You guys are right - orders are to not stop for survivors - period.
radio the position of the attack and a rescue will be attempted later when danger has cleared.
Stop a big boat long enough to pick up survivors and you will all be treading water sooner than you think. few things as easy as a torpedo solution on a stationary ship.
They could throw lofe boats overboard or life rings etc but not stop. Sea planes with long enough range usually flew out to get survivors if conditions permitted.
watch the movie "Flags of our fathers" one marine falls overboard while acting stupid and lands in the water amidst a HUGE convoy. when you look at this little man in the water the ships continue sailing past him everyone comes to the sobering realization that "They're not going to stop... they cant, nobody can"... and the viewer comes to recognize the implications of stopping a single merchant ship in a convoy... traffic jams, the traffic flow is interrupted, now you have a huge mess on your hands. especially in a convoy such as the one in the movie which seems to span from horizon to horizon in close lanes.
But fear not for the survivors, they will freeze to death soon enough... probably within a couple of hours or less.
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