Laconia Order

The Laconia Order ("Laconia-Befehl") was issued by German Grand Admiral ("Großadmiral") Karl Dönitz during World War II as a result of the Laconia incident.

Prior to this incident, vessels of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine), like most other navies, customarily picked up survivors. In 1942, off the coast of west Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, the German vessels attempting to rescue survivors of the ocean liner, which it had fired upon without warning, RMS Laconia were attacked by an American aircraft.

The order

The order was as follows:

Nuremberg trial

This order, along with War Order No. 154 of 1939, were introduced by the prosecution at the post-war Nuremberg Trial of Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. In the judgement, it was found that by issuing these two orders, Dönitz caused Nazi Germany to be in breach of the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. However, as evidence of similar conduct by the Allies was presented at his trial, his sentence was not assessed on the grounds of this breach of international law. [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/juddoeni.htm Judgement : Doenitz] the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School]

ee also

* War Order No. 154
* Unrestricted submarine warfare

References