RMS Laconia (1921)

The RMS Laconia was a British ocean liner built in 1921 for the Cunard Line shipping company. At the beginning of World War II, she was requisitioned by the British Royal Navy, who operated her until, on 12 September 1942, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-156, in the context of the Battle of the Atlantic.

History

The Laconia was conceived by the Cunard Line to transport passengers and refrigerated cargo, with 309,222 m³ of special chambers to house said merchandise. Launched in 1921, she served on the eastern routes between England, the Suez Canal, Canada and the United States. In 1934, she had an incident when she collided with an American cargo ship in waters off New York, which meant several months of repairs for the company, until her return to service in 1935.

On September 5, 1939, it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy to be transformed into an armed merchant ship intended for the transport of prisoners and soldiers, being heavily armed with fourteen 110 mm pieces.

Sinking

On the afternoon of September 12, 1942, the U-156 points out a ship whose smoke had been noticed on the horizon several hours ago. It was the Laconia, sailing alone and fast. It is soon seen that she has a promenade deck, a characteristic sign that she is a mixed ship that transports cargo and passengers.

At 21:00, U-156 emerged to attack the surface, taking cover in the darkness. Two torpedoes were fired from bow tubes I and III. The torpedoes exploded in the hull of the ship and in moments the ship was engulfed in flames. The Laconia began transmitting the S.O.S. on the 600 meter frequency. Issue the following message:

"S.S.S.S.S.S.S.... The torpedoed laconia... Laconia torpedoed... S.S.S. Laconia"

Message from S.S., radiated by the Laconia, on the afternoon of September 12, 1942, the S,S,S was used by allied ships, indicating to the ships that came in relief, with the replacement of the "O" by the "S", that there were enemy submarines in the area

The Laconia, after the impact, listed heavily on one of its sides. Emergency boats were prepared. The U-156 approaches cautiously and soon spots the first castaways. The captain of the U-Boat, Werner Hartenstein, is moved to see that the designated ship is transporting women and children. He decides to emerge and help rescue the castaways.

Upon board the submarine, one of them, who speaks German, explains that on board the Laconia there were 1,400 to 1,800 Italian prisoners of war. The Polish soldiers guarding them had not opened their compartments after the torpedo explosion. A few hundred Italians, despite this, managed to escape and reach the rescue boats, but they were machine-gunned and prevented from saving their lives. Even so, about a hundred men of that nationality managed to swim and board the German submarine.

At that time, the Laconia had a crew of 463 men and was also carrying 268 soldiers on leave, en route to the United Kingdom, as well as 80 women and children. German sailors count twenty-two rescue boats. It was impossible to calculate the number of men flailing in the water asking for help. Werner Hartenstein decides to send a distressing message to the German OKW.

On the night of September 12 to 13, the following telegram arrives at the Headquarters of the supreme commander of the submarines, in France:

"Hartenstein has sunk the English Laconia in 7721. Unfortunately, he was carrying 1,500 Italian prisoners of war. He's taken out of the water so far, ninety. Request instructions."

After Admiral Dönitz woke up, he sent orders to the submarines that were in the vicinity; the message says:

"Schacht, Grupo Elsbär, Würdemann, Wilamowitz, meet immediately Hartenstein in 7721 to help save the shipwrecks. Hurry!"

Message to the submarines of Admiral Karl Dönitz

Meanwhile, Hartenstein's submarine maneuvers in the middle of a sea full of wreckage. As far as he can see, the sea swarms with swimming men. The German sailors haul onto deck as many as they can pick up. The whole night and the next day goes like this. The German submarine is full after a few hours. It has picked up 193 people and there are still more in the water, but they no longer have a place on board the submarine's deck.

Meanwhile at the submarine headquarters, Dönitz does not hide his concern for having gathered his submarines towards unknown dangers in which they were exposed to enemy attacks. The German admiral once again transmits recommendations:

"They do not compromise in any case the safety of their ships. Submarines must be willing to dive at all times. The submarines, even Hartenstein's, will only embark on a number of shipwrecks that cannot compromise their maneuvering ability to dive"

Clarification to the first message of Admiral Karl Dönitz.

But the BdU has already contacted the French Admiralty so that a cruise ship and other fast ships can be sent from Bingerville and Dakar, in order to save as many people as possible. Three U-Boats, U-156, U-506 and U-507, are full of castaways and are also towing four or five boats. rescue each one. They head towards the meeting point agreed with the French. Since the day after the torpedoing of the Laconia, Lieutenant Hartenstein has repeatedly broadcast the message:

"I will not attack any of the ships that come in relief from the shipwrecks of Laconia, provided that I am not attacked by ships or planes myself.

U-Boot transfer U-156 behind the torpedoing Laconia

An unknown ship does not respond to the submarine's invitation.

On September 16, 1942 at 11:25, when U-156 had just reunited the four rescue boats that it had lost during the night, a B plane appeared -24 Liberator, which, upon seeing the Red Cross flag, moved away after making several low flights over the German ship. Hartenstein signals to him that he needs help. Pilot James Harden reports the situation to his base on Ascension Island. The duty officer, Robert Richardson, answers: "Sink sub" (sink the submarine). After half an hour, the Liberator, in low flight 800 m above the submarine, drops its bombs in the middle of the rescue boats: one of them directly capsized. Dozens of British and Italians disappear underwater. Two more delayed-explosion bombs explode under the submarine, whose commander is enraged. Thus, he gives the order to disembark the shipwrecked people and abandon them at sea. The U-156 emerged safely from the aerial bombardment, but with minor damage.

The next day, the incident is repeated with another submarine with castaways on board in the area, still in sight of the Red Cross insignia; This will determine the future attitude of the German submarines to abandon the shipwrecked from future attacks. On September 17, 1942, Admiral Karl Dönitz transmitted to the submarines from him:

It is completely unhearted to believe that the enemy can respect German submarines in any way, under the pretext that they will save their own men..."

The message ends with the prohibition to proceed with rescue operations.

With respect to the shipwrecked of the Laconia, of the 811 men that the liner was transporting, 800 were saved. Of the 1,800 Italians, 1,400 perished.

As for the three submarines that participated in the rescue tasks, all of them were destroyed by bombs during their next cruise.

In fiction

Miniseries

The British television network BBC2 broadcast for the first time, a telefilm "The Sinking of the Laconia" in two parts on January 6 and 7, 2011. The dramatization was titled "Laconia, the sinking".