8 February 2013
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Timeline - Based on Wikipedia The Laconia incident was an abortive naval rescue attempt in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. The Laconia sailed from Liverpool on 12 September 1942. RMS Laconia, carrying some 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers and POWs, was struck and sunk by a torpedo from Kriegsmarine submarine U-156 off the coast of west Africa.
The U-boat commander, Werner Hartenstein, and his crew immediately commenced rescue operations and were joined by the crews of other U-boats in the area. Heading to a rendezvous with Vichy French ships under Red Cross banners, the U-boats were attacked by American Army B-24 Liberator bomber.
This event affected the operations of the German fleet, whose commanders were ordered (the "Laconia Order") by Admiral Karl Dönitz to stop trying to rescue civilian survivors, ushering in the subsequent unrestricted submarine warfare for the German Navy (Admiral Nimitz testified at Admiral Dönitz's trial that the US had practiced unrestricted warfare from day one).
The controversy over the incident concerns the assistance and protection that military forces must afford non-combatants at sea during wartime. One international bestseller and numerous articles on the subject have been published, and a 2011 television film produced, about the incident.
Summary of incident U-156 and U-506 with ship-wrecked Laconia crew In late 1942, a German U-boat sank the British troopship Laconia carrying 463 officers and crew, 80 civilians, 286 British Army soldiers, 1,793 Italian prisoners of war, and 103 Polish soldiers (guards) off the coast of West Africa.
After realising that the passengers were primarily POWs and civilians, the U-boat started rescue operations while flying the Red Cross flag. A U.S. Army Air Corps bomber flying out of a secret South Atlantic airbase on Ascension Island attacked the U-boat. The U-boat abandoned the rescue effort and left the survivors to drift to Africa. Over half the survivors died.
This incident led to German Admiral Dönitz issuing the Triton Null signal on 17 September 1942, which came to be known as the "Laconia Order"; the signal forbade submarine commanders from rescuing survivors from torpedoed ships.
Outside of Italy little was known of the details of the Laconia incident even to the present day. Although most of the crew were from Liverpool, most people had not heard the story as it was something not talked about. Due to the treatment of the Italian POWs, the American bombing and the resulting unrestricted warfare, the allies were reluctant to acknowledge that mistakes were made. For his part, Admiral Dönitz' actions in supporting the rescue were opposed by Hitler, who ordered that the sinking of the Laconia be kept secret, and most senior officers.
Surprisingly, most present day opposition to telling the story came from the German production teams who worked on the 2010 Television drama who objected to Nazis being shown in a positive light.
Events German attack At 22:00 on 12 September 1942, U-156 was patrolling off the coast of West Africa midway between Liberia and Ascension Island. The submarine's commanding officer, Korvettenkapitän Hartenstein, spotted a large British ocean liner sailing alone and attacked it.
The Italian POWs were left locked in the cargo holds as the ship sank, but most escaped by breaking down hatches or climbing up the ventilation shafts. Several were shot when a group of POWs rushed a lifeboat station and a large number were bayoneted to death in attempts to prevent them boarding the few lifeboats available.
Although there were sufficient lifeboats for the entire ship's complement including the POWs, heavy listing prevented half from being launched until the vessel had settled. By this time most survivors had already entered the water and many of the remaining lifeboats.
Hartenstein immediately began rescue operations. Laconia sank at 23:23. At 01:25, 13 September, Hartenstein sent a coded radio message to Befehlshaber der U-Boote (Commander-in-Chief for Submarines) alerting them to the situation.
It read: Versenkt von Hartenstein Brite "Laconia". Marinequadrat FF 7721 310 Grad. Leider mit 1500 italienischen Kriegsgefangenen. Bisher 90 gefischt. 157 cbm. 19 Aale, Passat 3, erbitte Befehle.
Sunk by Hartenstein British "Laconia". Grid FF 7721 310 degrees. Unfortunately with 1500 Italian POWs. So far 90 fished. 157 cubic metres (of oil). 19 eels [torpedoes], trade wind 3, request orders.
The head of submarine operations, Admiral Dönitz, immediately ordered seven U-boats from the Eisbar group that was gathering to take part in a planned surprise attack on Capetown to divert to the scene to pick up survivors. Dönitz then informed Berlin of the situation and actions he had taken.
