Date in year · 1945 · The 1940s

January 30, 1945

On January 30, 1945, world War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people. Bernard Arcand, Eddy Baldewijns, Gopalkrishna Gandhi would arrive in the same year.

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1945

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Featured · January 30, 1945

World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.

MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport ship, sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating civilians and military personnel from East Prussia and the German-occupied Baltic states, and German military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia), as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate, 9,343 people died, making its sinking the deadliest maritime disaster in modern history.

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Around 1945

The year in brief

1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1945th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 945th year of the 2nd millennium, the 45th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1940s decade.

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What happened

On January 30, 1945

  1. 1945 World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.

    German military transport ship which sank in 1945; former cruise ship

    MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport ship, sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating civilians and military personnel from East Prussia and the German-occupied Baltic states, and German military personnel from Gotenhafen (Gdynia), as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate, 9,343 people died, making its sinking the deadliest maritime disaster in modern history.

  2. 1945 World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred and twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.

    1945 rescue of Allied POWs in the Philippines

    The Raid at Cabanatuan, also known as the Great Raid, was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas attacked the camp and liberated more than 500 prisoners.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1945

The class of 1945

Others born in 1945

Bernard Arcand 1945– Canadian anthropologist and author (died 2009)
Eddy Baldewijns 1945– Belgian politician
Gopalkrishna Gandhi 1945– Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
Demetrio Stratos 1945– Greek-Egyptian singer-songwriter (died 1979)
Jim Gordon 1945– American rock drummer and convicted murderer (died 2023)
Wolfgang Schüssel 1945– Austrian lawyer and politician, 26th Chancellor of Austria

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