View source for MS Totila

{{short description|German cargo ship}}
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|Ship country=Nazi Germany
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}}
|Ship name=''Totila''{{sfn|Gröner|1993}}
|Ship namesake=[[Totila]]{{sfn|Gröner|1993}}
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|Ship acquired=Spring 1944{{sfn|Gröner|1993|p=119}}
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|Ship in service=May 1944{{sfn|Gröner|1993|p=119}}
|Ship fate=Sunk 10 May 1944{{sfn|Gröner|1993|p=119}}
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|Ship displacement=3600 tons{{sfn|Gröner|1993|p=119}}
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|Ship propulsion=4 Ganz-Jendrasik 8cyl. 4stroke [[diesel engine]]s, 4 generators, 2 [[electric motor]]s{{sfn|Gröner|1993|p=119}}
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{{More footnotes needed|date=March 2011}}
'''''Totila''''' was a [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[cargo ship]] which was sunk during [[World War II]] on 10 May 1944 near [[Chersonesus (Crimea)|Khersones]] during the [[Crimean Offensive|Axis evacuation of the Crimea]], killing up to 5,000 German and Romanian soldiers.

''Totila'' was built in 1942 as the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] cargo ship '''''Magyar Vitez'''''. The Germans confiscated her in 1944.

In 1944, the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]]′s [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th Army]] was cut off by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Red Army]] in the [[Crimean Peninsula]]. At first, [[Adolf Hitler]] did not allow the 17th Army's 235,000 German and Romanian troops to be evacuated by sea, but on 11 April 1944 the evacuation began.

Together with the ship ''Teja'', ''Totila'' reached Khersones on 10 May 1944 and both ships were immediately loaded with German and Romanian soldiers. They then headed for [[Constanța]], [[Romania]]. They survived a first attack by a formation of 20 Soviet aircraft, but at 09:30, ''Totila'' was hit by three [[Aerial bomb|bombs]] during a second attack by 21 Soviet planes. The ship, with 3,000 Germans and 2,000 Romanians on board, sank very quickly. ''Teja'' and the escort ships could not stop to help the survivors. At 14:45, a new formation of 11 Soviet [[Douglas A-20 Havoc|A-20]]s appeared and hit ''Teja'', which sank with some 4,000 men on board. The three escort ships saved some 400 men and continued the trip to Constanța.

The claim{{by whom|date=May 2016}} that most soldiers saved themselves by swimming to shore is very unlikely.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The exact number of casualties will never be known, but the sinking of these two ships is one of the greatest maritime disasters of all time. In total, some 8,000 men might have lost their lives in this incident.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}

[[Underwater diving|Divers]] found the wreck of ''Totila'' in May 2003 near [[Sevastopol]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
*{{cite book|first=Erich|last=Gröner|title=Flußfahrzeuge, Ujäger, Vorpostenboote, Hilfsminensucher, Küstenschutzverbände (Teil1)|work=Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe, 1815-1945|volume=VIII/1|publisher=Bernard&Graefe|location=Bonn|year=1993|isbn=3763748075}}

==External links==
* [http://www.worldwar2.ro/operatii/?article=776 Operation "60,000" – 1944]
* [http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/44-05.htm WLB Stuttgart (in German)]
* [http://www.horst-kaiser.de/AR.117_9.htm 111. Infanterie-Division (In German)]
* [http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?149775 Wrecksite Magyar Vitez MV - Totila MV]
* [http://www.spiegel.de/video/totila-schiffswrack-im-schwarzen-meer-entdeckt-video-1275024.html Schwarzmeerküste: Taucher entdecken deutsches Weltkriegswrack]

{{coord missing|Black Sea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totila}}
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Hungary]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1944]]
[[Category:Maritime disasters]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Soviet aircraft]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Black Sea]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hungary]]
[[Category:Troop ships of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of Germany]]


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