Editing MV Wilhelm Gustloff (section)

==Aftermath==
Many ships were sunk during the war by the Allies and by the [[Axis Powers]].<ref>George Martin [http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/maritime-1.html Maritime Disasters of World War II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127160654/http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/maritime-1.html |date=27 January 2008 }}</ref> However, based on the latest estimates of passenger numbers and those known to be saved, the sinking of ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' remains by far the largest loss of life in maritime history resulting from the sinking of a single vessel.

About 1,000 German naval officers and men were aboard and died in the sinking of ''Wilhelm Gustloff''. Women aboard the ship at the time of the sinking were inaccurately described by [[Propaganda in the Soviet Union|Soviet propaganda]] as "[[Schutzstaffel|SS]] personnel from the German [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]]".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.grani.ru/opinion/sokolov/m.134310.html| title = Потопленный миф| access-date = 12 March 2008| archive-date = 15 August 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090815102047/http://www.grani.ru/opinion/sokolov/m.134310.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> There were, however, 373 female naval auxiliaries amongst the passengers, only three of whom survived.

On the night of 9–10 February, just eleven days after the sinking, [[Soviet submarine S-13|''S-13'']] sank another German ship, {{SS|General von Steuben||2}}, killing about 4,500 people.

Before sinking ''Wilhelm Gustloff'', Captain Marinesko had been facing a [[court martial]] due to his alcohol problems and for being caught in a [[brothel]] while he and his crew were off duty. Marinesko was deemed by the Soviet government as "not suitable to be a hero". Instead of being awarded the title [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] for the sinking, he was awarded the lesser [[Order of the Red Banner]] and downgraded to lieutenant, preventing him from receiving any further commands. He was [[dishonorably discharged]] from the [[Soviet Navy]] in October 1945.

In 1960, Marinesko was reinstated to his original rank of captain third class and granted a full [[pension]]; in 1963, he was given the traditional ceremony due a captain upon the successful return from a mission. He died three weeks later at the age of 50 from [[cancer]]. In 1990, Marinesko was posthumously named a Hero of the Soviet Union by [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet General Secretary]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.warheroes.ru%2Fhero%2Fhero.asp%3FHero_id%3D1012| title = Translation of Marinesko page from www.warheroes.ru}}</ref>

Author [[Günter Grass]] said in an interview published by ''[[The New York Times]]'' in April 2003: "One of the many reasons I wrote ''[[Crabwalk]]'' was to take the subject away from the extreme Right... They said the tragedy of ''Wilhelm Gustloff'' was a [[war crime]]. It wasn't. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."<ref>Riding, Alan. "Still Intrigued by History's Shadows; Günter Grass Worries About the Effects of War". [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/08/books/still-intrigued-history-s-shadows-gunter-grass-worries-about-effects-war-then.html 'New York Times'', 04/08/2003]</ref>