The Laconia incident was a 1942 incident during World War II when RMS Laconia, carrying some 80 civilians and 268 British soldiers, and about 1800 Italian POWs with 160 Polish soldiers on guard, was struck by a torpedo from a German U-boat off the coast of West Africa and sank. The U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein, realized the error and commenced rescue operations, joined by other U-boats. Heading to rendezvous with Vichy French ships under Red Cross banners, the U-boats were attacked by an American B-24 Liberator bomber. The event profoundly affected the operations of the German U-boat fleet, which abandoned the practice of attempting rescue of civilian survivors under the "Laconia order" of Admiral Karl Dönitz. This article is about the year. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII or World War Two), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the... The second RMS Laconia was a Cunard ocean liner built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson as a successor to the Laconia of 1911 to 1917. ... A Norwegian soldier (a Corporal, armed with an MP-5) A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment to defend that country or its interests. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... A torpedo in Rail terminology refers to a small explosive device strapped to the top of the rail to alert an approaching train of immediate danger ahead. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... West Africa is the region of. ... Rescue refers to operations that usually involve the saving of life, or prevention of additional injury. ... Presidential flag of Vichy France Vichy France, or the Vichy regime was the de facto French government of 1940-1944 during the Nazi Germany occupation of World War II. Now known in French as the Régime de Vichy or Vichy, during its existence it referred to itself as L... The Anarchist Black Cross was originally called the Anarchist Red Cross. The band Redd Kross was originally called Red Cross. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Royal Canadian Air Force B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a heavy bomber, it served with distinction not only in that... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Karl Dönitz â–¶(?) (pronounced ) (September 16, 1891 – December 24, 1980) was a naval leader in Germany during World War II. Despite never joining the Nazi Party, Dönitz attained the high rank of Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) and served as Commander in Chief of Submarines (), and later Commander in Chief...

Events

German attack

At 10 p.m. on September 12, 1942, U-156 was patrolling off the coast of West Africa midway between Liberia and Ascension Island. The submarine's commanding officer, Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein, spotted a large British ocean liner sailing alone and attacked. September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... West Africa is the region of. ... Ascension Island from space, December 1990 Ascension Island is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, and includes tiny satellite islands and rocks such as Boatswain Bird Island, Boatswain Bird Rock (East), White Rocks (South), and Tartar Rock (West, at the shore of Georgetown). ... An ocean liner is a large passenger ship, typically a motorized vessel that undertakes longer voyages on the open sea primarily for the purpose of transporting people from one place to another. ...

At 10:22 p.m. the liner, sailing under the name Laconia, transmitted the following message on the 600-meter band The second RMS Laconia was a Cunard ocean liner built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson as a successor to the Laconia of 1911 to 1917. ...

SSS SSS 0434 South / 1125 West Laconia torpeded

As the ship began to sink, Hartenstein surfaced, hoping to capture the ship's senior officers, and was appalled to see over two thousand people struggling in the water. The 20,000-ton Laconia was carrying not only her regular crew of 136 but also some 80 civilians, military material and 268 British soldiers, and about 1800 Italian prisoners of war with 160 Polish soldiers on guard.

Rescue operations

Hartenstein immediately began rescue operations. Laconia sank at 11:23pm. At 1:25am September 13 Hartenstein sent a coded radio message to Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote (Commander-in-Chief for Submarines) alerting them to the situation. It read: September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ...

Head of submarine operations, Admiral Dönitz immediately ordered two other U-boats to divert to the scene. Soon U-156 was crammed above and below decks with nearly two hundred survivors including five women, and had another 200 in tow aboard four lifeboats. At 6am on September 13 Hartenstein broadcast a message on the 25-meter band in plain English to all shipping in the area giving his position, requesting assistance with the rescue effort and promising not to attack. It read: Slang is the non-standard or non-dialectal use of words in a language of a particular social group, and sometimes the creation of new words or importation of words from another language. ... September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

If any ship will assist the ship-wrecked "Laconia" crew, I will not attack providing I am not being attacked by ship or air forces. I picked up 193 men. 4, 53 South, 11, 26 West. --German submarine.

