Oh the Humanity?

JoeSnow · 03-03-17, 03:05 PM

When the war started in 1939, there were international "Rules" that were supposed to be adhered to for submarines. Merchant ships were to be boarded and inspected for contraband cargo and--if such was found--the crews were to be allowed off the ship before it was sunk. Look up Prize Rules for that period.

The Germans, for the most part, adhered to these regulations as was practicable and allowed many merchant crews to take to the lifeboats. However, the regulations made it very risky for the submarine crews and the rules were "relaxed" gradually resulting in unrestricted submarine warfare. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the Americans tossed those same rules in the nearest latrine as the Japanese had broken all conventions by attacking before declaring war. The US went immediately to unrestricted warfare and all Axis targets were fired on without warning (except hospital ships).

As Propbeanie points out, both sides had some of each behavior. There are very few instances recorded of Germans firing on survivors and they actually tended to be more humanitarian when possible. American skippers were really allowed to act at their own discretion and usually let the survivors tend to themslves.

One notable exception for the Americans was Mush Morton in the Wahoo. After sinking a transport he surfaced and the water was full of surviving Japanese. Being close to New Guinea (Japanese controlled) he determined to kill them all. They took to the guns. He put it all in his patrol report and was not rebutted by high command for what he had done. He also was not praised. Hence--by lack of statement--the US command left it to the discretion of the submarine commander. Very few--if any--did what Morton had done. (See Clay Blair's "Silent Victory" for a complete story on this).

Having spoken with quite a few WWII subvets, my belief is they felt sorry for the survivors but were really powerless to help them without putting themselves at considerable risk. I believe the Germans felt the same. Probably most all nationalities for that matter. After all, they were all sailors and all knew that it could very easily be them in the water instead of the other guy.

One subvet I talked to said the only thing he had bad dreams about was watching the survivors of a burning tanker they had hit trying futily to put out the fire as it drew closer... It still haunted his dreams 50 years later when the depth charges had become just a memory.

03-03-17, 03:05 PM	#3
JoeSnow Watch Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 21 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	When the war started in 1939, there were international "Rules" that were supposed to be adhered to for submarines. Merchant ships were to be boarded and inspected for contraband cargo and--if such was found--the crews were to be allowed off the ship before it was sunk. Look up Prize Rules for that period. The Germans, for the most part, adhered to these regulations as was practicable and allowed many merchant crews to take to the lifeboats. However, the regulations made it very risky for the submarine crews and the rules were "relaxed" gradually resulting in unrestricted submarine warfare. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the Americans tossed those same rules in the nearest latrine as the Japanese had broken all conventions by attacking before declaring war. The US went immediately to unrestricted warfare and all Axis targets were fired on without warning (except hospital ships). As Propbeanie points out, both sides had some of each behavior. There are very few instances recorded of Germans firing on survivors and they actually tended to be more humanitarian when possible. American skippers were really allowed to act at their own discretion and usually let the survivors tend to themslves. One notable exception for the Americans was Mush Morton in the Wahoo. After sinking a transport he surfaced and the water was full of surviving Japanese. Being close to New Guinea (Japanese controlled) he determined to kill them all. They took to the guns. He put it all in his patrol report and was not rebutted by high command for what he had done. He also was not praised. Hence--by lack of statement--the US command left it to the discretion of the submarine commander. Very few--if any--did what Morton had done. (See Clay Blair's "Silent Victory" for a complete story on this). Having spoken with quite a few WWII subvets, my belief is they felt sorry for the survivors but were really powerless to help them without putting themselves at considerable risk. I believe the Germans felt the same. Probably most all nationalities for that matter. After all, they were all sailors and all knew that it could very easily be them in the water instead of the other guy. One subvet I talked to said the only thing he had bad dreams about was watching the survivors of a burning tanker they had hit trying futily to put out the fire as it drew closer... It still haunted his dreams 50 years later when the depth charges had become just a memory.