May
3, 1945
SS
Cap Arcona
Ship
Length: 675 ft. 5 in.
Overall
Tonnage: 27,561 tons
Passenger
Capacity: 1,315 passengers; carrying 5,976 at time of
sinking
Time
took to sink: Ship capsized and never fully sunk, the hulk of the ship washed
ashore and was scrapped.
Death
Toll: 4,500/5,976 passengers were
lost
The
prison ship SS Cap Arcona was bombed and machine gunned by the Royal Air Force
and capsized with over 4500 prisoners which were gunned down when the ship
started sinking. The prisoners, who had believed they were rescued, were
deliberately shot at by the planes, the pilots believing the prisoners were
escaping soldiers from the war. The captain himself abandoned the ship, while
cutting down the prisoners with a machete. The ship burned and capsized, and the
last bodies from the ship were found in
1971.
3, 1945
SS
Cap Arcona
Ship
Length: 675 ft. 5 in.
Overall
Tonnage: 27,561 tons
Passenger
Capacity: 1,315 passengers; carrying 5,976 at time of
sinking
Time
took to sink: Ship capsized and never fully sunk, the hulk of the ship washed
ashore and was scrapped.
Death
Toll: 4,500/5,976 passengers were
lost
The
prison ship SS Cap Arcona was bombed and machine gunned by the Royal Air Force
and capsized with over 4500 prisoners which were gunned down when the ship
started sinking. The prisoners, who had believed they were rescued, were
deliberately shot at by the planes, the pilots believing the prisoners were
escaping soldiers from the war. The captain himself abandoned the ship, while
cutting down the prisoners with a machete. The ship burned and capsized, and the
last bodies from the ship were found in
1971.