Editing SS Cap Arcona (section)

{{short description|German ship of the 1930s and 40s}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Cap Arcona 1.JPG
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption=''Cap Arcona'' in 1927
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[Germany]] ([[Weimar Republic]])
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Weimar Republic|civil}}
|Ship name=''S.S. Cap Arcona''
|Ship namesake=[[Cape Arkona]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=[[Hamburg Süd|Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft]]
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=[[Port of Hamburg]] ([[Germany]]) – [[Port of Buenos Aires]] ([[Argentina]])
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Blohm+Voss]], [[Hamburg]]{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=476
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=21 July 1926
|Ship launched=14 May 1927{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage=29 October 1927
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=[[Port of Hamburg]], ([[Hamburg]], [[Germany]])
|Ship identification=*Until 1933: [[code letters]] RGLP
*{{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Papa}}
*From 1934: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] DHDL
*{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Lima}}
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=*''Queen of the South Atlantic''
*''The Floating Palace''
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Requisitioned for the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' ([[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] War Navy), in November 1940
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=[[Nazi Germany]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}}
|Ship name=''S.S. Cap Arcona''
|Ship operator=''Kriegsmarine'' ([[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] War Navy)
|Ship acquired=29 November 1940{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship out of service=1940 – 14 April 1945
|Ship identification=
|Ship fate=Sunk by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Air Force]] aerial attack and bombing on 3 May 1945. Wreck dismantled / scrapped in 1949.
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship type=[[Ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|27561}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
*tonnage under deck 17,665
*{{NRT|15011}}
|Ship length={{convert|206.90|m|ftin|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|overall]]{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship beam={{convert|25.78|m|ftin|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|8.67|m|ftin|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship depth={{convert|14.30|m|ftin|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=5{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power={{convert|{{convert|24000|PS|shp|0|disp=number}}|shp|kW|abbr=on|lk=on}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship propulsion=eight [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]], two [[propeller]]s{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship speed=Service: {{convert|20|kn}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}<ref group="note">[[Port of Hamburg]] ([[Germany]]) – [[Port of Buenos Aires]] ([[Argentina]]) in 15 days</ref>
|Ship range={{convert|11110|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|20|kn}}{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=26 [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]]
|Ship capacity=*'''From 1927:''' 575 1st class, 275 2nd class, 465 in dormitories; total 1,315
*'''From 1937:''' total 850
|Ship troops=
|Ship crew=475{{sfn|Gröner|1988|pp=78-79}}
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=*'''By 1930:''' [[Submarine signals|submarine signalling]], wireless [[direction finding]]
*'''From 1934:''' as before plus [[echo sounding]] device, [[gyrocompass]]
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes=}}
|}
'''SS ''Cap Arcona''''', named after [[Cape Arkona]] on the island of [[Rügen]], was a large German [[ocean liner]], later a requisitioned auxiliary ship of the [[Kriegsmarine]] ([[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] War Navy), and finally a [[prison ship]] in the later months of [[World War II]] (1939–1945). A [[flagship]] of the [[Hamburg Süd|Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft]] ("Hamburg-South America Line"), she made her maiden voyage on 29 October 1927, carrying passengers and cargo between Germany and the east coast of South America, and for a brief period of time she was the largest and fastest ship on the route,<ref name=Talbot-Booth>{{harvnb|Talbot-Booth|1936|p=410}}</ref> until one month later she was surpassed on the same Europe-South America route by the Italian liner {{ship|MS|Augustus|1926|6}}.

In 1940, the Kriegsmarine ([[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] War Navy) requisitioned the ''S.S. Cap Arcona'' as an [[Barracks ship|accommodation ship]]. In 1942 she served as the set for the German propaganda feature film [[Titanic (1943 film)|''Titanic'']]. In 1945 she evacuated almost 26,000 German civilian refugees from [[East Prussia]] before the advance of the [[Red Army]].

''Cap Arcona''{{'}}s final use was as a prison ship. In May 1945 she was heavily laden with prisoners from [[Nazi concentration camps]] when the [[Royal Air Force]] bombed her in the western Baltic Sea, killing about 5,000 people; with more than 2,000 further casualties in the sinkings of the accompanying vessels of the prison fleet, {{SS|Deutschland|1923|2}} and {{SS|Thielbek|1940|2}}.<ref>Watson, Robert, ''The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II'', Da Capo Press, 2016 {{ISBN|978-0-3068-2489-0}} {{p.|247}}</ref> This was one of the largest single-incident [[List of maritime disasters in World War II|maritime losses of life in the Second World War]].
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