Gerrit Fritzen, one of the last undiscovered German vessels involved in Operation Hannibal. But let’s start from the beginning… A few years ago, as Baltictech, we set out to find the last five vessels involved in the world's largest maritime evacuation, which transported 2 million Germans to the west. A total of 1,080 ships and vessels took part in this operation. The Russians sank 247 of them. About 150 were salvaged right after the war, and 100 still lie at the bottom of the Baltic Sea with around 20,000 victims.
Until recently, the fate of the steamships: Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, Orion, Gerrit Fritzen, and Baltenland was unknown.
In 2020, we found Karlsruhe, and a year later, Frankfurt. On Friday, September 8, 2023 - 30 nm from Władysławowo, we dived on a large new wreck at a depth of 92 meters.
The first structural elements indicated we had found it, but it was only upon finding the bell and reading the inscription underwater that we confirmed it was the sought-after Gerrit Fritzen.
The inscription on the bell was TERNA 1922, which was the ship's first historical name and year of manufacture.
The ship was built in England for a Danish owner and in 1940 was annexed by the Germans and incorporated into the Kriegsmarine under a new name.
It sailed from Liepāja to Lübeck on March 12, 1945, and was sunk by Soviet aviation at 12:00.
Out of this quintet of steamships, its history was the least known. All we know is that no one died.
The wreck lies far and deep and is heavily netted, but diving on it is like a journey into space.
See the photos below and video.
The team:
Tomasz Stachura
Tomasz Zwara
Maciej Honc
Kamil Macidłowski
Łukasz Pastwa
Bartek Pitala
Karol Jacob
