![]() If they had been spread out and sailing individually it allowed a U-boat to torpedo one ship and then wait for the next to come along. The war would then expand into the Mediterranean, Arctic convoys supplying the USSR and eventually into the Far East against Japan.Īllied ships would group together in convoys making them much harder to find in the vastness of the oceans. This was combined with the entry of the Italian fleet on the side of the Axis and the loss of the French and other occupied countries' navies and merchant fleets to the Allied cause. However the fall of France and Norway coupled with the Irish Free State's neutrality created a catastrophic situation for the Allies, allowing the Germans to base submarines and aircraft there thus massively extending their range and endurance whilst forbidding the Allies from doing the same on Ireland's southern coast to counter them. At the beginning of World War 2 German submarines had considerable success against Britain but losses were kept to an acceptable level. To do this they used aircraft and surface raiding ships but above all submarines (referred to as U-boats) to torpedo and mine merchantmen which were formed into defensive groups known as 'convoys' and accompanied by a variety of escort warships and aircraft. In both World Wars Germany attempted to sever the supply lines across the Atlantic to the British Isles, cutting off Britain from her empire and her eventual ally in the United States. So the Captain sails off, leaving them to their fate. Not to mention the possibility of a prisoner escaping, causing sabotage or at least giving away the sub's position. Also, it might have been days or weeks before they could dock in a safe port to drop them off. Taking on prisoners would mean having to feed and quarter them on the boat. The whole movie has been shot in such a way as to convey how tight the quarters were on board a WWII German sub, there was barely enough room for the crew, their supplies, food, fuel, torpedoes, etc. Even if not for the order, there simply wasn't enough room for prisoners on his boat. Prior to that, even though all sides had prohibitions in place, U-boats of all sides would assist survivors if possible (providing food, navigational aid and medical help, sometimes taking survivors aboard). Dönitz ordered in the Laconia order, that from that point on, no survivors were to be rescued, nor should they be given assistance. ![]() It was reaffirmed in 1942 after the Laconia incident, where three German U-boats rescued hundreds of survivors of the torpedoed transport ship Laconia, and were subsequently attacked and sunk by US bombers. War Order 154, issued by the German Navy in late 1939, explicitly prohibited U-boats from rescuing survivors.
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