# Do naval vessels rescue enemy seamen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031 "2024-06-18T23:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/1 "2024-06-18T23:05:06Z")
In the aftermath of a naval battle, where an enemy ship has been sunk and there is no longer any imminent threat to the victorious ship(s), does the victor make any effort to pick enemy seamen out of the water or just leave them there to drown? Does it vary depending on the time and place and the disposition of the ship’s captain, or is there established naval custom and practice? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/2 "2024-06-18T23:12:48Z")
Rescuing shipwrecked sailors is definitely part of naval custom, and part of international law (though it’s not entirely clear who qualifies and what the obligations are). Like every customer or law, it’s not always done, but most follow it as long as it doesn’t endanger their vessel or advantage the enemy. As to a recent example I’m reminded of the [Kursk disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursk_submarine_disaster) in which the US, UK, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Norway all offered to help rescue the Russian sailors. Russia declined the offer intially but later accepted help from the British and Norwegians. By that time it was essentially a salvage & forensic mission. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/3 "2024-06-18T23:26:28Z")
The question I am asking refers to wartime situations, rather than shipwrecks or accidents. I accept that the answer may be the same but it’s not clear to me from the example you gave. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/4 "2024-06-18T23:35:27Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > The question I am asking refers to wartime situations, rather than shipwrecks or accidents The US Navy rescued the crew of U-505 after its near-sinking and attempted scuttling. > **[German submarine U-505 | Twelfth patrol and capture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505#Twelfth_patrol_and_capture)** > > The Allies had learned from decrypted German messages that U-boats were operating near Cape Verde, but not their exact locations. The US Navy dispatched Task Group 22.3 to the area, a hunter-killer group commanded by Captain Daniel V. Gallery. TG 22.3 consisted of the escort aircraft carrier Guadalcanal and the destroyer escorts Pillsbury, Pope, Flaherty, Chatelain, and Jenks under Commander Frederick S. Hall. The group sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, on 15 May 1944 and began searchin ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/5 "2024-06-18T23:38:35Z")
It’s was always the practice, starting out of pure practicality when those rescued could be either ransomed or used for replacement rowers. It became a matter of honor when England and the Dutch Republic engaged in a long naval war without any real national hatred involved. The French and Spanish survivors at Trafalgar were dutifully rescued. When the Royal Navy steamed off and left the survivors of the Bismarck to drown it was scandalous. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/6 "2024-06-19T00:09:45Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > When the Royal Navy steamed off and left the survivors of the Bismarck to drown it was scandalous. There were reported sightings of U-Boats, note. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/7 "2024-06-19T00:54:46Z")
Believe it or not, during the earlier part of world War II, some U-boats rescued survivors of ships they sank. Then [the Laconia incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident) happened, and that ceased. > [RMS _Laconia_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Laconia_(1921)), carrying 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers, and [prisoners of war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_of_war), was torpedoed and sunk by [_U-156_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-156_(1941)), a German [U-boat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat), off the [West African](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa) coast. Operating partly under the dictates of the old [prize rules](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize_rules), the [U-boat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat)’s commander, _[Korvettenkapitän](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korvettenkapit%C3%A4n)_ [Werner Hartenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Hartenstein), immediately commenced rescue operations. _U-156_ broadcast her position on open radio channels to all [Allied powers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II) nearby, and was joined by several other U-boats in the vicinity. > > After surfacing and picking up survivors, who were accommodated on the [foredeck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foredeck), _U-156_ headed on the surface under [Red Cross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross) banners to rendezvous with [Vichy French](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_French) ships and transfer the survivors. En route, the U-boat was spotted by a [B-24 Liberator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-24_Liberator) bomber of the [US Army Air Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafing) attacks, forcing _U-156_ to cast into the sea the remaining survivors that she had rescued and [crash dive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_dive) to avoid being destroyed. > > Rescue operations were continued by other vessels. Another U-boat, [_U-506_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-506), was also attacked by US 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_of_war). The event changed the general attitude of Germany’s naval personnel towards rescuing stranded Allied seamen. The commanders of the _[Kriegsmarine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsmarine)_ were quickly issued the [Laconia Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_Order) by Grand Admiral [Karl Dönitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_D%C3%B6nitz), which specifically forbade any such attempt and ushered in [unrestricted submarine warfare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrestricted_submarine_warfare) for the remainder of the war. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/8 "2024-06-19T01:03:35Z")
