Goya
● ● ●
On 16 April 1945 left the transporter 'Goya' harbor, overcrowded with rund 7,000 refugees, mainly women, children and wounded, off the Hela Peninsula in the direction of Swinemünde.
The windowless cargo holds of the freighter were covered with straw for taking as many refugees as possible. Besides, in the narrow passages thousands of refugees and wounded soldiers huddled together. The vessel became their wet mass grave.
In the Gulf of Danzig the ship was hit hard by two torpedos of a Russian submarine.
The freighter sank rapidly within a few minutes.
Only 147 people survived the catastrophe, more than 6,800 people drowned in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.
The captain of the Soviet submarine who triggered one of the greatest maritime disasters was awarded the highest accolade as "Hero of the Soviet Union".
6,800 dead