Transcription
It’s the night of September the 12th, 1942, in the south Atlantic Ocean. And the German submarine U-156 has been stalking a British armed merchant cruiser for hours. The U-Boat has surfaced so it can keep up with its target and Korvettenkapitan Werner Hartenstein keeps his distance to avoid detection. He watches through his periscope as the target chugs along. The British are completely unaware of the danger closing in.
And as dusk falls, some cabins ignore the strict blackout order. Each glowing window helps Hartenstein to line up his shot. He grins. He is one step closer to an Iron Cross. Calling out the targeting information, he gives the crew their orders to attack: “Target angle 90 degrees, speed 14 knots, range 1500 metres.” An alarm sounds across the submarine as torpedoes are prepared for launch. “Firing tube one!” A 22-foot-long torpedo rushes out of the tube and races toward its target. Calling another shot, Hartenstein launches a second torpedo at the British ship. "Tube three, fire!" He counts down the seconds as the torpedoes race towards the starboard side of the ship.
Watching through the scope he can see a massive spurt of water emerge as the first torpedo strikes the British merchant cruiser right in the center. Water rises high into the air and then falls away, revealing a massive gaping hole in the hull. Just moments later, a second torpedo slams into the vessel, striking closer to the bow and shaking the entire ship... Hartenstein watches with satisfaction through his spyglass as the British ship begins keeling over to starboard. As he watches he sees survivors dive from the stricken ship into the sea.
On board U-156, the radio operator calls out. He has intercepted a distress signal from the cruiser: "Attention! Attention! The vessel sunk is the Laconia. 19,695 tons!" A cheer goes up among the men. It’s a massive prize. But, with a distress signal sent out, it’s only a matter of time before Allied air and naval vessels close in... But Hartenstein wants to try and capture the Laconia’s captain. "Slow ahead. Make for the Laconia, port 5 degrees. " The cold night air hits him as Hartenstein emerges from his hatch and stands on the bridge All the while he is looking for any sign of the enemy captain as he closes in on the sinking British giant.
The stricken ship is listing hard to starboard and Able Seamen Jim McLoughlin is stranded and grasping hold of the railings. He watches as all around him is a scene of total chaos and panic. The ship is packed with military and civilian passengers. Men, women, and children rush to the lifeboats as they attempt to escape the sinking Laconia. Jim looks down over the port side. His best chance is jump into the water from the high side. But he just can’t face the drop. So he slides down the deck towards the starboard side, lowering himself into the water and swimming as fast as he can away from the sinking ship, and out into the black expanse of ocean.
Picking his way through a field of debris and panicking survivors, he is elated to spot a floating wooden raft up ahead. Already sheltering on the raft is his friend Davey Jones: “Bloody hell, Jim! Give me your hand!” Davey pulls Jim up onto the raft. Shivering, the men are dejected as they watch the Laconia’s stern rise up and its propellers are lifted high into the air.
Meanwhile, half a mile away in the U-boat, Hartenstein scans the ocean. The sea is filled with overcrowded life boats and even more people clinging to the sides. Shouts and cries echo through the dark. They spot two men clinging to a crate who are shouting for help. "Help!" But they’re not shouting in English. It sounds like… Italian! "Help!" Hartenstein is shocked to hear Italian voices. What are they doing on a British vessel? “Pull them out!” Sailors rush down to the bow and drag the two men from the water. They’re both shaking with cold and fear. They are brought up in front of Hartenstein. And both oth of them plead with the captain. "Italians! Prisoners!" A chill runs through Hartenstein’s blood. The ship he has hit is full of Italian prisoners… his own allies.
“Get these men out of the water!” More and more men paddle their way to the U-boat desperate to reach salvation. The submarine crew pull up an Italian Corporal who can speak some German. Finally, Hartenstein learns the truth. The corporal tells him there were at least 1500 Italian prisoners of war onboard the Laconia along with hundreds of British women and children. "Oh my God!" Every hour Hartenstein stays in the area puts his U-boat and the lives of his men at risk. His orders are to get out of the danger zone as quickly as possible. But this captain feels he has a duty to his Allies and to the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. “Operator, send a message to U-boat Command. Request permission to conduct a rescue.” "Yes, sir!"
