General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Hospital ships
Posted by:
Tim
()
Date: March 14, 2001 03:51AM
<HTML>Regarding the B-24 attack on U-156 and company, I read that the attack was ordered by the aircraft\'s headquarters in the Azores. While the U-boats were not marked as \"hospital ships\", the fact that they had numerous lifeboats attached and people on deck that way exceeded the possible crewing of the boat should have raised a few questions in the mind of the on scene commander (the aircraft commander) Question: Did U-156 put out her requests for assistance in plain text and or international distress freqs? If so, the Allies must have known what was up. Regardless, the aircraft commander, with local knowledge, should have refused the order as unlawful or at the least dropped his ordinance some distance away and reported, \"Oop! We missed.\"</HTML>