More than 7,000 die when the German transport ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
In the final months of the Second World War, the German transport ship Goya became part of Operation Hannibal, one of the largest maritime evacuation efforts in history. As Soviet forces advanced rapidly across Eastern Europe in the spring of 1945, thousands of German soldiers, wounded personnel, and civilians attempted to flee westward across the Baltic Sea. Originally a Norwegian freighter built in 1940 and later seized by Nazi Germany, Goya was pressed into military service as a transport vessel. On 16 April 1945, the overcrowded ship departed from the Hel Peninsula carrying an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people, although the exact number is unknown because many refugees boarded without being officially registered.
Late that night, as the convoy moved through the Baltic Sea, the Soviet submarine L-3, commanded by Captain Vladimir Konovalov, spotted the vessel. At approximately 11:52 p.m., the submarine fired torpedoes at Goya. Two torpedoes struck the ship, causing catastrophic damage. The explosions tore through the vessel, and because it was heavily overloaded and not designed to safely carry so many passengers, it sank in only about seven minutes. The freezing waters of the Baltic made survival almost impossible for those thrown overboard. Most passengers, including many women, children, and wounded soldiers, either drowned immediately or died from hypothermia in the icy sea.
The sinking of Goya remains one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. Out of the thousands on board, only 183 people survived, meaning that well over 6,000 lives were lost in a single night. Despite the enormous scale of the tragedy, it is often less well known than the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, which occurred earlier that same year. The wreck of Goya now rests on the floor of the Baltic Sea and has been declared a war grave, serving as a solemn reminder of the immense human suffering that accompanied the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945.