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Barrett · 1 January 2000, 01:17 PM

Sometimes clearly marked hospital ships are sunk accidentally. A similar event happened in 1945 when the US submarine Queenfish sank the Awa Maru, a relief ship authorized by the US to take POW supplies from Japan to the South Pacific. The sub skipper torpedoed what he thought was a legit target, surfaced to ID his kill and was appalled to learn his commo officer failed to notify him of SigInt about the ship's presence. However, it turned out that among the survivors in the water were 4000 rubber bales. The Japs had been transporting military supplies via relief ship, which was of course contrary to the rules. Another PacFleet sub mistakenly sank a Soviet ship, but I don't think anyone east of Vladivostok was too upset.

1 January 2000, 01:17 PM	#18 (permalink)
Barrett Forum Ace of Aces Join Date: Aug 1998 Location: The American West Posts: 4,809	Sometimes clearly marked hospital ships are sunk accidentally. A similar event happened in 1945 when the US submarine Queenfish sank the Awa Maru, a relief ship authorized by the US to take POW supplies from Japan to the South Pacific. The sub skipper torpedoed what he thought was a legit target, surfaced to ID his kill and was appalled to learn his commo officer failed to notify him of SigInt about the ship's presence. However, it turned out that among the survivors in the water were 4000 rubber bales. The Japs had been transporting military supplies via relief ship, which was of course contrary to the rules. Another PacFleet sub mistakenly sank a Soviet ship, but I don't think anyone east of Vladivostok was too upset. __________________ You will not rise to the occasion: You will default to your level of training.