On 10 February 1945, while evacuating German military personnel, wounded soldiers, and civilian refugees during Operation Hannibal, the ship was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine S-13 and sank.

[1] On 11 February 1930, after München docked in New York City and discharged passengers and most of her crew from a voyage from Bremen, Germany, a fire broke out in a paint locker on board and quickly spread to another storage hold.

[1] In one of the largest shipping salvage efforts of its time, München was raised, towed to a dry dock, repaired, and returned to service.

Notwithstanding the losses suffered during the operation, over two million people were evacuated ahead of the Red Army's advance into East Prussia and Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland).

Thousands 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.

Official reports listed 2,800 wounded German soldiers; 800 civilians; 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, plus 160 merchant navy crewmen, for a total of 4,267 people on board.

Just before midnight on 9 February, the Soviet submarine S-13, commanded by Alexander Marinesko, fired two torpedoes 14 seconds apart at the Steuben; both hit her starboard bow, just below the bridge, where many of the crew were sleeping.

According to survivors, the Steuben sank by the bow and listed severely to starboard before taking her final plunge, within about 20 minutes of the torpedo impacts.