| SS BERLIN (January 29, 1945)
The German passenger liner Berlin (15,286 tons) part of the 'Strength Through Joy' cruises, was later converted to a hospital ship and helped in the evacuation of refugees from the Hela Penninsula. Damaged after striking a mine off Swinemunde it was taken in tow for the port of Kiel but later that same day it hit another mine and this time the ship sank. No lives were lost. After the war ended, the Russians raised the vessel and after repairs it entered the Soviet navy under the name Admiral Nachimov. In May, 1957, it was delivered to Soviet state shipping line and placed into service in the Black Sea serving the Odessa-Batum route. On September 1, 1986, it was involved in a serious collision off Novorossiysk with the motor vessel Pjotr Wassjew after which it sank. Unfortunately on this occasion 398 lives were lost. Other German hospital ships sunk during the war were the Birka, sank after hitting a mine at Altafjord, Norway. Casualties were 115 killed. The Posen was bombed by Russian aircraft off Hella on April 11, 1945. Around 300 lives were lost.
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On weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar
Of fighter planes; yet none were near
And all around the sky was clear
Borne on the wind a whisper came
'Though men grow old, they stay the same'
And then I knew, unseen to eye
The ageless Few were sweeping by
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