The
Laconia incident refers to the controversial events surrounding the sinking and subsequent aborted rescue attempt of a British
troopship in the
Atlantic Ocean during
World War II. On 12 September 1942, under the command of Capt. Rudolph Sharp and carrying some 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers and POWs, was torpedoed and sunk by German
U-boat 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, broadcasting their humanitarian intent on open radio channels to all
Allied forces in the area, and were joined by the crews of other U-boats in the vicinity. Heading on the surface to a rendezvous with
Vichy French ships under
Red Cross banners, with their foredeck laden with survivors,
U-156 was deliberately attacked by a
USAAF B-24 Liberator bomber. The bomber, which had confirmed and reported the U-boat's intentions and the presence of survivors to higher command, was explicitly ordered to attack the ship anyway. The B-24 ended up killing dozens of the
Laconias survivors with bombs and strafing attacks, forcing
U-156 to cast their remaining passengers into the sea and
crash dive to avoid being destroyed. The pilots of the B-24 inexplicably reported that they had sunk
U-156, and were awarded medals for bravery.