2020 |isbn=9781984880222}}</ref>

On 19 February, the Wehrmacht had managed to open up a corridor from ] to ], which allowed thousands of refugees to escape and wait for ships in Pillau, which would eventually transport them west of the ]. Refugees also came from ], ], ] and {{interlanguage link|Preußisches Holland|de|Kreis Preußisch Holland}}. By 8 April as many as 450,000 refugees were in Pillau.{{sfn | Denny | Showalter | 2017 | p=195}}

⚫ The flood of military personnel and German civilians eventually turned the operation into one of the largest evacuations by sea in history, even larger than the far more widely known ] five years earlier. Over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft,<ref>Williams, David, ''Wartime Disasters at Sea'', Patrick Stephens Limited, Nr Yeovil, UK, 1997, p. 225 (figure of 494 merchant vessels); Brustat-Naval, Fritz, ''Unternehmen Rettung'', Koehlers Verlagsgeschellshaft, Herford, Germany, 1985, p. 240 (figure of 790 vessels of all types); Koburger, Charles W., ''Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees'', Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p. 92 (figure of 1,080 merchant vessels)., Denny & Showalter ''The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Königsberg'' p.197 (672 merchant
ships)</ref> and utilizing Germany's largest remaining naval units, carried between 800,000 and 900,000 German civilians and 350,000 soldiers<ref>Andreas Kossert, ''Damals in Ostpreußen'', München, 2008, p. 160 {{ISBN|978-3-421-04366-5}}</ref> across the ] to Germany and German-occupied ].


==Operations== ==Operations==
===Start===
⚫ ]
] by sea, January 1945]]
Operations commenced on January 23, 1945, running the gauntlet of British aerial-laid mines and Soviet aircraft, small naval units, and submarines operating in the Baltic.
⚫ ]
] on board the seaplane tender ''Hans Albrecht Wedel'']]
Operation Hannibal commenced on 23 January 1945.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Death in the Baltic: The World War II Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff|last=Prince|first=Cathryn J.|publisher=St.Martin's Griffin|year=2014|isbn=978-1137279194}}</ref> At first, only 14 liners were available along with twenty-three
⚫ freighters of more than 5,000 tons and many other smaller ships. On 30 January '']'', ''Hansa'', and the whaling factory ship ''Walter Rau'' left the harbor at ] in occupied ], bound for ]. ''Hansa'' was forced to return to port with mechanical trouble, but the ''Gustloff'', overcrowded with more than 10,000 civilians and military personnel aboard, continued. She was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine ] off the Pomeranian coast, with possibly as many as 9,500 deaths, the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Those on ''Walter Rau'' eventually reached ].


⚫ On 9 February the '']'' sailed from ] with between 3,000 and 4,000 mostly military personnel on board, heading for ]. She was also sunk by the ''S-13'', just after midnight, with 650 survivors.
⚫ On January 30, the ], ''Hansa'', and the whaling boat ''Walter Rau'' left the harbor at ] in occupied ], bound for ]. The ''Hansa'' was forced to return to port with mechanical trouble, but the ''Gustloff'', with more than 10,000 people aboard, continued. She was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine ] off the Pomeranian coast, with possibly as many as 9,400 fatalities, making this the worst maritime disaster in history. The East and West-Prussian refugees on the ''Walter Rau'' eventually made it to Eckernfoerde.


⚫ In early March, a task force composed of the ] accompanied by three ] and the ] {{ship|German torpedo boat|T36||2}} were giving cover to a German bridgehead near ]. During that operation, naval small craft evacuated over 75,000 soldiers and civilians who had been isolated in that area. They were taken to larger warships and other transports lying offshore. While a number of these transports were sunk, large liners such as ] got through and carried up to 11,000 soldiers and civilians each.
⚫ On February 9, the ] sailed from ] with between 3,000 and 4,000 mostly military personnel on board, heading for ]. She was also sunk by ''S-13'', just after midnight; only 300 survived.


