The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff was the worst maritime disaster in history. Sunk by a Soviet submarine on 30 January 1945, the death toll on the Wilhelm Gustloff was equivalent to nearly six Titanics. Though most people have never heard of it. Why?
1,289 are known to have survived the stormy Baltic waters. But how many were aboard when she set sail? Death estimates vary between 5,200 — 9,327.
The wreck now sits mute at the bottom of the Baltic Sea — some 20 miles off-shore. And questions remain. In the 1950s, Soviet diver's salvaged the wreck and then blew up what was left. What were they looking for? What did they find?
"Unsolved History" will give a detailed representation of the ship from existing blueprints and show how a 19,350 metric ton vessel could disappear into the frigid deep in less than an hour.
We will reconstruct the anatomy of a disaster, including showing how modern day ships have learned to mitigate evacuation delays?a science that is currently being re-evaluated in light of the World Trade Center tragedy to prevent a reprise of staggering losses.
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