Lake Kasan, Battle of (1939) full of Poles or British subjects: U-boat crews were told to use “Laconia” ship’s boats to save Italian prisoners first Dönitz radioed that Vichy warships would be sent from Dakar to rescue any remaining Italians or non-Axis personnel still alive: because Vichy was technically neutral, its warships would face lessened hazard from Allied attacks than Dönitz’s U-boats But Hartenstein would not simply abandon the rest of the passengers in the water He made a desperate SOS broadcast in the clear and in English, calling vessels of all nations to assist under a flag of truce that he promised to respect: “If any ship will assist the shipwrecked ‘Laconia’ crew, I will not attack providing I am not attacked by ship or air forces German submarine.” U-boats on the scene displayed the Red Cross emblem as they worked on the surface among the human flotsam of “Laconia.” Hundreds stood on the decks of the four submarines; others clung to hulls or bobbed along in crowded lifeboats A series of grave and tragic misunderstandings ensued over the next several days to spoil the rescue On September 15, and again two days later, American B-24s from Ascension Island bombed and strafed the surfaced U-boats As the submarines dived hundreds fell from their sinking decks into the sea Dönitz reacted by ordering a halt to all rescue efforts, for “Laconia” survivors and for the rest of the war He cabled his captains: “Rescue remains contrary to the primary demands of warfare for the destruction of enemy ships and their crews.” He also ordered provision of lifeboats with food and water to halt: the practice depleted his U-boats’ supplies The captains cut cables, left the survivors to drift, and departed the area Vichy warships arrived on the 19th and rescued 1,100 souls The rest perished The “Laconia order” was raised in evidence against Dönitz during his war crimes trial by the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1945 He was censured for issuing illegal orders, a reduced penalty because Admiral Chester Nimitz and other Western Allied naval leaders testified that it was also policy of Western navies not to attempt rescue of passengers or crew from enemy ships sunk by their submarines U-156 was depthcharged in the Caribbean on March 8, 1943, while on her fifth war patrol It sank with Captain Hartenstein and all hands LAGG See fighters LAKE KASAN, BATTLE OF (1939) See Nomonhan Also called “Changkufeng.” LAMP Soviet code name for a major partisan operation carried out in November 1942 LANDING CRAFT Any flat-bottomed small craft or larger ship used to bring troops, vehicles, and equipment onshore in an amphibious assault, from where they sought to drive inland to press home an attack The Japanese pioneered large landing craft with the Military Landing Craft Carrier It was first used at Shanghai 656