Tag: sinking

ALEXANDER WERTH [PART III]: RUSSIAN ARCTIC CONVOY PQ-16 – May in MURMANSK (USSR) – MERCHANT NAVY SHIP “EMPIRE BAFFIN”! (2.9.2023)

This content discusses a chapter from Alexander Werth’s book, ‘The Year of Stalingrad,’ which provides an insightful portrayal of WWII events concerning the Soviet Union. It highlights Werth’s journey in the PQ-16 convoy from Murmansk to Moscow, offering readers an in-depth view of the war from an ordinary Soviet citizen’s perspective. Despite his work being overlooked due to his left-wing views and refusal to entertain anti-Soviet propaganda during the Cold War, the narrative praises his bravery and sincerity.

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Nazi Germany: The 1943 Joseph Goebbels ‘Tatanic’ Film! (9.5.2023)

The film entitled ‘Titanic’ – is a 1943 Nazi German propaganda film made during World War II in Berlin by Tobis Productions for UFA. This lavish production depicts the catastrophic sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912 – and the massive lose of life this tragic event entailed! Despite the fact that there had already been a very good ‘silent’ movie produced in Germany during 1912 (just four weeks after the actual sinking) and that a British company had subsequently released a German-language film about the disaster in 1929 – the film was still commissioned by Joseph Goebbels – with the intent of showing not only the superiority of German filmmaking (whilst the regime was suffering debilitating military losses on all fronts), but also serve as a propaganda tool portraying Hitler’s lunatic ideas that it was British and American capitalism (controlled by what he termed ‘International Jewry’) that was responsible for the disaster!

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WWII: The ‘Correct’ Soviet Sinking of the Nazi German Ship – MV Wilhelm Gustloff [1945]! (29.10.2022)

With the US, UK and EU actively supporting the political rightwing and far-right as a policy decision in this power bloc’s opposition to any and all Workers’ Movements anywhere in the world – the idea that the Soviet sinking of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a ‘War Crime’ still carries significant persuasive force that even permeates Western classrooms (including those of ‘modern’ Russia) and is a common idea held throughout society. Alexander Marinesko did not commit a ‘War Crime’ or a ‘Crime Against Humanity’ because from the point of view of International Maritime Law, the ship was a legitimate target for the following reasons: 

a) The ship was fitted with artillery (including anti-aircraft guns). 

b) The ship was escorted by armed warships. 

c) The ship and was painted in gray ‘camouflage’ colours to assist in its combat missions. 

d) The ship was not Registered with the Red Cross. 

e) The ship was carrying active military personnel. 

f) The ship was travelling through a declared combat zone at the time of sinking. 

g) The ship sailed under the (military) flag of the Reichskriegsmarine.

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China: 1942 Sinking of the ‘Lisbon Maru’ – US War Crime? (29.8.2022)

The ship named the ‘Lisbon Maru’ was carrying around 2,000 British POWs (British military personnel captured during the fall of Hong Kong being transported to Japan) when the ship was hit by a torpedo fired by the USS Grouper (part of the 81st US Pacific Fleet Submarine Force) on October 2nd, 1942! The ‘Lisbon Maru’ sank just off the Zhoushan (Zhejiang) area of the East China coast! It is reported that although 843 British POWs died due to drowning (and the machine-gunning of men in the water by other elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy active in the area) – another 384 British POWs were saved by the actions of local Chinese fishermen!

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