Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfstriked
Looks great,thanks.I love the big flags on the sides of ships.....WAIT don't shoot we from Holland.  It reminds me of a question I always would think but forget to ask.Why didn't ships that were allied just run flags from other countries or run at night with their lights on all in an attempt to fool their attackers?Sorry to ask this in this thread but Do not wanna start anew one for a simple question. |
Because if it becomes known that a belligerent nation is routinely disguising its own ships as ships from neutral countries, any ships that actually
are sailing for those countries will lose the protection still afforded them by their homeland's neutral status. All ships that look "neutral" will be legitimate objects of suspicion and therefore potential targets. You'd be bringing their people and ships into the conflict against their will. At the very least it's not a good way to maintain friendly relations with countries who aren't involved in the conflict and with whom you may still need to do business.
It's also why you don't disguise a ship carrying war supplies or troops as a hospital ship. Hospital ships are off limits because they are assumed NOT to be furthering the war effort of any belligerent country. If you give the belligerent nations a reason to discard that assumption, every hospital ship becomes a suspicious vessel and you give both sides a justification to consider them potentially valid targets.