⚫ During the night of 4–5 April a flotilla of small boats and landing craft evacuated over 30,000 soldiers and civilians from ''Oxhöfter Kämpe'' and took them to ]. It is estimated that nearly 265,000 people were evacuated from ] (modern Gdańsk) to Hela during the month of April alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://compunews.com/s13/hannibal.htm |title=Operation Hannibal, January – May 1945 |publisher=Compunews.com |access-date=2014-01-23}}</ref>
⚫ In early March, a task force composed of the ] '']'' accompanied by three ]s and the ] ] were giving cover to a German bridgehead near ]. During that operation, naval small craft managed to evacuate over 75,000 soldiers and civilians who had been isolated in that area. They were taken to larger warships and other transports lying offshore. While a number of these transports were sunk, large ]s such as the ] managed to break through and carry up to 11,000 people each.
⚫ During the night of April 4-5, a flotilla of small boats and landing craft evacuated over 30,000 soldiers and civilians from the ''Oxhöfter Kämpe'' and took them to ]. It is estimated that nearly 265,000 people were evacuated from ] ({{lang-de|Danzig}}) to Hela during the month of April alone.<ref></ref>
⚫ On April 15, another large convoy consisting of four liners and other transports left Hela with over 20,000 soldiers and civilians. On April 16, the ] was torpedoed and sunk by ], with the loss of over 6,000 lives; 183 survived.
⚫ ]


⚫ On 15 April another large convoy consisting of four liners and other transports left Hela with over 20,000 soldiers and civilians. On 16 April the ] was torpedoed and sunk by ], with the loss of over 6,000 lives; 183 survived.
⚫ Initially, on his becoming President of Germany on May 1, Donitz was determined to continue the war, going so far as to instruct Colonel General ] that combat troops would have priority in evacuation to Germany from the ]. It wasn't until the afternoon of May 6, with British troops practically on his doorstep, that he saw the writing on the wall.<ref>Grier, Howard D., ''Hitler/Donitz and the Baltic Sea'', Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2007, p.201.</ref>


]
⚫ From May 1 to May 8, over 150,000 people were evacuated from the beaches of Hela. At 21:00 on May 8, 1945, the last day of the war, a convoy consisting of 92 large and small vessels left the ]n city of ] ({{lang-de|Libau}}) with 18,000 soldiers and civilians.<ref>Bekker, Cajus, ''Defeat at Sea'', Henry Holt and Co., 1955, p.198.</ref> While several hundred of those who had boarded small ships on the last day of the war or after were captured by Soviet MTBs, evacuations to the West continued for at least a week after all such movements were prohibited by the terms of the German surrender.


⚫ Initially, on becoming Reich President on 1 May, ] was determined to continue the war, going so far as to instruct ] ] that combat troops would have priority in evacuation to Germany from the ]. It was not until the afternoon of 6 May, with British troops practically on his doorstep, that he gave up on that plan.<ref>Grier, Howard D., ''Hitler/Donitz and the Baltic Sea'', Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2007, p. 201.</ref>
⚫ ==Losses==


⚫ From 1 to 8 May, over 150,000 people were evacuated from the beaches of Hela. At 21:00 on 8 May 1945, the last day of the war, a convoy consisting of 92 large and small vessels left the ]n city of ] ({{langx|de|Libau}}) with 18,000 soldiers and civilians.<ref>Bekker, Cajus, ''Defeat at Sea'', Henry Holt and Co., 1955, p.198.</ref> While several hundred of those who had boarded small ships on the last day of the war or after were captured by Soviet MTBs, evacuations to the west continued for at least a week after all such movements were prohibited by the terms of the ].
⚫ In addition to the ], ], and ], 158 other merchant vessels were lost.<ref>Koburger, p.107</ref> during the 15-week course of Operation Hannibal (January 23-May 8, 1945)


==Notes== === Shortages ===
Shortages plagued the operation with food and medicine being seen as primary issues for the Nazi administration, causing a trend of elderly and very young children to die on board the rescue ships.<ref name=":0" /> Other shortages included only a three-week supply of coal remaining for the sea transport tasks and only a ten-day supply for rail transports to move troops to the front, with fuel being at its lowest levels since the war began.<ref name=":0" />


