SS Deutschland (1923)

The SS Deutschland of 1923, sometimes seen as Deutschland IV to distinguish from others of the name, was a HAPAG ocean liner sunk in a British air attack in 1945, with great loss of life.

One of a group of four that began with the Albert Ballin, Deutschland was launched on 28 April 1923. She began her maiden voyage on 27 March 1924, to Southampton and then New York City. The ship had tremendous problems with vibrations, becoming known as the "Cocktail Shaker"; she was re-engined in 1929, with service speed reduced to 19 knots.

In 1940, she became an accommodation ship for the German navy at Gotenhafen. In 1945, on 7 passages, she carried 70,000 refugees from Eastern Germany west.

In April 1945 she was converted to a hospital ship and an attempt made to paint the vessel white, but there was only sufficient paint available to paint her funnels white and paint a Red Cross on one side of one of her funnels. On May 3 1945, she was sunk in the Bay of Lubeck off Neustadt by the same British air attack that sank SS Cap Arcona and Thielbek.

In 1948, her wreck was raised and scrapped.

Reference:

Roy Nesbit – Cap Arcona: atrocity or accident? – Aeroplane Monthly, June 1984