As to the Japanese Navy in WWII, Googling led me to several reports of subs sinking Allied vessels, then ramming lifeboats and machine-gunning survivors. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/9 "2024-06-19T01:35:11Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > The question I am asking refers to wartime situations, rather than shipwrecks or accidents. I accept that the answer may be the same but it’s not clear to me from the example you gave. It’s just terminology. Here’s Article 12 of the Geneva Convention: > [@](#): > > (1) Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the following Article, who are at sea and who are wounded, sick or shipwrecked, shall be respected and protected in all circumstances, it being understood that the term “shipwreck” means shipwreck from any cause and includes forced landings at sea by or from aircraft. > > (2) Such persons shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Parties to the conflict in whose power they may be, without any adverse distinction founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar criteria. So while it’s widely acknowledged that the term “shipwrecked” could be better defined, here it’s obviously intended to cover ships that were sunken/disabled/destroyed/grounded by enemy action. Generally, captains will comply if it doesn’t compromise their mission or security, but like any other customs/conventions, people sometimes break rules. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/10 "2024-06-19T01:47:30Z")
At Tsushima, the _Admiral Oushakow_ refused the Japanese demand to surrender and scuttled. The Japanese still rescued the survivors ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/11 "2024-06-19T08:32:26Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > > > When the Royal Navy steamed off and left the survivors of the Bismarck to drown it was scandalous. > > There were reported sightings of U-Boats, note. Something that has been very much a problem ever since the introduction of submarines, and to a similar extent aircraft. The victors can’t really know if they are no longer in any imminent threat. There could be submarines, real or imagined, around at any time. For example, in the aftermath of The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the damaged US ships retreating from the battle were attacked by I-26 which torpedoed and sank the damaged [_USS Juneau_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52)), which the remaining ships left behind without searching for survivors both out of fear of further submarine attack and the mistaken belief that she had gone down with all hands due to the size of the explosion. Worth noting is that **killing** the survivors of sunken enemy ships was common practice on both sides in the Pacific Theater during WWII. In the aftermath of the same battle, from Samuel Elliot Morrison’s History of US Naval Operations in World War II, volume 5: > [@](#): > > On board _Atlanta_ all efforts were concentrated on saving the ship. Captain Jenkins, wounded painfully in the foot, urged his bedraggled seamen to superhuman efforts… Even after 0939, when the tug _Bobolink_ had taken her in tow, _Atlanta_ shot at a Japanese “Betty” [bomber] which ventured too close; the seamen of _Bobolink_, rendered bloodthirsty by previous experiences, machine-gunned every dark head they saw afloat until Captain Jenkins begged them to desist lest mistakes be made. More in an older thread about shooting at pilots bailing out [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/during-ww2-was-it-an-unwritten-rule-among-pilots-that-you-dont-shoot-at-a-bailed-pilot/804847/32) > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Believe it or not, during the earlier part of world War II, some U-boats rescued survivors of ships they sank. Then [the Laconia incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident) happened, and that ceased. The _Laconia_ incident was very, very, very, very much the exception, and the wiki article is extremely poorly written. The only reason U-156 did what she did was because of the vast numbers of floating survivors and the fact that many of them were Italian POWs. U-boats did _not_ attempt to rescue survivors with even the remotest of regularity, and the idea that U-156 was operating ‘partly’ under the dictates of old prize rules is, if you’ll pardon my French, utter horseshit, as is the claim that the _Laconia_ incident “ushered in” unrestricted submarine warfare. Old prize rules would have dictated that U-156 surface and demand _Laconia_ stop prior to attacking and sinking her, at which point she could send a boarding party over to determine if she was carrying war materials. She would then have to allow the crew to abandon ship and would have undertaken the requirement to provide some assurance of safety to the crew before sinking her. That is not what she did. She was operating under the lack of rules of unrestricted submarine warfare, as were all submarines by all belligerents during WWII from the very outset of the war. She sank _Laconia_ from ambush, and had there not been such a massive amount of floating Italian POWs, she would have left the crew to their fate, just like every other ship torpedoed by a U-boat or submarine in general during WWII. For just how horseshit the claim in the wiki article is about the incident “ushering in unrestricted submarine warfare for the remainder of the war,” one need only look at the wiki link on [unrestricted submarine warfare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrestricted_submarine_warfare) in the very sentence of the article: > **Unrestricted submarine warfare** is a type of [naval warfare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_warfare) in which [submarines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine) sink [merchant