MV William Gustloff lyrics

As if to flee from final war

Overwhelmed aggressors

From foreign lands there

This congregation of chaos

In a last chance to escape

In the frigid winter of '45

But to ply the icy Baltic Sea

So in this Operation Hannibal

The few conveyances were

That evacuation could be

Its bulging bulkheads ached

And humanity pressed so

Trying the limits of each link

In the din of confusion below

Strewn within this calamity

Civilian masses and military

Numbers uncertain, unsure

Drafting low in the cold sea

In the darkness of desperation

To spare departure's mark

Alit mistakenly a target's fate

In deep waters clear of mines

With nav. lamps lit, invitingly so

S-13 crept up near and aside

Then launched its attack true

Three torpedoes were flung out

Sent without remorse, steady

They quickly found the Gustloff

There without discrimination

They laid justice final on all

Trampled, torn, and drowned

Their voices withered rapidly

A catastrophic consequence

That is the namesake of war

Death's icy grip, strangling

There slipping beneath waves

All sorts, family, friend, and foe

Destiny dark awaited them there

All about heaven's gate, 10,000

Save 1239 pulled from water

Lost in murky waters, featureless

A tragedy mislaid in its depths

And within a few minutes passing

That island had sunk from sight

Taking humanity down with it

In a maelstrom snared inevitable

Where even memory vanished

Their cries quelled in the depths

All wrongs erased by a watery grave