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((Short description|1945 evacuation of German troops from East Prussia and northern Poland by sea))
((distinguish|Hannibal Directive))
((more citations needed|date=January 2018))[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-092-05, Flucht aus Ostpreußen.jpg|thumb|Evacuation boats crossing the Baltic Sea]]

'''Operation Hannibal''' was a [[Military history of Germany during World War II|German]] naval operation involving the evacuation by sea of German troops and civilians from the [[Courland Pocket]], [[Evacuation of East Prussia|East Prussia]], [[West Prussia]] and [[Pomerania]] from mid-January to May 1945 as the [[Red Army]] advanced during the [[East Prussian Offensive|East Prussian]] and [[East Pomeranian Offensive]]s and subsidiary operations. The operation was one of the largest evacuations by sea in history.

==Background==
Planning for Operation Hannibal started in late 1944, although it was done quietly since [[Hitler]] opposed such measures. The coordination of the evacuations was entrusted to [[Rear Admiral]] ((interlanguage link|Conrad Engelhardt |de|Conrad Engelhardt)). By the end of 1944, Engelhardt had assembled a fleet of 22 passenger liners, each weighing over ((Convert|10.000|tonnes|ST)). Overall responsibility of the operation went to [[Admiral]] [[Oskar Kummetz]]. In early 1945, the Germans had two Escort Divisions in the area, the ((interlanguage link|9th Escort Division|lt=9th|de|9. Sicherungs-Division)) and the ((interlanguage link|lt=10th Escort Divisions|10th Escort Division|de|10. Sicherungs-Division)). (((lang de|Sicherungs-Division)))((sfn | Eggleston | Rogers | 2018 | p=154-159))

The 9th Escort Division mainly consisted of [[minesweeper]]s.

The [[East Prussian Offensive]] by the [[Red Army]]'s [[3rd Belarusian Front]] under General [[Ivan Chernyakhovsky]] commenced on January 13, 1945 and, with Marshal [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]]'s [[2nd Belorussian Front]], subsequently cut off East Prussia between January 23 and February 10, 1945. German Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] ordered General Admiral [[Oskar Kummetz]], as Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the [[Kriegsmarine]]'s shipping department, to plan and execute the ''Rettungsaktion'' (evacuation operation).<ref>Koburger, Charles W., ''Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees'', Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p. 71.</ref> Dönitz radioed a message to [[Gdynia|Gotenhafen]] in [[German-occupied Poland|occupied Poland]] on January 23, 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed Hannibal.<ref>((cite book|page=159|title=A German Woman's Story of Family, Secrets, and Survival Under Hitler|publisher=[[Penguin Publishing]]|author=Svenja O'Donnell|isbn=9781984880222))</ref>

On 19 February, the Wehrmacht had managed to open up a corridor from [[Königsberg]] to [[Pillau]], which allowed thousands of refugees to escape and wait for ships in Pillau, which would eventually transport them west of the [[Polish Corridor]]. Refugees also came from [[Zelenogradsk|Cranz]], [[Mamonovo|Heiligenbeil]], [[Elbląg|Elbing]] and ((interlanguage link|Preußisches Holland|de|Kreis Preußisch Holland)). By 8 April as many as 450,000 refugees were in Pillau.((sfn | Denny | Showalter | 2017 | p=195))

The flood of military personnel and German civilians eventually turned the operation into one of the largest evacuations by sea in history, even larger than the far more widely known [[Dunkirk evacuation|British evacuation of Dunkirk]] five years earlier. Over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types, including fishing boats and other craft,<ref>Williams, David, ''Wartime Disasters at Sea'', Patrick Stephens Limited, Nr Yeovil, UK, 1997, p. 225 (figure of 494 merchant vessels); Brustat-Naval, Fritz, ''Unternehmen Rettung'', Koehlers Verlagsgeschellshaft, Herford, Germany, 1985, p. 240 (figure of 790 vessels of all types); Koburger, Charles W., ''Steel Ships, Iron Crosses, and Refugees'', Praeger Publishers, NY, 1989, p. 92 (figure of 1,080 merchant vessels)., Denny & Showalter ''The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Königsberg'' p.197 (672 merchant
ships)</ref> and utilizing Germany's largest remaining naval units, carried between 800,000 and 900,000 German civilians and 350,000 soldiers<ref>Andreas Kossert, ''Damals in Ostpreußen'', München, 2008, p. 160 ((ISBN|978-3-421-04366-5))</ref> across the [[Baltic Sea]] to Germany and German-occupied [[Occupation of Denmark|Denmark]].

==Operations==
===Start===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-033-33, Pillau, Hafen, Flüchtlinge.jpg|thumb|Civilians evacuating from [[Pillau]] by sea, January 1945]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-093-51, Pillau, Einschiffung von Flüchtlingen.jpg|thumb|Refugees from Pillau embarking on a ship]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-093-65, Flüchtlinge auf Schiff.jpg|thumb|Civilians fleeing the besieged city of [[Königsberg]] on board the seaplane tender ''Hans Albrecht Wedel'']]
Operation Hannibal commenced on January 23, 1945.<ref name=":0">((Cite book|title=Death in the Baltic: The World War II Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff|last=Prince|first=Cathryn J.|publisher=St.Martin's Griffin|year=2014|isbn=978-1137279194))</ref> At first, only 14 liners were available along with twenty-three
freighters of more than 5,000 tons and many other smaller ships. On January 30, ''[[MV Wilhelm Gustloff|Wilhelm Gustloff]]'', ''Hansa'', and the whaling factory ship ''Walter Rau'' left the harbor at [[Gdynia|Gotenhafen]] in occupied [[Poland]], bound for [[Kiel]]. ''Hansa'' was forced to return to port with mechanical trouble, but the ''Gustloff'', overcrowded with more than 10,000 civilians and military personnel aboard, continued. She was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine [[Soviet submarine S-13|''S-13'']] off the Pomeranian coast, with possibly as many as 9,500 deaths, the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Those on ''Walter Rau'' eventually reached [[Eckernförde]].

