The Laconia incident was a series of events surrounding the sinking of a British passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942, during World War II, and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved in rescue attempts. RMS Laconia, carrying 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers, and prisoners of war, was torpedoed and sunk by U-156, a German U-boat, off the West African coast. Operating partly under the dictates of the old prize rules, the U-boat's commander, Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein, immediately commenced rescue operations. U-156 broadcast her position on open radio channels to all Allied powers nearby, and was joined by several other U-boats in the vicinity.
RMS Laconia was a Cunard ocean liner, built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson as a successor of the 1911–1917 Laconia. The new ship was launched on 9 April 1921, and made her maiden voyage on 25 May 1922 from Southampton to New York City. At the outbreak of the Second World War she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser, and later a troopship. She was sunk in the South Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942 by torpedoes. Like her predecessor, sunk during the First World War, this Laconia was also destroyed by a German submarine. Some estimates of the death toll have suggested that over 1,658 people were killed when the Laconia sank. The U-boat commander Werner Hartenstein then staged a dramatic effort to rescue the passengers and the crew of Laconia, which involved additional German U-boats and became known as the Laconia incident.
SS Athenia was a steam turbine transatlantic passenger liner built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1923 for the Anchor-Donaldson Line, which later became the Donaldson Atlantic Line. She worked between the United Kingdom and the east coast of Canada until 3 September 1939, when a torpedo from the German submarine U-30 sank her in the Western Approaches.
CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships from Europe to Canada. In 1914 the sinking of the Canadian Pacific steamship RMS Empress of Ireland just before World War I became largest maritime disaster in Canadian history. The company provided Canadian Merchant Navy vessels in World Wars I and II. Twelve vessels were lost due to enemy action in World War II, including the RMS Empress of Britain, which was the largest ship ever sunk by a German U-boat.
German submarine U-69 was the first Type VIIC U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. This meant that compared to previous U-boats, she could travel further afield for longer, with a payload of fourteen torpedoes, an 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun for smaller vessels and a flak gun for use against aircraft. U-69 was very successful, sinking over 72,000 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in a career lasting two years, making her one of the longest surviving, continuously serving, U-boats. Her most notable attack was on the civilian ferry SS Caribou, which sank off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1942, killing 137 men, women and children. She was rammed and sunk by HMS Fame on 17 February 1943.
German submarine U-48 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II, and the most successful that was commissioned. During her two years of active service, U-48 sank 52 ships for a total of 306,874 GRT and 1,060 tons; she also damaged three more for a total of 20,480 GRT over twelve war patrols conducted during the opening stages of the Battle of the Atlantic.
The SS Irish Oak was an Irish-operated steamship that was sunk in the North Atlantic during World War II by a German submarine.
SS Uhenfels was a German-built heavy-lift ship that was launched in 1931 for DDG Hansa. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1939, two months after the start of the Second World War. The UK Ministry of Shipping renamed her Empire Ability and contracted Elder Dempster Lines to operate her. In 1941 a German U-boat sank her by torpedo.
SS Santa Rita was a refrigerated cargo ship built for the United States Maritime Commission by Federal Shipbuilding of Kearny, New Jersey in 1941. Operated by the Grace Line, Santa Rita en route from Cape Town to Charleston, South Carolina, when she was attacked by U-172 on 9 July 1942. Steaming on a non-evasive course at 16 knots (30 km/h) 700 nautical miles (1,300 km) northeast of Puerto Rico, a single torpedo from U-172 hit the ship in the near the engine room. The explosion destroyed the engines; opened a 30-foot (9.1 m) hole in the hull of the ship, which immediately flooded the No. 3 cargo hold; and killed one officer and two men. After ten minutes, the ship's master, Henry Stephenson, ordered the ship abandoned; most of the surviving officers and crew and the ship's two passengers had already boarded the Nos. 3 and 4 lifeboats.
USS Willimantic (ID-3549) was a cargo steamship. She was built in 1918 and served in United States Navy commission from 1918 to 1919. She was transferred to United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport service in 1942 and sunk by enemy action in June of that year.
Empire Drum was a 7,244 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1941 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland, Co Durham, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Completed in March 1942, she had a short career, being torpedoed and sunk on 24 April 1942 by U-136.
Empire Dryden was a 7,164 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1941 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland, Co Durham, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Completed in February 1942, she had a short career, being torpedoed and sunk on 20 April 1942 by U-572.
"The captain goes down with the ship" is a maritime tradition that a sea captain holds the ultimate responsibility for both the ship and everyone embarked on it, and in an emergency they will devote their time to save those on board or die trying. Although often connected to the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912 and its captain, Edward Smith, the tradition precedes Titanic by several years. In most instances, captains forgo their own rapid departure of a ship in distress, and concentrate instead on saving other people. It often results in either the death or belated rescue of the captain as the last person on board.
MV C.O. Stillman was an oil tanker that was built by a German shipyard in 1928 for a Canadian-based shipping company. A Panamanian subsidiary of Esso bought her at the end of 1936 and she was sunk by the German submarine U-68 in the Caribbean on June 4, 1942 about 41 nautical miles (76 km) southwest of Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico.
SS Maasdam was a Dutch turbine steamship that was launched in 1920 and sunk in 1941. She was the third Holland America Line ship to be named after the village of Maasdam in South Holland.
Irish Willow was one of the few ships which maintained Irish trade during World War II.
SS Zamzam was a steam ocean liner that was launched in 1909 in Ireland and scuttled in 1941 in the South Atlantic.
SS Nailsea Court was a UK cargo steamship. She was launched in 1936 in Sunderland, England. She was named after Nailsea Court in Somerset, England, which is an historic Elizabethan manor house. A U-boat sank her in the North Atlantic in March 1943. 45 men died and only four survived.
East Indian was a twin-screw cargo ship that was built in Japan in 1918 as Beikoku Maru. The United States Shipping Board (USSB) bought her that same year and renamed her East Indian. The Ford Motor Company bought her in 1925 to transport Ford products overseas. She was sunk in the South Atlantic in 1942. Only 16 of 74 people aboard survived.
SS Falaba was a British cargo liner. She was built in Scotland in 1906 and sunk by a U-boat in the North Atlantic in 1915. The sinking killed more than 100 people, provoking outrage in both the United Kingdom and United States.
United States 
