Laconia Incident

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Laconia was 601 feet 3 inches (183.26 m) long, with a beam of 73 feet 7 inches (22.43 m). She had a depth of 40 feet 6 inches (12.34 m) and a draught of 32 feet 8 inches (9.96 m). She was powered by six steam turbines of 2,561 nhp, which drove twin screw propellors via double reduction gearing. On 12 September 1942, at 8:10pm, 130 miles north-northeast of Ascension Island, Laconia was hit on the starboard side by a torpedo fired by U-boat U-156. However, before Laconia went down, U-156 surfaced. The U-boat's efforts to rescue survivors of its own attack began what came to be known as the Laconia incident.
When Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein, commanding officer of U-156, realized civilians and prisoners of war were on board, he surfaced to rescue survivors, and asked BdU (the U-Boat Command in Germany) for help. Several U-Boats were dispatched; all flew Red Cross flags, and signalled by radio that a rescue operation was underway.

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