On February 9, the ''[[SS General von Steuben]]'' sailed from [[Pillau]] with between 3,000 and 4,000 mostly military personnel on board, heading for [[Swinemünde]]. She was also sunk by the ''S-13'', just after midnight, with 650 survivors.

In early March, a task force composed of the [[German cruiser Admiral Scheer|German cruiser ''Admiral Scheer'']] accompanied by three [[German World War II destroyers|German destroyers]] and the  [[Elbing-class torpedo boat]] ((ship|German torpedo boat|T36||2)) were giving cover to a German bridgehead near [[Wollin]]. During that operation, naval small craft evacuated over 75,000 soldiers and civilians who had been isolated in that area. They were taken to larger warships and other transports lying offshore. While a number of these transports were sunk, large liners such as [[SS Deutschland (1923)|''SS Deutschland'']] got through and carried up to 11,000 soldiers and civilians each.

During the night of April 4–5, a flotilla of small boats and landing craft evacuated over 30,000 soldiers and civilians from ''Oxhöfter Kämpe'' and took them to [[Hel Peninsula|Hela]]. It is estimated that nearly 265,000 people were evacuated from [[Danzig]] (modern Gdańsk) to Hela during the month of April alone.<ref>((cite web|url=http://compunews.com/s13/hannibal.htm |title=Operation Hannibal, January – May 1945 |publisher=Compunews.com |access-date=2014-01-23))</ref>

On April 15, another large convoy consisting of four liners and other transports left Hela with over 20,000 soldiers and civilians. On April 16, the [[MV Goya|''Goya'']] was torpedoed and sunk by [[soviet submarine L-3|''L-3'']], with the loss of over 6,000 lives; 183 survived.

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2004-0127, Ausschiffung von Flüchtlingen.jpg|thumb|Evacuees arriving at a western harbor, already occupied by British troops]]

Initially, on his becoming Reich President on May 1, [[Karl Dönitz]] was determined to continue the war, going so far as to instruct [[Generaloberst]] [[Carl Hilpert]] that combat troops would have priority in evacuation to Germany from the [[Courland Pocket]]. It was not until the afternoon of May 6, with British troops practically on his doorstep, that he gave up on that plan.<ref>Grier, Howard D., ''Hitler/Donitz and the Baltic Sea'', Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2007, p. 201.</ref>

From May 1 to May 8, over 150,000 people were evacuated from the beaches of Hela. At 21:00 on May 8, 1945, the last day of the war, a convoy consisting of 92 large and small vessels left the [[Latvia]]n city of [[Liepāja]] (((lang-de|Libau))) with 18,000 soldiers and civilians.<ref>Bekker, Cajus, ''Defeat at Sea'', Henry Holt and Co., 1955, p.198.</ref> While several hundred of those who had boarded small ships on the last day of the war or after were captured by Soviet MTBs, evacuations to the west continued for at least a week after all such movements were prohibited by the terms of the [[German Instrument of Surrender|German surrender]].

=== Shortages ===
Shortages plagued the operation with food and medicine being seen as primary issues for the Nazi administration, causing a trend of elderly and very young children to die on board the rescue ships.<ref name=":0" /> Other shortages included only a three-week supply of coal remaining for the sea transport tasks and only a ten-day supply for rail transports to move troops to the front, with fuel being at its lowest levels since the war began.<ref name=":0" />

==Losses==
In addition to the [[MV Goya|''Goya'']], [[MV Wilhelm Gustloff|''Wilhelm Gustloff'']], and [[SS General von Steuben|''General von Steuben'']], 158 other merchant vessels were lost during the 15-week course of Operation Hannibal (January 23 – May 8, 1945).<ref>Koburger, p.107</ref>

==See also==
* [[Evacuation of East Prussia]]
* ((SS|Cap Arcona|1927))
* ((SS|Stettin|1933))

==References==
((reflist|30em))

==Sources==
* ((Cite book |last1=Eggleston |first1=M.A. |title=Operation Hannibal: The World War II Evacuation of East Prussia and the Disaster at Sea |last2=Rogers |first2=F.O.C. |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-7207-7143-2 |pages=154–159))
* ((Cite book |last1=Denny |first1=I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4n9fjwEACAAJ |title=The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Konigsberg, 1945 |last2=Showalter |first2=D.E. |publisher=Skyhorse |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5107-1240-9 |pages=195 |access-date=2023-07-20))

((DEFAULTSORT:Hannibal, Operation))
[[Category:Baltic Sea operations of World War II]]
[[Category:Evacuations during World War II]]
[[Category:Military operations of World War II involving Germany]]
[[Category:Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:January 1945 events in Europe]]
[[Category:February 1945 events in Europe]]
[[Category:March 1945 events in Europe]]
[[Category:April 1945 events in Europe]]
[[Category:May 1945 events in Europe]]
[[Category:East Prussia in World War II]]

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