Not all historically interesting wrecks are far away and deep underwater. Some can be found practically right under your nose. The wreck of the ship Moltkefels lies at a depth of just 8 meters, and with some effort, it’s even possible to reach it from the shore.
The story of this wreck had been nagging at us for some time, and Tomasz Zwara from our team made it his mission to uncover its fate and precisely locate the remnants of the wreck.
It all started several years ago when Mr. Antoni Konkel sent a letter to the Maritime Office in Gdynia, describing his experiences related to the Moltkefels.
On April 11, 1945, as a 7-year-old boy, he boarded a large ship with his parents. The ship was part of Operation Hannibal, aimed at evacuating German refugees to the west. He didn’t feel like a German at all, but the fear of the Soviets was so intense that even Kashubians, the indigenous inhabitants of the peninsula, were ordered to board the ship. (Incidentally, he quickly returned and happily lives in Jastarnia to this day.)
The ship's loading began early in the morning. At 11:00 a.m., the first Soviet airstrike occurred, followed by another at 2:00 p.m., and a final, devastating one at 4:00 p.m.
By that time, the Moltkefels had 4,000 passengers on board. A desperate rescue operation began. Despite many efforts, 500 people died, and the burning ship settled on the seabed near the Hel coast.
Some time after the war, its exposed remains were removed, and the story was nearly forgotten until Mr. Antoni wrote his letter.
April 11, 1945, was generally an unlucky day for the Germans. That day, the Soviets sank four vessels:
SS Moltkefels
TS 10, a torpedo cutter later salvaged by the Soviets and taken as a war prize
UJ 1102, which still rests north of Hel at a depth of 78 meters
SS Posen, which ran aground on the shore. In the 1960s, the Polish Ocean Lines removed its exposed parts, but its bottom section still lies on the seabed near the Hel coast.
For years, the wreckage of Posen and Moltkefels had been misinterpreted, as it was difficult to distinguish between the two given their extensive damage.
But Tomasz Zwara wouldn’t give up, and in October 2024, on our way back from deep dives, we were finally able to verify his suspicions. We got lucky—the autumn storms had uncovered a significant part of the wreck.
The weather was magical—completely calm and dark with no wind. We were able to drop anchor and thoroughly examine the wreck.
There wasn’t much left of it, but what we saw convinced us that we were dealing with the remains of Moltkefels. Among the debris, we found a ruptured shell casing from a 3.7 cm anti-aircraft gun and fragments of a shell from a 2 cm gun. A photo of Moltkefels taken by the Soviets shows at least six raised platforms for this type of weaponry.
We also found a typical Kriegsmarine sailor’s helmet from an anti-aircraft gun station.
Overall, it was a great dive, especially when strong easterly winds make it impossible to do anything else.
Highly recommended!
The Baltictech Team this time included:
Tomasz Stachura
Tomasz Zwara
Kamil Macidłowski
Maciej Honc
Paweł Wilk
Maciej Marcinkowski
