70+ YRS OLD CAP TALLY PRE WW ll GER SS GEN. VON STEUBEN Start Price USD 24.99 Current Price USD 24.99 Time Left - Bid Count 2 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, November 13, 2008 End Time Thursday, November 20, 2008 Location Central Coast, CA See more about '70+ YRS OLD CAP TALLY PRE WW ll GER SS GEN. VON STEUBEN' Description HERE IS A 21 INCH LONG OLD CAP TALLY FROM THE NORDDEUTCHER LLOYD FAST PASSENGER SHIP GENERAL VON STEUBEN. The steam ship (SS) General von Steuben (formerly named the München, but renamed in 1930 as the General von Steuben, after the famous German officer of the American Revolutionary War) was a German luxury passenger ship. The name was shortened to Steuben in 1938. She was commissioned in 1939 as a Kriegsmarine accommodation ship. In 1944, she was pressed into service as an armed transport ship, taking German troops to Eastern Baltic ports, and returning to Kiel with wounded. She was sunk in 1945; between 3-4,000 people perished. Along with the Wilhelm Gustloff and many other vessels, she was part of the largest evacuation by sea in modern times. This evacuation surpassed the British retreat at Dunkirk, both with regard to the size of the operation and the number of people evacuated. Yet it, like the sinking of the Gustloff, is one of the least-known major operations of World War II. By early January 1945, Großadmiral Karl Dönitz realized that Germany was soon to be defeated and, wishing to save his submariners, had radioed a coded message on January 23, 1945 to the Baltic Sea port Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland) to flee to the West - Code name: Operation Hannibal. Submariners were then schooled and housed in ships lying in the Baltic ports, with the bulk of them at Gotenhafen. Among them were the Deutschland, the Hamburg, the Hansa, and the Wilhelm Gustloff. This justified the rationale behind Dönitz's decision to mount Operation Hannibal. Notwithstanding the losses suffered during the operation, the fact remains that over two million people were evacuated in front of the Soviet Army's advance into the sector of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). In the winter of 1945, East Prussian refugees headed west, away from the city of Königsberg, and ahead of the Soviet Army's advance into the Baltic states and East Prussia. These exiles and thousands like them fled to the Baltic seaport at Pillau (now Baltiysk, Russia), hoping to board ships that would carry them to the relative safety of western Germany. The Steuben was one such vessel, a luxury liner drafted into service for the Third Reich. The 14,660-ton liner set sail from Pillau in the bay of Danzig on February 9, 1945, her destination being Swinemünde (now Świnoujście, Poland). On board were 2,800 wounded German soldiers; 800 refugees; 100 returning soldiers; 270 navy medical personnel including doctors, nurses and auxiliaries; 12 nurses from Pillau; 64 crew for the ship's anti-aircraft guns, 61 naval personnel, radio operators, signal men, machine operators, and administrators, and 160 merchant navy crewmen, a total of 4,267 people. Just after midnight, two torpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13 hit the Steuben. According to survivors, she sank within about 20 minutes. When it became apparent that the ship was doomed, one female survivor remembers hearing the sound of "popcorn popping." After walking down the hallway where the sound was coming from, she realized to her horror that she was hearing the sound of wounded German officers committing suicide with their pistols. One told her they did not want to take the lifeboat space from the women and children. [NEEDS VERIFICATION] Three to four thousand people died in the sinking of the Steuben. About 300 survivors were saved by torpedo boat T-196 and brought to Kolberg (now Kołobrzeg, Poland). The wreck was found and identified in 1991 by Ulrich Restemeyer. Pictures and graphics appear in a 2005 article in National Geographic. THE ABOVE DESCRIPTION CAME FROM WINIPIKIA. AS CAN BE SEEN THE NAME "GENERAL VON STEUBEN" EXISTED FOR ONLY 7 - 8 YEARS BETWEEN RENAMINGS OF THE SHIP BETWEEN 1930 AND 1938. THEREFORE, THIS TALLY DESPITE IT'S VERY DELICATE STATE IS A TRUE RARITY. AS CAN BE SEEN IN THE TWO SCANS THE TALLY CONSISTS OF. [ COMPANIY FLAG D. "GENERAL VON STEUBEN" COMPANY FLAG]. IT IS VERY CLEAN AND BRIGHT. THE SILK IS QUITE FRAYED HOWEVER, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE LEFT EDGE UP TO THE FLAG AND ALONG THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE WEAVING OF THE NAME. IT CAN BE SALVAGED AND QUITE WORTH IT GIVEN THE AGE AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICACE OF THE VESSEL. EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS. OVERSEAS BUYERS MUST USE PAYPAL AND PAY IN US DOLLARS. Place a Bid!