1945 May 3rd. World War II sinking of prison ships.

• 1945 – World War II: Sinking of the prison ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
• Towards the end of April 1945, the German Navy assembled a small fleet of ships in the Bay of Lübeck, consisting of the linersCap Arcona and SS Deutschland, and the smaller vessels Thielbek and Athen. Since the steering motors were out of use in the Thielbek and the turbines were out of use in the Cap Arcona, the Athen was used to transfer prisoners from Lübeck to the larger ships and between ships. By the end of the month, these ships held more than 10,000 prisoners from theNeuengamme concentration camp and its subcamps, and two barges brought more from Stutthof and Mittelbau-Dora camps.
  The order to transfer the prisoners to the prison ships came from Gauleiter Karl Kaufmann in Hamburg, who was himself acting on orders from Berlin.
  Later, during a war crimes tribunal, Kaufmann claimed the prisoners were going to be sent to Sweden. However, Georg-Henning Graf von Bassewitz-Behr, Hamburg's last Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF), testified at the same trial that the prisoners were in fact to be killed "in compliance with Himmler's orders". It has been suggested that the ships were to be scuttled with the prisoners still aboard. Kurt Rickert, who had worked for Bassewitz-Behr, testified at the Hamburg War Crimes Trial that he believed the ships were to be sunk by U-boats or Luftwaffe aircraft. Eva Neurath, who was present in Neustadt, and whose husband survived the disaster, said she was told by a police officer that the ships held convicts and were going to be blown up.
  On 30 April 1945, two Swedish ships, the Magdalena and Lillie Matthiessen, sailed from Lübeck, the first with 223 Western European prisoners, for the most part French-speaking, He was transferred from the Thielbek to the Magdalena. The Lillie Matthiesen carried 225 women from Ravensbrück for transportation to hospitals in Sweden.
  On 2 May 1945, the British Second Army reached the towns of Lübeck and Wismar. No. 6 Commando, 1st Special Service Brigade commanded by Brigadier Derek Mills-Roberts, and 11th Armoured Division, commanded by Major-General George P. B. Roberts, entered Lübeck without resistance. Mr. De Blonay of the International Committee of the Red Cross informed Major-General Roberts that 7,000-8,000 prisoners were aboard ships in the Bay of Lübeck.