In the distance, Jim and Davey float through the night on their flimsy raft. As the morning sun rises and beats down on them, it mercilessly bakes their salt-covered skin. Jim dangles one leg into the sea, desperate for relief. Then, suddenly, he feels a sharp pain tearing through his calf. He hauls his leg back onto the raft. Blood wells from deep puncture wounds as a long, silver shape slips away beneath the surface. A giant barracuda glides below them, just out of reach. Then another shape appears. And another, circling the little raft. Jim pulls his injured leg tight against his chest. It’s swelling now, throbbing with every heartbeat. He stares up at the empty sky. No ships. No planes. No sign that anyone even knows they are here.
But then Jim hears the throbbing of an engine in the distance. He squints against the glare and his eyes pick up the sight of a German submarine approaching. The pair watch anxiously as German sailors climb out of the tower and fan out across the deck. Jim thinks that the Germans are there to finish them off. One of the sailors gets closer to the bow, closing in on the machine gun. Jim's heart beats rapidly as he prepares for the end. But the sailor doesn’t reach for the machine gun. Instead, he curls a long rope and hurls it towards Jim and Davey. “Catch, Englishman!”
Hartenstein has received permission to conduct a rescue and he thinks his enemies deserve to live just as much as his Allies. The German sailors drag the little raft alongside their submarine, and haul the two Brits on deck. Jim flops down, exhausted. Looking up into the face of his German savior, he is surprised to see a smiling face peering down at him. “Ah, Royal Navy. Well, we couldn’t just leave you in the water”. Jim is pulled to his feet by the German sailors and helped across the deck for medical attention. He is the first of dozens of Allied servicemen who come aboard U-156.
The submarine stays at the scene as the days pass and Hartenstein keeps filling his boat up with survivors. Italian Prisoners, British and Polish troops, and civilians. The compartments and deck are soon packed to the limits but Hartenstein still ignores the danger. He does not plan to leave people stranded in the ocean. Ordering the crew to lash four lifeboats to his U-boat gives extra space, but it brings the U-boat down to a walking pace and makes them a sitting duck for attacks. Hartenstein’s only protection is a repeated plea to enemy forces which the radio operator sends out across all open channels. “If any ship will assist the ship-wrecked Laconia crew, I will not attack her, provided I am not attacked by ship or air force.” Even with this radio message, he feels danger is still around.
Out on the deck, a German sailor spots something in the distance. “Aircraft low to starboard!” An unknown aircraft comes in close and starts circling around the submarine. It’s near enough that the crew can see a white star roundel of the United States. The aircraft is a B-24 Liberator belonging to the US Army Air Force. At the controls is Lieutenant James D. Harden and he is searching the area for Laconia survivors. He gets on the radio. “Got a submarine down here! Heading down to investigate.” At an altitude of just 250 feet, Harden can clearly see the deck is packed with passengers and the U-boat is dragging lifeboats.
“Fix the Red Cross Flag!” The crew rush out to the bow and quickly fix an enormous Red Cross Flag over the 105 mm deck gun. “Now get down on the deck!” U-156 is totally exposed. All their lives are in the pilot's hands. The Liberator continues circling but doesn't attack. Hartenstein breathes a sigh of relief. He orders a captured RAF officer up onto the deck. And together, they send a signal using an Aldis Lamp. "RAF officer speaking from German submarine. Laconia survivors on board, soldiers, civilians, women, children."
Up in the aircraft Harden and his crew are confused. They have never been properly trained to read morse code signals flashed by a lamp. And the only thing they can make out from this signal is the word ‘German’. They fly back towards their base to get into radio range with their commanders at the top-secret Wideawake Airfield on nearby Ascension Island. He makes contact with his Captain Robert Richardson. Harden tries to explain the situation over the radio, but he is not really sure what he has seen. “What are your orders, sir?” “This has gotta be some kind of German trick…” “But they’re flying the Red Cross."
