The Secret Nazi Ship That Started WW2
The Polish government knew the war was coming. The Germans would do anything in their power to undo the Polish corridor, capture the free city of Danzig, and reunite the two sections of Germany separated by a territory that gave Poland access to the Baltic Sea.
The two nations realized a massive battle was about to erupt, but they had to pretend nothing unusual was happening to mislead the opponent.
In true Trojan Horse fashion, Germany then sent an old warship, SMS Schleswig-Holstein, on a ceremonial visit to the port of Danzig. Inside its hull, hundreds of German soldiers silently awaited the start of the war.
Early on September 1, 1939, the warship fired the first shot of World War 2 against the Westerplatte naval base in a defiant surprise attack that was projected to dethrone the defending Polish forces in less than ten minutes.
However, the German deceivers had been misled, and the Polish had a catastrophic surprise of their own…