ships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_ship) such as [freighters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freighter_(ship)) and [tankers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanker_(ship)) without warning. The use of unrestricted submarine warfare has had significant impacts on international relations in regards to both the [First World War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_One) and the [Second World War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Two). Its history has been dominated by German decision making. > > There have been attempts to limit the use of unrestricted naval warfare, with some dating back to before the turn of the 20th Century as an extension of rules for surface raiders. While initially submarines operated successfully by attacking on the surface using [deck guns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_guns), attacking without warning while submerged reduces the opportunity for the target to escape or defend itself if armed. Attacking and sinking the _Laconia_ without warning while submerged is exactly what U-156 did. The harsh reality is that submarines had to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare if they were to have any success. Again, operating under old prize rules U-156 would have had to surface and demand _Laconia_ stop, which would have instantly resulted in _Laconia_ broadcasting said information over her radio. Then U-156 would have had to send a boarding party over to determine if war materials were being carried, and either taken her as a prize (an impossibility due to the small size of a submarine crew) or allowed the crew to abandon ship and ensure that there were sufficient lifeboats, fresh water, etc. for them prior to sinking her. Old prize rules written for the age of sail and prior to the invention of (proper) submarines, torpedoes, or radios don’t mix with said inventions. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/12 "2024-06-19T10:45:24Z")
I’ll cite another thread from a couple days ago that touches on very similar points to this one, and especially to the comments by @Dissonance just above. The OP might find this worth reading: > [@Would submarines ever help a ship in trouble?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-submarines-ever-help-a-ship-in-trouble/1002972): > > Like a passenger ship or actually anything non-military that sends a distress signal? Or even one person in a lost sailboat? Have subs ever helped in a passenger ship rescue? Do they just tell someone else and let them do something? Or do they just ignore anything because it would reveal where they are? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/13 "2024-06-19T22:04:28Z")
I’ve found this thread immensely interesting. Thanks everyone for your replies. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/14 "2024-06-19T23:54:28Z")
Since WWII, naval warfare has taken place on a much larger scale than in prior years. For example, in the Age of Sail, ships fought at hundreds of yards. By WWI it was thousands of yards and in some cases, the low tens of thousands. These are ranges where rescuing your opponents was actually feasible. By WWII navies were fighting each other with aircraft at tens and hundreds of miles, and it’s stayed roughly there ever since. So these days it’s unlikely that ships will be in a position to rescue enemy seamen, if they’re sinking each other at 100 miles away with missiles and aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/15 "2024-06-20T00:50:20Z")
They are supposed to. Mind you in a sub, there is no room. Sometimes a sub will offer a raft, water etc. But a sub has to go. But with surface ships , yes, they almost always did- unless they claim there is a risk of Sub attacks. _The RMS Laconia was a warship- not a civilian vessel, so the U Boat certainly could sink it without warning._ [RMS Laconia (1921) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Laconia_(1921)#:~:text=Drafted%20into%20war%20service,-Australians%20manning%20a&text=On%204%20September%201939%2C%20the,%2Dinch%20high%2Dangle%20guns). _On 4 September 1939, the [Admiralty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_(United_Kingdom)) requisitioned Laconia and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser. By January 1940 she had been fitted with eight [six-inch guns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_6_inch_Mk_VII_naval_gun) and two three-inch high-angle guns._ ]([https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/laconia-incident-friendly-fire-changed-pow-treatment-rest-war.html](https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/laconia-incident-friendly-fire-changed-pow-treatment-rest-war.html)) _The Laconia was seen as a legitimate target because it was armed, which excluded it from being warned before an attack._ So no, this is all completely wrong. RMS Laconia was a warship, being used as a troop transport. > [@Dissonance](#): > > Again, operating under old prize rules U-156 would have had to surface and demand _Laconia_ stop, which would have instantly resulted in _Laconia_ broadcasting said information over her radio. Then U-156 would have had to send a boarding party over to determine if war materials were being carried, and either taken her as a prize (an impossibility due to the small size of a submarine crew) or allowed the crew to abandon ship and ensure that there were sufficient lifeboats, fresh water, etc. for them prior to sinking her. Wrong for warships. RMS Laconia was a warship. But correct for civilian unarmed ships. Note that Admiral Nimitz announced Unrestricted Submarine Warfare himself, and the RN Admiralty had a similar order. Thus at the Nuremberg trials, Doenitz was found not guilty here. However, under the general rules for naval warfare, the U-Boats commander did have responsibility to aid the men in the water- which he did. Sadly, he the Allies were in no mood to follow the rules. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/16 "2024-06-20T11:08:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Note that Admiral Nimitz announced Unrestricted Submarine Warfare himself, and the RN Admiralty had a similar order. Actually, not. The decision was made at a higher level. It was U.S. Navy Chief of Operations Harold “Betty” Stark who ordered it within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. And Nimitz wasn’t even in command in the Pacific, yet. He wasn’t selected until mid December and didn’t take command until the end of the year. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/17 "2024-06-20T11:24:05Z")
