SS Deutschland[note 1] was a 21,046 gross register tons (GRT) German ocean liner of the HAPAG line.

In the interim, they were to be concealed from the advancing British and Canadian forces; and for this purpose the Schutzstaffel assembled a prison flotilla of decommissioned ships in the Bay of Lübeck, consisting of the liners Cap Arcona and Deutschland, the freighter Thielbek, and the motor launch Athens.

[citation needed] During the first days of May 1945, thousands of concentration camp inmates were locked below decks and in the holds, and denied food and medical attention.

[citation needed] All people on board the Deutschland survived the attack, though two accompanying vessels sank with great loss of life.

Subsequently, on 3 May 1945, she was attacked by British Royal Air Force squadrons three times, and capsized and sank in the Bay of Lübeck off Neustadt, but everyone aboard survived.