U-156 remained on the surface at the scene for the next two and a half days. At 11:30am on September 15, she was joined by U-506 commanded by Kptlt. Erich Würdemann and a few hours later by both U-507 under Korvettenkapitän Harro Schacht and the Italian submarine Cappellini. The four submarines with lifeboats in tow and hundreds of survivors standing on the hulls headed towards the African coastline and a rendezvous with Vichy French surface warships which had set out from Senegal and Dahomey. September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... Presidential flag of Vichy France Vichy France, or the Vichy regime was the de facto French government of 1940-1944 during the Nazi Germany occupation of World War II. Now known in French as the Régime de Vichy or Vichy, during its existence it referred to itself as L... Dahomey was a kingdom in Africa, situated in what is now the nation of Benin. ...

American bombing

The next morning, September 16, at 11:25am, the four submarines, with Red Cross flags draped across their gun decks, were spotted by an American B-24 Liberator bomber from Ascension Island. Hartenstein signalled to the pilot requesting assistance. Lieutenant James D. Harden of the U.S. Army Air Force turned away and notified his base of the situation. The senior officer on duty that day, Captain Robert C. Richardson III, replied with the order "Sink sub." September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... The Anarchist Black Cross was originally called the Anarchist Red Cross. The band Redd Kross was originally called Red Cross. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Royal Canadian Air Force B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a heavy bomber, it served with distinction not only in that... The United States Army Air Forces, or USAAF, was a part of the U.S. military during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ... Robert Charlwood Richardson III (born 1918) was an officer, first of the United States Army Air Corps, then with the United States Air Force, eventually attaining the rank of Brigadier General. ...

Harden flew back to the scene of the rescue effort and at 12:32pm attacked with bombs and depth charges. One landed among the lifeboats in tow behind U-156 while others straddled the submarine itself. Hartenstein cast adrift those lifeboats still afloat and ordered the survivors on his deck into the water. The submarines dived and escaped. Many hundreds of the Laconia survivors perished, but French vessels managed to re-rescue about a thousand later that day. In all, some 1500 passengers survived. An English seaman, Tony Large, endured forty days adrift in an open life boat before he was finally picked up

Under the Hague Conventions, hospital ships are protected from attack, but their identity must be communicated to belligerents (III, 1-3), they must be painted white with a Red Cross emblem (III, 5), and must not be used for other purposes (III, 4). Since a submarine remained a military vessel even if hors de combat, the Red Cross emblem did not confer automatic protection, although in many cases it would have been allowed as a practical matter. The order given by Richardson has been called a possible war crime, but the use of a Red Cross flag by an armed military vessel may have been a violation of treaty. It would be a violation under the Geneva Convention of 1949 (II, 44). There is no provision in either convention for temporary designation of a hospital or rescue ship. The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of international law. ... Non-combatant is a military and legal term describing civilians not engaged in combat. ... The Geneva Conventions consist of treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. ...

Consequences

The Laconia incident had far-reaching consequences. Until then it was common for U-boats to assist torpedoed survivors with food, water and directions to the nearest land. Now that it was apparent that the Americans would attack rescue missions under the Red Cross flag, Dönitz ordered that rescues were prohibited; survivors were to be left in the sea.

At the Nuremberg Trials held by the victorious Allies in 1946, Dönitz was indicted for war crimes, including the issuance of the "Laconia order". Prosecutors argued that the order violated the London Rules of submarine warfare, in that it permitted Germany to treat all survivors as combatants, noting an incident in which a U-boat machine-gunned Greek sailors. Defense lawyers for Dönitz argued that the policy was ambiguous, and with Admiral Chester Nimitz's testimony, that American submarines in the Pacific operated under the same instructions. In the judgement handed down by the International Military Tribunal, the Laconia order was given "the strongest censure", effectively acquitting Dönitz, although he was convicted on other charges of war crimes. Dönitz was sentenced to 11 years 6 months in prison; he was held just over 10 years as a prisoner of war in Spandau Prison, West Berlin. The Nuremberg Trials is the name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in World War II and the Holocaust. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The London Naval Treaty was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and the United States, signed on April 22, 1930, which to regulate submarine warfare and limited military shipbuilding. ... Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was the Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces during World War II. He was the nations leading authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navys Bureau of Navigation... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Spandau Prison from the air Spandau Prison was a purpose-built prison situated in the borough of Spandau in western Berlin, constructed in 1876. ... Boroughs of West Berlin West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. ...

Laconia-Befehl (Laconia Order)

See also

• Unrestricted submarine warfare

Unrestricted submarine warfare is a kind of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning. ...

External link

• Judgement of the International Military Tribunal of the Doenitz case
• The Laconia Incident