Sinking of RMS Laconia

Date: September 12, 1942 • Location: RMS Laconia (1921), International

RMS Laconia was sunk by a U-boat off the coast of West Africa, which then attempted to rescue the passengers as it was acting under the old prize rules.

RMS Laconia was a Cunard ocean liner, built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson as a successor of the 1911–1917 RMS 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 in 1941, she was converted again, this last time into a troopship. She was sunk in the South Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942 by U-156. Some estimates of the death toll have suggested that over 1,658 people were killed when the Laconia sank. Hartenstein staged a rescue of the passengers and the crew of Laconia, which involved additional German U-boats and became known as the Laconia incident.