On May 3rd 1945, four days after Hitler's suicide but four days before the unconditional surrender of Germany, the CAP ARCONA , the Thielbek and the passenger liner Deutschland , possibly converted to a hospital ship but not marked as such, were attacked by Raf Typhoons of 83 Group of the 2nd Tactical Air Force commanded by Sir Arthur Coningham as part of general attacks on shipping in the Baltic.The attacks were by No. 184 Squadron, based at Raf Hustedt, led by Derek Stevenson, by No. 263 Squadron, based in Ahlhorn (Großenkneten) and led by Squadron Leader Martin Trevor Scott Rumbold by No. 197 Squadron Raf, led by Squadron Leader K. J. Harding also at Ahlhorn, and by No. 198 Squadron based at Plantlünne led by Group Captain Johnny Baldwin. These Hawker Typhoon Mark 1B fighter-bombers used High Explosive 60 lb rocket projectiles, bombs, and 20 mm cannons.Unknown to the Raf, the ships were carrying between 7,000-8,000 prisoners from the German concentration camps in Neuengamme, Stutthof and Mittelbau-Dora, half of whom were Russian and Polish prisoners-of-war, along with others from 24 nations, including French, Danish, and Dutch.The survivors of the attack who reached the shore were shot by SS troops, although 350 prisoners managed to escape the massacre. Allan Wyse, formerly of 193 Fighter Squadron, said "We used our cannon fire at the chaps in the water … we shot them up with 20 mm cannons in the water. Horrible thing, but we were told to do it and we did it. That's war."Among the survivors was Erwin Geschonneck, who later became a notable German actor, and whose story was made into a film in 1982. About 490 of the guards, Ss, and crew were rescued by German boats. Photos of the burning ships, listed as Deutschland Thielbek , and CAP ARCONA , and survivors swimming in the cold Baltic Sea (seven degrees Celsius), were taken on a reconnaissance mission over the Bay of Lübeck by F-6 aircraft of the USAAF´s 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron around 5:00 Pm, shortly after the attack.The capsized hulk of the CAP ARCONA later drifted ashore, and the beached wreck was salvaged in 1949. For weeks after the attack, the bodies of victims washed ashore, where they were collected and buried in a single mass grave at Neustadt in Holstein. For nearly thirty years, parts of skeletons continued to wash ashore, until the last find, by a twelve-year-old boy, in 1971.According to documents at the Dutch Institute of War Documentation (niod), the government of Sweden had warned the British government that prisoners were aboard the ships.Memorial to CAP ARCONA victims at Neustadt in Holstein. The prisoners were of 28 different nationalities: American, Belgian, Canadian, Czechoslovakian, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourger, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swiss, Ukrainian, Yugoslavian and others.