Harden waits in silence while Richardson makes the decision. And he thinks about the risk of an enemy submarine finding the base. “Sink the sub at once.” "Yes, sir!" Harden takes the Liberator around and heads back towards U-156. He pushes forward on the control column and brings the plane down to a low level and begins his attack run. The submarine and the lifeboats get closer and closer through the cockpit glass. And if you want to fight in some of the battles that we've covered, you can with our new game, Brass Rain. It's available to wishlist on Steam! It is going to be multiplayer and free-to-play. So join the community on the battlefield and wishlist Brass Rain today!
"Bombardier, open the doors." The Liberator roars towards U-156, it’s so low that it’s almost skimming the surface of the waves. On the deck, there is panic as the aircraft closes in. The soldiers jump up and wave their arms desperately above their heads, trying to call off the attack. But it's no use. Harden keeps coming. “Get down!” The Liberator comes screaming overhead and bombs come crashing down towards the submarine. The bombs splash into the water short of the U-boat sending up huge plumes of spray and drenching the crowded deck. The Liberator pulls up and soars away from the U-boat.
Hartenstein crouches by the conning tower as he sees the Liberator come around for another attack run. The only way to save his crew is to take the U-boat down into a crash dive. But he can’t do this while carrying hundreds of refugees. It’s an agonizing moment, but he knows he has to give the order: “Cut the lifeboats loose!” One of his sailors runs to the rear and starts chopping through the ropes with an axe. A blade comes slicing down, severing the connection with one of the lifeboats. Two more to go. The sailor dashes over and smashes down on another rope. He cuts halfway through, but the rope is too thick. Raising the axe high, he goes to swing again. But it’s not quick enough! The Liberator is already screaming in for another attack run.
Hartenstein throws himself onto the deck as another bomb comes whistling down from the aircraft. This time, it’s a hit. A massive, deafening explosion tears one of the lifeboats to pieces, killing several men instantly. Splinters of wood and a cloud of shrapnel fly up into the air and Hartenstein stares in horror at the destruction. He sees the devastation as the plane comes round for another attack. The Liberator roars towards the scene and releases another bomb. The bomb lunges into the sea and detonates directly under the submarine. The blast lifts U-156 up and out of the water, and throws the men on deck off their feet. Harden watches from the cockpit as the U-boat wallows and thrashes in the water. He has got the kill, but he can’t shake the feeling that he is doing something that is not right. “U-boat sinking. Return to base.”
Onboard the submarine, Hartenstein rushes down the ladder and enters the control room. “Damage report!” “We are taking on water! The batteries are leaking” Hartenstein has no choice. If he wants to escape any further attack he has to take his boat down to safety. "Out! Out! Everyone out!" It’s total mayhem as the survivors dive off the deck and splash down into the water. Struggling against waves, Jim swims for his life. He battles the current and finally he is pulled up onto a lifeboat. The massive shape of the U-boat pulls alongside them. Captain Hartenstein leans down from the conning tower and shouts over the mayhem. “Set your course north-north-east. The Coast of Africa is 700 miles away. I wish you good luck.” He salutes the survivors and rushes back inside his submarine.
Jim watches as U-156 sails away and disappears under the waves. He and the others in the lifeboat are now alone, far from land. It took the survivors 24 days to get to land. Low on food and water and with a sea full of predators their numbers fell every night, but, finally, they arrived in Liberia. Altogether, less than half of the roughly 2800 people onboard the Laconia survived the sinking. Captain Werner Hartenstein was killed a year later during a U-boat patrol in May 1943. In response to the American attack on U-156, Admiral Karl Doenitz issued the Laconia Order which forbade German U-boats from making any attempt to rescue survivors in the future. If you want to see another brutal story of men battling a U-boat click this link and watch how a Catalina crew sank a submarine, and then fought to survive in the freezing ocean.