In September of 1942, a German U-Boat torpedoed RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Laconia, carrying mainly Italian prisoners of war, off the coast of West Africa. The U-Boat surfaced and started picking up survivors and its captain requested help from nearby ships, including other U-Boats. During the operation, an American bomber attacked the rescue effort with bombs and depth charges, forcing the U-Boats to abandon the rescued crew and passengers and dive to safety.
The Laconia Is Torpedoed
RMS Laconia, an armed ocean liner, was carrying 1,800 Italian POWs to Britain from the Middle East around Africa. Also on board were 160 Polish soldiers, 268 British soldiers and 80 civilians (including women), in addition to the crew. On the evening of September 12, 1942, U-Boat U-156 spotted what they thought was an armed troopship rather than a passenger ship (the distinction is fuzzy because the Laconia was armed) and fired two torpedoes into her, killing several hundred instantly. As she started to sink, U-156 surfaced to capture the senior officers. When Captain Werner Hartenstein, realized there were more than 2,000 survivors in the water or in lifeboats and many were Italian POWs, he began rescue operations.
