The Laconia incident was an incident in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including In September 1942, when RMS Laconia, carrying some 80 civilians, 268 British Army soldiers, about 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, and 160 Polish soldiers (on guard), was struck and sunk by a torpedo from Kriegsmarine submarine U-156 off the coast of west Africa. The second RMS Laconia was a Cunard Ocean liner built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson as a successor to the ''Laconia'' of 1911 A civilian under International humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her Country 's Armed forces. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. A soldier is a general English term that refers to a member of a land component of National Armed forces. The Italian Armed forces are under the command of the Italian Supreme Defense Council presided over by the President of the Italian Republic. The European theater of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on September 1 1939 The modern torpedo (historically called an automotive automobile locomotive or fish torpedo is a self-propelled explosive Projectile weapon launched above or below The Kriegsmarine (English "War navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945 during the Nazi regime superseding the A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent.
The U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein and his crew heard Italian voices coming from those struggling in the water and realized their error. The Germans immediately commenced rescue operations and were joined by the crews of other U-boats in the area. Rescue refers to operations that usually involve the saving of Life, or prevention of Injury.
Heading to rendezvous with Vichy French ships under Red Cross banners, the U-boats were attacked by a U.S. Army B-24 Liberator bomber. Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944 The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an International humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide who stated The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them
This event profoundly affected the operations of the German fleet, which abandoned the practice of attempting rescue of civilian survivors under the "Laconia Order" of Admiral Karl Dönitz. The Laconia Order ( Laconia-Befehl) was issued by German Grand Admiral ( Großadmiral) Karl Dönitz during World War II as Karl Dönitz (ˈdøːnɪts) (16 September 1891 &ndash 24 December 1980 was a German naval Commander who served
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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. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire Ascension Island is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa The submarine's commanding officer, Kapitänleutnant Hartenstein, spotted a large British ocean liner sailing alone and attacked it. An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one Seaport to another along regular long-distance Maritime routes according to a schedule
At 10:22 p. m. the liner, sailing under the name Laconia, transmitted the following message on the 600-meter band
- SSS SSS 0434 South / 1125 West Laconia torpedoed
signifying "under attack by submarine".
As Laconia began to sink, Hartenstein surfaced. He hoped to capture the ship's senior officers. To his surprise, Hartenstein saw over two thousand people struggling in the water.
Survivor Jim McLoughlin states in One Common Enemy Hartenstein asked him if he was in the Royal Navy, which he was, and then asked why a passenger ship was armed, stating, "If it wasn't armed, I would not have attacked. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) " McLoughlin believes this indicates Hartenstein had thought it was a troop transport rather than a passenger ship; in fact, by signalling to the Royal Navy, Laconia was acting as a de facto naval auxiliary. Moreover, merchantmen armed with guns (which most were) fell outside the protection from attack without warning and the requirement to place surviors "in a place of safety" (for which lifeboats did not qualify); therefore, it made no difference if she was a troopship. A lifeboat is a small craft carried on a ship to provide a means of emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard the ship
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. Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September It read:
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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 English (and plain language) to all shipping in the area giving his position, requesting assistance with the rescue effort and promising not to attack. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Cryptography (or cryptology; from Greek grc κρυπτός kryptos, "hidden secret" and grc γράφω gráphō, "I write" 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.
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. Events 668 - Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse Italy. Erich Würdemann and a few hours later by both U-507 under Korvettenkapitän Harro Schacht and the Italian submarine Cappellini. Unterseeboot 507 (usually abbreviated to U-507) was a German Type IXC Submarine of the Kriegsmarine built for service in the Operational service Italy After an action with British ships near Madeira in June 1940 she sought refuge in the Spanish port of Ceuta The four boats, with lifeboats in tow and hundreds of survivors standing on their decks, headed for the African coastline and a rendezvous with Vichy French surface warships which had set out from Senegal and Dahomey. Vichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944 Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. [1]
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. Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an International humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide who stated 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 United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. The senior officer on duty that day, Captain Robert C. Richardson III, replied with the order "Sink sub. 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 "
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. Hundreds of Laconia survivors perished, but French vessels managed to re-rescue about a thousand later that day. In all, some 1,500 passengers survived.
