"Wilhelm Gustloff - The Greatest Marine Disaster in History " Topic
2 Posts
All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.
For more information, see the TMP FAQ.
Back to the WWII Media Message Board Back to the WWII Naval Discussion Message Board
Areas of InterestWorld War Two on the Land World War Two at Sea World War Two in the Air
Featured Hobby News Article
Featured Recent Link
Top-Rated Ruleset
Featured Showcase ArticleCan a WWII blockgame find happiness as a miniatures campaign system?
Featured Workbench ArticleMaster Fighter combines a diecast T34/76 with pre-painted tank riders and accessories.
Featured Profile Article
Featured Book Review
Featured Movie Review
|
Tango01 | 24 Oct 2017 10:14 p.m. PST |
"The sinking of the TITANIC in 1912 and the LUSITANIA three years later are commonly thought of as two of the greatest maritime disasters of all time. Yet, a German ship carrying mostly civilian refugees and sunk in the Baltic Sea in the closing months of World War II claimed more than twice as many lives as both ships combined. But little has been written about it. Why? The short answer is that it was considered a "war loss" and in some quarters is not comparable with civilian disasters. After all, it is argued, military personnel by definition know to expect mayhem at every turn in wartime, while the loss of innocent civilians carries a certain aura of deep and personal tragedy. But wait. The LUSITANIA, a British ship sunk during WWI by a u-boat, may have been carrying civilian passengers, but she was carrying war materiel as well. So this qualifies her as a war loss, too. The fact that the passengers had no knowledge of having been made "fair game" for u-boat attack may compound the tragedy--and bring into question the morality of the British government at the time--but does not affect the ship's obvious status as a war loss…" Main page link Amicalement Armand
|
Murvihill | 25 Oct 2017 10:40 a.m. PST |
I was going to argue about the differences between the ships' statuses but the author does have a point. Where he is wrong is adding those German ships to a list of nautical disasters. Instead he should remove the Lusitania. In fact, Lusitania is not on Wikipedia's list at all. |
|