German Navy

The Laconia Incident - Kapitänleutnant Werner Hart

NCY-152

The Laconia incident was an abortive naval rescue attempt in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. On 12 September 1942, 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 U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant 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 a U.S. Army B-24 Liberator bomber. 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, which set the precedent for the subsequent unrestricted submarine warfare for not only the German Navy, but also for the United States Navy. 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 about the incident.