party_pants said:
Peak Warming Man said:
Kingy said:
SCIENCE said:
SCIENCE said:
Cymek said:
SCIENCE said:
alleged
Although there were sufficient lifeboats for the entire ship’s complement, including the Italian prisoners, heavy listing prevented half from being launched until the vessel had settled. The prisoners were abandoned in the locked cargo holds as the ship sank, but most managed to escape by breaking down hatches or climbing up ventilation shafts. Several were shot when a group of prisoners rushed a lifeboat, and a large number were bayoneted to death to prevent their boarding of one of the few lifeboats available. The Polish guards were armed with rifles with fixed bayonets; however, they were not loaded and the guards carried no ammunition. Witnesses indicate that few of the prisoners were shot. Instead, most of the casualties were bayoneted.
After surfacing and picking up survivors, who were accommodated on the foredeck, U-156 headed on the surface under Red Cross banners to rendezvous with Vichy French ships and transfer the survivors. En route, the U-boat was spotted by a B-24 Liberator bomber of the United States Army Air Forces. The aircrew, having reported the U-boat’s location, declared intentions, and the presence of survivors, were then ordered to attack the sub. The B-24 killed dozens of Laconia’s survivors with bombs and strafing attacks, forcing U-156 to cast into the sea the remaining survivors that she had rescued and crash dive to avoid being destroyed.
Rescue operations were continued by other vessels. Another U-boat, U-506, was also attacked by U.S. aircraft and forced to dive. A total of 976 to 1,083 people were eventually rescued; however, 1,658 to 1,757 were killed, mostly Italian POWs. The event changed the general attitude of Germany’s naval personnel towards rescuing stranded Allied seamen. The commanders of the Kriegsmarine were quickly issued the Laconia Order by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, which specifically forbade any such attempt and ushered in unrestricted submarine warfare for the remainder of the war.
The B-24 pilots mistakenly reported they had sunk U-156, and were awarded medals for bravery. Neither the U.S. pilots nor their commander were punished or investigated, and the matter was quietly forgotten by the U.S. military. During the later Nuremberg trials, a prosecutor attempted to cite the Laconia Order as proof of war crimes by Dönitz and his submariners. The ploy backfired, causing much embarrassment to the United States after the incident’s full report had emerged to the public and the reason for the “Laconia order” was known.
Didn’t the USA try to get out of being convicted of war crimes just recently.
¿ref
don’t know though, it’s not war crimes if they liked or deserved it
wait why would they use that word “prize” does it have anything to do with this
RMS Laconia, carrying 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers, and prisoners of war, was torpedoed and sunk by U-156, a German U-boat, off the West African coast. Operating partly under the dictates of the old prize rules, the U-boat’s commander, Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein, immediately commenced rescue operations.
Evenin’ all.
It’s been a hektik few days at work.
I see that someone sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo without notification. It would have been easy to notify the sailors that they should abandon ship before impact, but no, the murderous cunts in charge of the US navy are backslapping each other over the deaths of hundreds of people.
Evil fuckers that deserve to die in agony.
The last ship sunk by a sub was the Belgrano, but it was a direct threat to the fleet, this little destroyer was thousands of miles away.
It was an act of sound and fury by a bully signifying nothing.There are ultimately no rules in warfare, except that which the participants impose upon themselves through self-restraint.
oh well at least when the turntables were kind of 120° rotated they avoided massacring the rescuers and nominated them for an award instead
wait
oh that NTATE thing alleges they just went ahead and tried to massacre them too and then got the award for that
damn