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File: U-156_37-35_Laconia_1942_09_15.jpg (207KB, 1670x1024px) Image search:
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>On 12 September 1942, RMS Laconia carrying some 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers and prisoners of war (POWs), was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat submarine U-156 off the coast of West Africa. Operating partly under the dictates of the old prize rules, the U-boat commander, Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein, immediately commenced rescue operations.
>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 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-24 Liberator bomber. The pilots, having reported the U-boat's location, 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 their remaining survivors into the sea and crash dive to avoid being destroyed. The pilots of the B-24 mistakenly reported that they had sunk U-156, and were awarded medals for their bravery.
I thank you brave american pilots for your sacrifice
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>>2952183
Why do you get a medal for bravery for sinking a submarine with a bomber? There's few combat tasks that are less dangerous than that. I mean sure, some commendation, but for bravery of all things?
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war is hell
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>>2952183
>I thank you brave american pilots for your sacrifice
Don't be a retarded faggot.
http://www.uboataces.com/battle-laconia.shtml
>The survivors waved and the U-boats signaled for help. As Red Cross flags were draped over their decks, the pilot Lieutenant James D. Harden turned away and radioed back to base for instructions. The officer on duty that day Captain Robert C. Richardson III replied with the order to attack.
>The officer on duty that day Captain Robert C. Richardson III replied with the order to attack.
>Captain Robert C. Richardson III
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>>2952246
ah, so it was the Anglo
as always
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>Neither the US pilots nor their commander were punished or investigated, and the matter was quietly forgotten by the US 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 badly, causing embarrassment to the US when the full story of the incident emerged.
Makes you wonder if any of the brave pilots got convicted after all. probably not
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>>2952223
Medals are basically just a tool to keep soldiers motivated because most of war is actually painfully dull.
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>>2954120
The Nuremberg trails were just a farce to purge those that weren't useful for the cold war anyway. It was a colossal mess but didn't need to be anything else because everything was predetermined.
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