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). The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 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. Hors de Combat, literally meaning "out of the fight" is a French term used in Diplomacy and International law to refer to Soldiers 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 would be a violation under the Geneva Convention of 1949 (II, 44). War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied The Geneva Conventions consist of four Treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for International law for humanitarian There is no provision in either convention for temporary designation of a hospital or rescue ship. Under the informal rules of war at sea, however, ships engaged in rescue operations are held immune from attack.
Consequences
The Laconia incident had far-reaching consequences. Until then, as indicated in point #1 of the "Laconia Order," it was common for U-boats to assist torpedoed survivors with food, water and directions to the nearest land. The Laconia Order ( Laconia-Befehl) was issued by German Grand Admiral ( Großadmiral) Karl Dönitz during World War II as Now that it was apparent the Americans would attack rescue missions under the Red Cross flag, Dönitz prohibited rescues; 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":
The prosecution has introduced much evidence surrounding two orders of Dönitz, War Order No. 154, issued in 1939, and the so-called Laconia Order of 1942. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after War Order No 154 was issued during World War II at the end of November or the beginning of December 1939 The defense argues that these orders and the evidence supporting them do not show such a policy and introduced much evidence to the contrary. The Tribunal is of the opinion that the evidence does not establish with the certainty required that Dönitz deliberately ordered the killing of shipwrecked survivors. The orders were undoubtedly ambiguous and deserve the strongest censure.
The evidence further shows that the rescue provisions were not carried out and that the defendant ordered that they should not be carried out. The argument of the defence is that the security of the submarine is, as the first rule of the sea, paramount to rescue and that the development of aircraft made rescue impossible. This may be so, but the Protocol is explicit. If the commander cannot rescue, then under its terms he cannot sink a merchant vessel and should allow it to pass harmless before his periscope. The orders, then, prove Dönitz is guilty of a violation of the Protocol. The Second London Naval Disarmament Conference opened in London, the United Kingdom, on December 9, 1935. (Emphasis added)
In view of all the facts proved and in particular of an order of the British Admiralty announced on the 8th May, 1940, according to which all vessels should be sunk at sight in the Skagerrak, and the answers to interrogatories by Admiral Chester Nimitz stating unrestricted submarine warfare was carried on in the Pacific Ocean by the United States from the first day of the Pacific War, the sentence of Dönitz is not assessed on the ground of his breaches of the international law of submarine warfare. Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, USN, GCB ( February 24, 1885 &ndash February 20, 1966) held the dual command The Pacific War was the part of World War II —and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands and in East Asia, between [2]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Amphibian Patrol Squadrons (VP-AM) Histories: VP-AM-1 to VP-AM-5. The Laconia Order ( Laconia-Befehl) was issued by German Grand Admiral ( Großadmiral) Karl Dönitz during World War II as Operational service Italy After an action with British ships near Madeira in June 1940 she sought refuge in the Spanish port of Ceuta Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of Naval warfare in which Submarines sink merchant ships without warning as opposed to attacks per prize regulations Allied war crimes were violations of the Laws of war committed by the Allies of World War II against civilian populations or military personnel of the Axis United States Navy (December 2003). Retrieved on 2006-09-05. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. According to the official after-action report by the U. S. Navy, all four submarines were present. Survivor accounts in One Common Enemy and The U-Boat Peril say the Italians arrived later.
- ^ Judgement : Doenitz the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
References
- Bishop, Chris (2006). The Avalon Project is the name of Yale Law School 's Digital library of Documents relating to Law History and Diplomacy Yale Law School, or YLS, is the Law school of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939-45. London: Amber Books. ISBN 9781904687962. OCLC 123895804. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Gerhard Hummelchen (1992). Chronology of the War At Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two, 2nd rev. , expanded edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781557501059. OCLC 26407767. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- McLoughlin, Jim (2006). One Common Enemy: The Laconia Incident: A Survivor's Memoir. Australia: Wakefield Press Pty. ISBN 9781862546905.
External links
- The Laconia Incident on Uboataces.com
- The Laconia Incident on Uboat.net
- An account from Helen Charles, a survivor of RMS Laconia
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