⚫ ==Losses==
⚫ {{reflist}}
⚫ In addition to the ], ], and ], 158 other merchant vessels were lost during the 15-week course of Operation Hannibal (23 January – 8 May 1945).<ref>Koburger, p.107</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
⚫ * {{SS|Cap Arcona|1927}}
* {{SS|Stettin|1933}}


==References==
⚫ * ]
⚫ {{reflist|30em}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==Sources==
⚫ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannibal}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Eggleston |first1=M.A. |title=Operation Hannibal: The World War II Evacuation of East Prussia and the Disaster at Sea |last2=Rogers |first2=F.O.C. |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-7207-7143-2 |pages=154–159|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}
⚫ ]
* {{Cite book |last1=Denny |first1=I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4n9fjwEACAAJ |title=The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Konigsberg, 1945 |last2=Showalter |first2=D.E. |publisher=Skyhorse |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5107-1240-9 |pages=195 |access-date=2023-07-20}}
⚫ ]
⚫ ]
⚫ ]


⚫ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannibal, Operation}}
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⚫ ]
]
⚫ ]
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⚫ ]
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Latest revision as of 00:06, 27 October 2024

1945 evacuation of German troops from East Prussia and northern Poland by sea Not to be confused with Hannibal Directive.
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Evacuation boats crossing the Baltic Sea

Operation Hannibal was a German naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the Courland Pocket, East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania from mid-January to May 1945 as the Red Army advanced during the East Prussian and East Pomeranian Offensives and subsidiary operations. The operation was one of the largest evacuations by sea in history.

Background

Planning for Operation Hannibal started in late 1944, although it was done quietly since Hitler opposed such measures. The coordination of the evacuations was entrusted to Rear Admiral Conrad Engelhardt  [de]. By the end of 1944, Engelhardt had assembled a fleet of 22 passenger liners, each weighing over 10.000 tonnes (11.023 short tons). Overall responsibility of the operation went to Admiral Oskar Kummetz. In early 1945, the Germans had two Escort Divisions in the area, the 9th [de] and the 10th Escort Divisions [de]. (German: Sicherungs-Division)

The 9th Escort Division mainly consisted of minesweepers.

The East Prussian Offensive by the Red Army's 3rd Belarusian Front under General Ivan Chernyakhovsky commenced on 13 January 1945 and, with Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front, subsequently cut off East Prussia between 23 January and 10 February 1945. German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered General Admiral Oskar Kummetz, as Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the Kriegsmarine's shipping department, to plan and execute the Rettungsaktion (evacuation operation). Dönitz radioed a message to Gotenhafen in occupied Poland on 23 January 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed Hannibal.

On 19 February, the Wehrmacht had managed to open up a corridor from Königsberg to Pillau, which allowed thousands of refugees to escape and wait for ships in Pillau, which would eventually transport them west of the Polish Corridor. Refugees also came from Cranz, Heiligenbeil, Elbing and Preußisches Holland [de]. By 8 April as many as 450,000 refugees were in Pillau.

The flood of military personnel and German civilians eventually turned the operation into one of the largest evacuations by sea in history, even larger than the far more widely known British evacuation of Dunkirk five years earlier. Over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft, and utilizing Germany's largest remaining naval units, carried between 800,000 and 900,000 German civilians and 350,000 soldiers across the Baltic Sea to Germany and German-occupied Denmark.

Operations

Start

Civilians evacuating from Pillau by sea, January 1945
Refugees from Pillau embarking on a ship
Civilians fleeing the besieged city of Königsberg on board the seaplane tender Hans Albrecht Wedel

Operation Hannibal commenced on 23 January 1945. At first, only 14 liners were available along with twenty-three freighters of more than 5,000 tons and many other smaller ships. On 30 January Wilhelm Gustloff, Hansa, and the whaling factory ship Walter Rau left the harbor at Gotenhafen in occupied Poland, bound for Kiel. Hansa was forced to return to port with mechanical trouble, but the Gustloff, overcrowded with more than 10,000 civilians and military personnel aboard, continued. She was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13 off the Pomeranian coast, with possibly as many as 9,500 deaths, the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Those on Walter Rau eventually reached Eckernförde.