Hitler was furious and ordered that the rescue be abandoned. Admiral Raeder ordered Dönitz to disengage the Eisbar boats, which included Hartenstein's U-156, and send them to Capetown as per the original plan. Raeder then ordered U-506, commanded by Kptlt. Erich Würdemann, U-507, under Korvettenkapitän Harro Schacht and the Italian submarine Cappellini to intercept Hartenstein to take on his survivors and then to proceed to the Laconia site and rescue any Italians they could find.
No allied survivors were to be rescued. Raeder also requested the Vichy French to send warships from Dakar and/or Côte d'Ivoire to collect the Italian survivors from the three submarines.
The Vichy French, in response, sent the 7,500 long tons (7,600 t) cruiser Gloire from Dakar, and two sloops, the fast 650 long tons (660 t) Annamite and the slower 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) Dumont d'Urville PG 77 (2), from Conakry, French Guinea, and Cotonou, Dahomey, respectively. Dönitz disengaged the Eisbar boats and informed Hartenstein of Raeder's orders, but he substituted Kapitänleutnant Helmut Witte's U-159 for U-156 in the Eisbar group and sent the order: "All boats, including Hartenstein, only take as many men into the boat as will allow it to be fully ready for action when submerged."
U-156 was soon crammed above and below decks with nearly 200 survivors, including five women, and had another 200 in tow aboard four lifeboats. At 06:00 on 13 September, Hartenstein broadcast a message on the 25-metre band in English (and plain language) to all shipping in the area, giving his position, requesting assistance with the rescue effort, and promising not to attack.
It read: 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.
The British in Freetown intercepted this message but, believing it might be a ruse de guerre, refused to credit it.
Two days later, on September 15, a message was passed to the Americans that the Laconia had been torpedoed and the British Merchant ship Empire Haven was on route to pick up survivors. The "poorly worded message" implied that the Laconia had only been sunk that day, made no mention that the Germans were involved in a rescue attempt under a cease-fire or that neutral French ships were also on route.
U-156 remained on the surface at the scene for the next two and a half days. At 11:30 on 15 September, she was joined by U-506, and a few hours later by both U-507, and the Italian submarine Cappellini.
The four boats, with lifeboats in tow and hundreds of survivors standing on their decks, headed for the African coastline and a rendezvous with the Vichy French surface warships that had set out from Senegal and Dahomey.
American bombing During the night the submarines had become separated.
On 16 September, at 11:25am, U-156, with a Red Cross flag draped across her gun deck, was spotted by an American B-24 Liberator bomber from Ascension Island. Hartenstein signalled to the pilot in both morse and English requesting assistance.
A British officer also messaged the aircraft: "RAF officer speaking from German submarine, Laconia survivors on board, soldiers, civilians, women, children."
Lieutenant James D. Harden of the U.S. Army Air Force did not respond to the messages, and turned away and notified his base of the situation. The senior officer on duty that day, Captain Robert C. Richardson III, who claimed that he did not know that this was a Red Cross sanctioned German rescue operation, ordered the B-24 to "sink the sub".
He later claimed that: He believed that the rules of war, at the time, did not permit a combat ship to fly Red Cross flags. He feared that the German submarine would attack the two Allied freighters diverted by the British to the site; He assumed that the German submarine was only rescuing the Italian POWs. In his tactical assessment, he believed that the submarine may discover and shell the secret Ascension airfield and fuel tanks, thus cutting off a critical Allied resupply air route to British forces in Egypt and Soviet forces in Russia.
Harden flew back to the scene of the rescue effort, and at 12:32 attacked with bombs and depth charges. One landed among the lifeboats in tow behind U-156, killing dozens of survivors while others straddled the submarine itself causing minor damage. Hartenstein cast adrift those lifeboats still afloat and ordered the survivors on his deck into the water.
The submarine submerged slowly to give those still on the deck a chance to get into the water and escape. According to Harden's report, he made four runs at the submarine. On the first three the depth charges and bombs failed to release, on the fourth he dropped two bombs: The sub rolled over and was last seen bottom up. Crew had abandoned ship and taken to surrounding lifeboats. — Lieutenant James D. Harden
The crew of the Liberator were later awarded medals for the alleged sinking of U-156 when they had in fact only sunk two life
Laconia Incident - Research - 40 • Opuss № I