General von Steuben (TILOS / no diving)
DIVING BANNED: the General von Steuben is an official war grave, and diving on the wreck and within 500 m of it is prohibited. The liner was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine S-13 on the night of 9–10 February 1945 off the Pomeranian coast while evacuating wounded soldiers and refugees; an estimated 4,000 or more people died and only about 650 were rescued. The wreck lies on its port side at about 70 m, with the hull rising to about 50 m. It remains German state property under Polish protection, and Der Spiegel reported in 2021 that it had been plundered and badly damaged.
Facts
- Region: Poland – Baltic Sea Wrecks (Gulf of Gdańsk & Pomerania)
- Area: Open Baltic off Pomerania (Łeba, Ustka)
- Depth: 50–70 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 54.683, 16.85 (approximate)
- Highlights: war grave, no diving within 500 m
- Closed / banned site: War grave; diving on the wreck and within a 500 m radius is prohibited (National Geographic Polska). War-grave wrecks are excluded from permit-free diving by art. 35a of the Polish Act on Maritime Areas. Check current status with the Maritime Office in Gdynia.
- Tips: Do not dive or anchor here. Polish law excludes war-grave wrecks from the permit-free list and the Maritime Office issues no wreck-diving permits for them. Choose one of the listed wrecks instead.