There’s a scene in the 50s movie _The Cruel Sea_ (based on a novel drawing on the author’s wartime experiences) showing a grim-faced Royal Navy captain not only not stopping to pick up survivors from a sunk British ship, but actually going full steam through or over them because of enemy U-boats in the area. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BajcgNIzMEc/hqdefault.jpg "The Cruel Sea (1953) Depth Charge Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BajcgNIzMEc) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/18 "2024-06-20T16:37:56Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > The decision was made at a higher level. It was U.S. Navy Chief of Operations Harold “Betty” Stark who ordered it within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. > **[Laconia Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_Order)** > > The Laconia Order (German: Laconia-Befehl) was issued by Großadmiral Karl Dönitz during World War II as a result of the Laconia incident, forbidding the rescue of any survivors. > Prior to this incident, vessels of the Kriegsmarine customarily picked up survivors of sunk Allied vessels. In September 1942, off the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, the German vessels—among them U-156, U-506 and U-507—attempting to rescue survivors of the ocean liner RMS Laconia were indiscriminately atta... In view of all the facts proved and in particular of an order of the [British Admiralty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Admiralty) announced on 8 May 1940, according to which all vessels should be sunk at sight in the [Skagerrak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skagerrak), and the answers to interrogatories by Admiral [Chester Nimitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Nimitz) stating [unrestricted submarine warfare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrestricted_submarine_warfare) was carried on in the Pacific Ocean by the United States from the first day of the [Pacific War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_War), the sentence of Dönitz is not assessed on the ground of his breaches of the international law of submarine warfare.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_Order#cite_note-NT-1) Nimitz announced it during his testimony at the trial, my paragraph was talking about the trial. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/19 "2024-06-21T00:06:42Z")
One of the _not well known_ sea battles in the Pacific War was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, in which eight Japanese troop transports carrying 5,954 soldiers, escorted by eight destroyers, which carried an additional 958 troops. Along with the troops were fuel and other desperately needed supplies. > [@](#): > > The **Battle of the Bismarck Sea** (2–4 March 1943) took place in the [South West Pacific Area](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_Pacific_Area) (SWPA) during [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) when aircraft of the U.S. [Fifth Air Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Air_Force) and the [Royal Australian Air Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Australian_Air_Force) (RAAF) attacked a [Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan) [convoy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy) carrying troops to [Lae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lae), [New Guinea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea). Most of the Japanese task force was destroyed, and Japanese troop losses were heavy. This was shortly after the defeat of the Japanese in the long Guadalcanal campaign. The Allies (the US and Australia) were battling it out with Japan on New Guinea and the Japanese desperately needed more troops and supplies. Although the Japanese tried to defend the convoy, Allied air power managed to decimate it. All eight transports were sunk as well as four out of the eight destroyers. The US deliberately went after the troops in the ocean, sinking lifeboats and rafts. Not only did aircraft strife them, the US sent PT boats to attack as well. > [@](#): > > Some 2,700 survivors were taken to Rabaul by the destroyers. On 4 March, another 1,000 or so survivors were adrift on rafts.[54] On the evenings of 3–5 March, PT boats and planes attacked Japanese rescue vessels, as well as the survivors from the sunken vessels on life rafts and swimming or floating in the sea. This was later justified on the grounds that rescued servicemen would have been rapidly landed at their military destination and promptly returned to active service,[58] as well as being retaliation for the Japanese fighter planes attacking survivors of the downed B-17 bomber. Of course, the Pacific War started out with Japanese war atrocities, including the Bataan Death March. In the Kokoda Track campaign, the Japanese deliberated tortured wounded Allied soldiers, in part to ensure that the Japanese soldiers would know they would be targets of revenge if they were captured. After the initial battles of the war, in which the Allies surrendered expecting normal behavior, very few prisoners were taken by either side. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031/20 "2024-06-21T01:26:34Z")
Upon viewing the most recent remake of _Midway_ the character Nick Jonas plays feels made up. In fact he was a real guy and everything portrayed happened. Bruno Gaido was a crewman on a dive bomber that had to ditch in the ocean during the Battle of Midway. Gaido and his pilot were picked up by a Japanese destroyer. After they were questioned they were weighted down and thrown overboard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-naval-vessels-rescue-enemy-seamen/1003031.md?page=2)