[Extracts from B.d.U. War Diary, September 1942]
TOP SECRET
T.C.1.2100/17/9/42 T.O.O. 1924/17. TRITON 0.
To : All commanding officers.
1. No attempt of any kind must be made at rescuing members of ships sunk and this includes picking up persons in the water and putting them in lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats and handing over food and water. Rescue runs counter to the rudimentary demands of warfare for the destruction of enemy ships and crews.
2. Orders for bringing in Captains and Chief Engineers still apply.
3. Rescue shipwrecked only if their statements will be of importance for your boat.
4. Be harsh, having in mind that the enemy takes no regard of women and children in his bombing attacks on German cities.
17th September 1942.
"2. The attention of all Commanding Officers is again drawn to the fact that all efforts to rescue members of the crews of ships which have been sunk contradict the most primitive demands for the conduct of warfare by annihilating enemy ships and their crews. Orders concerning the bringing in of the Captains and Chief Engineers still stand."
100
D-630
"America" W/T. service.
T.O.I. 0044/18/9/42.
T.O.O. 1930/17.
TRITONA
From: Schacht.
163 Italians handed over to "Annamite." Navigating officer of "Lyconia" and another English oificer on board. 7 lifeboats with about 330 English and Poles, including 15 women and 16 children, deposited in naval grid square FE 9612. Women and children accommodated on board for one night. All shipwrecked persons given hot meals and drinks, clothes, and bandages where necessary, 4 more boats sighted lying to a sea anchor in naval grid square FE 9619. Both positions passed to "Gloire," which moved off immediately to search. Still 28 cubic meters, 20 days' provisions, 9 "eels," fully operationally effective.
"America" W/T service.
T.0.1.1217/20/9/42 T.O.O.1107/20. TRITONA
To : Schacht.
Action as in W/T message of 17/9. was wrong. Boat was detailed to rescue Italian allies and not for the rescue of English and Poles.
Orders to naval officers prohibiting rescue or assistance to enemy crew members, as "annihilating enemy ships and their crews" is the strategy; captured captains and chief engineers to be brought in for questioning
Authors
Karl Doenitz (admiral; submarine commander (1939-430; naval commander (1943-45))
Karl Doenitz
German admiral, supreme commander of the Navy, head of state and convicted war criminal (1891-1980)
- Born: 1891-09-16 (Grünau) (country: German Empire; located in the administrative territorial entity: Kingdom of Prussia)
- Died: 1980-12-22 1980-12-24 (Aumühle) (country: West Germany; located in the administrative territorial entity: Schleswig-Holstein)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: autobiographer; military officer; politician; soldier (period: 1910-01-01 through 1918-01-01, 1920-01-01 through 1945-01-01)
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Nuremberg trials (charge: war crime, war of aggression; defender: Otto Kranzbühler; role: defendant)
- Military rank: Admiral (period: 1942-03-14 through 1943-01-30); Commodore (period: 1939-01-28 through 1939-10-01); Fregattenkapitän (period: 1933-10-01 through 1935-10-01); Fähnrich zur See (period: 1911-04-15 through 1913-09-27)
- Military branch: German Navy; Imperial German Navy (since: 1910-04-01); Kriegsmarine (since: 1935-06-01)
Date: 17 September 1942
Literal Title: To: All commanding officers.
Defendant: Karl Doenitz
Total Pages: 1
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: D-630
Citations: IMT (page 2665), IMT (page 2683), IMT (page 2689), IMT (page 9389)
HLSL Item No.: 452886
Notes:The entries for 18 and 20 September 1942 describe and comment on a rescue operation that violated the order. See document D 446 for an episode that apparently prompted the order, and PS 382 for an officer's testimony about Doenitz's order and how it was applied.