by Hamburg Süd to Rio de Janeiro on the 'Cap Arcona' steamship

Or Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahts-Gesellschaft to give the full name, a firm still in the container cargo business.

The 26,751 grt, 205.9-metre (675.52 ft) long Cap Arcona was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1927 which transported passengers between Germany and South America until 1940 when she was taken over by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy).

Late in the war, the ship was used to evacuate German soldiers and civilians from East Prussia before the advance of the Soviet Army. While heavily laden with prisoners from Nazi concentration camps, she was sunk in May 1945 by the Royal Air Force in which about 5,000 people died. This was one of the largest single-incident maritime losses of life of the war (there were others at this stage of the war) and in history.