SS Cap Arcona, named after Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen, was a large German ocean liner, later a ship of the German Navy, and finally a prison ship. The Cap Arcona burning. LinkedIn Print On the afternoon of May 3, 1945, a squadron of RAF Typhoons began their descent to attack Axis shipping in Neustadt Bay, Germany.
HISTORY Why RAF destroyed CAP ARCONA with 4,500 concentration camp prisoners on board
The SS Cap Arcona was a German ocean liner built in the 1920's for the Hamburg - South America Line. She was Germany's answer to the RMS Titanic, the fastest and quickest ship of her time, and known as the "floating palace." The ship had her maiden voyage on October 29, 1927. The SS Cap Arcona was at the heart of one of the largest loss of life incidents during the Second World War. Compared to events where those onboard were enlisted men, she was used as a prison. The SS Cap Arcona was at the heart of one of the largest loss of life incidents during the Second World War. Compared to events where those onboard were enlisted men, she was used as a prison ship housing thousands of concentration camp prisoners who'd been moved once the Allies had started liberating camps throughout Germany and Eastern Europe. The "Cap Arcona" was hit by a number of bombs and caught fire. There were no lifeboats for the prisoners; the SS had destroyed all means of escape. Despite being emaciated and weakened by the conditions they had endured in the concentration camps, many people jumped into the cold sea and tried to swim ashore.
The passenger ship 'Cap Arcona' Stock Photo Alamy
Cap Arcona The end of WWII was only days away, yet the RAF carried out the Nazis dirty work for them during the Cap Arcona disaster. Docked in the Bay of Lubeck were the German ships Cap Arcona, Theilbek, and Athen. Below deck, they held nearly 10,000 prisoners in filthy and inhumane conditions. The SS Cap Arcona, which was carrying thousands of prisoners, was sunk by RAF fighter bombers on May 3, 1945 WHAT'S THE STORY? It was 75 years ago tomorrow on May 3, 1945, that the liner Cap Arcona was sunk by RAF fighter bombers in the Bay of Lubeck in the Baltic Sea. The S.S. Cap Arcona was a German cruise ship during the 20th century. During the Second World War, it was enlisted as a naval vessel, though it also was used as a prop and setting for Goebbels's movie of the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic in 1943. SS Cap Arcona, named after Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen, was a large German ocean liner, later a ship of the German Navy, and finally a prison ship.
SS Cap Arcona 19271945 YouTube
The SS Cap Arcona, constructed by the renowned German shipyard Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, was a crowning achievement in shipbuilding at the time. Its construction began in 1926, and the ship was launched on May 14, 1927, a testament to the flourishing maritime industry in Germany during the interwar period. Cap Arcona, named after Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen, was a large German ocean liner built for the Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft ("Hamburg-South America Line"). She carried passengers and cargo between Germany and the east coast of South America, and in her time was the largest and quickest ship on the route.
Prisoners of the evacuated Neuengamme concentration camp were brought on board the ships Cap Arcona and Thielbeck anchored in the Lübeck Bay near Neustadt on April 25-26, 1945. On May 3 the British air force attacked these "concentrations of enemy shipping." Only 500 people were rescued from the burning Cap Arcona, while nearly all 2,800. The Cap Arcona was a German luxury liner that was sunk in the last days of WWII in one of the most tragic naval disasters of the entire war. The history of the ship and the story of its sinking is little known today. The Cap Arcona was a German Turbine Steamer (27560 BRT) that was launched by the Hamburg-South America Line on May 14th, 1927.
SS Cap Arcona, ocean liner of the HamburgSouth America Line. Date circa 1930s Stock Photo Alamy
The Cap Arcona, launched in May 1927, was a handsome passenger ship of the "Hamburg-South America" line. At 27,000 gross registered tons, it was the fourth-largest ship in the German merchant marine. For twelve years -- until the outbreak of war in 1939 -- she had sailed regularly between Hamburg and Rio de Janeiro. The convoys of ships were hunted and several were sunk by Russian submarines, but the Cap Arcona managed to rescue tens of thousands of refugees during several daring and deadly crossings.