On 9 February the SS General von Steuben sailed from Pillau with between 3,000 and 4,000 mostly military personnel on board, heading for Swinemünde. She was also sunk by the S-13, just after midnight, with 650 survivors.

In early March, a task force composed of the German cruiser Admiral Scheer accompanied by three German destroyers and the Elbing-class torpedo boat T36 were giving cover to a German bridgehead near Wollin. During that operation, naval small craft evacuated over 75,000 soldiers and civilians who had been isolated in that area. They were taken to larger warships and other transports lying offshore. While a number of these transports were sunk, large liners such as SS Deutschland got through and carried up to 11,000 soldiers and civilians each.

During the night of 4–5 April a flotilla of small boats and landing craft evacuated over 30,000 soldiers and civilians from Oxhöfter Kämpe and took them to Hela. It is estimated that nearly 265,000 people were evacuated from Danzig (modern Gdańsk) to Hela during the month of April alone.

On 15 April another large convoy consisting of four liners and other transports left Hela with over 20,000 soldiers and civilians. On 16 April the Goya was torpedoed and sunk by L-3, with the loss of over 6,000 lives; 183 survived.

Evacuees arriving at a western harbor, already occupied by British troops

Initially, on becoming Reich President on 1 May, Karl Dönitz was determined to continue the war, going so far as to instruct Generaloberst Carl Hilpert that combat troops would have priority in evacuation to Germany from the Courland Pocket. It was not until the afternoon of 6 May, with British troops practically on his doorstep, that he gave up on that plan.

From 1 to 8 May, over 150,000 people were evacuated from the beaches of Hela. At 21:00 on 8 May 1945, the last day of the war, a convoy consisting of 92 large and small vessels left the Latvian city of Liepāja (German: Libau) with 18,000 soldiers and civilians. While several hundred of those who had boarded small ships on the last day of the war or after were captured by Soviet MTBs, evacuations to the west continued for at least a week after all such movements were prohibited by the terms of the German surrender.

Shortages

Shortages plagued the operation with food and medicine being seen as primary issues for the Nazi administration, causing a trend of elderly and very young children to die on board the rescue ships. Other shortages included only a three-week supply of coal remaining for the sea transport tasks and only a ten-day supply for rail transports to move troops to the front, with fuel being at its lowest levels since the war began.

Losses

In addition to the Goya, Wilhelm Gustloff, and General von Steuben, 158 other merchant vessels were lost during the 15-week course of Operation Hannibal (23 January – 8 May 1945).

See also

References

  1. Eggleston & Rogers 2018, p. 154-159.
  2. Koburger, Charles W., Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees, Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p. 71.
  3. Svenja O'Donnell (28 April 2020). A German Woman's Story of Family, Secrets, and Survival Under Hitler. Penguin Publishing. p. 159. ISBN 9781984880222.
  4. Denny & Showalter 2017, p. 195.
  5. Williams, David, Wartime Disasters at Sea, Patrick Stephens Limited, Nr Yeovil, UK, 1997, p. 225 (figure of 494 merchant vessels); Brustat-Naval, Fritz, Unternehmen Rettung, Koehlers Verlagsgeschellshaft, Herford, Germany, 1985, p. 240 (figure of 790 vessels of all types); Koburger, Charles W., Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees, Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p. 92 (figure of 1,080 merchant vessels)., Denny & Showalter The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Königsberg p.197 (672 merchant ships)
  6. Andreas Kossert, Damals in Ostpreußen, München, 2008, p. 160 ISBN 978-3-421-04366-5
  7. ^ Prince, Cathryn J. (2014). Death in the Baltic: The World War II Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. St.Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-1137279194.
  8. "Operation Hannibal, January – May 1945". Compunews.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  9. Grier, Howard D., Hitler/Donitz and the Baltic Sea, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2007, p. 201.
  10. Bekker, Cajus, Defeat at Sea, Henry Holt and Co., 1955, p.198.
  11. Koburger, p.107

Sources

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