Editing Laconia incident (section)

=== Rescue operation ===
Realising that the passengers were primarily POWs and civilians,{{sfn|Dönitz|1997|p=255}} Hartenstein immediately began rescue operations whilst flying the [[Red Cross flag]]. ''Laconia'' sank at 11:23&nbsp;p.m., over an hour after the attack. At 1:25&nbsp;a.m. on 13&nbsp;September, Hartenstein sent a coded radio message to the {{lang|de|[[Befehlshaber der U-Boote]]}} alerting them to the situation. It read: "Sunk by Hartenstein, British Laconia, Qu&nbsp;FF7721, 310&nbsp;deg. Unfortunately with 1,500 Italian POWs; 90 fished out of the water so far. Request orders."{{sfn|Duffy|2013|p=78}}

The head of submarine operations, Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]], immediately ordered seven U-boats from the [[wolfpack Eisbär]], which had been gathering to take part in a planned surprise attack on Cape Town, to divert to the scene to pick up survivors. Dönitz then informed Berlin of the situation and actions he had taken. [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] was furious and ordered that the rescue be abandoned. Admiral [[Erich Raeder]] ordered Dönitz to disengage the Eisbär boats, which included Hartenstein's ''U-156'', and send them to Cape Town as per the original plan. Raeder then ordered {{GS|U-506||2}}, commanded by {{lang|de|Kapitänleutnant}} [[Erich Würdemann]], {{GS|U-507||2}}, under ''Korvettenkapitän'' [[Harro Schacht]], and the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Comandante Cappellini||2}} to intercept Hartenstein to take on his survivors and then to proceed to the ''Laconia'' site and rescue any Italians they could find. Raeder also requested the Vichy French to send warships from [[Dakar]] and [[Ivory Coast]] to collect the Italian survivors from the three submarines.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=The Bay Museum |date=September 13, 2022 |title=The Laconia Incident  |url=https://the-bay-museum.co.uk/2022/09/13/the-laconia-incident/ |access-date=September 25, 2023 |website=The Bay Museum & Research Facility}}</ref>

The Vichy French, in response, sent the 7,600-ton cruiser {{ship|French cruiser|Gloire|1935|2}} from Dakar, and two sloops, the fast 660-ton [[Chamois-class sloop|''Annamite'']] and the slower 2,000-ton {{ship|French sloop|Dumont-d'Urville||2}}, from [[Conakry]], [[French Guinea]], and [[Cotonou]], [[Dahomey]], respectively. Dönitz disengaged the Eisbär boats and informed Hartenstein of Raeder's orders, but he substituted ''Kapitänleutnant'' [[Helmut Witte]]'s {{GS|U-159|1941|2}} for ''U-156'' in the Eisbär group and sent the order: "All boats, including Hartenstein, only take as many men into the boat as will allow it to be fully ready for action when submerged."{{sfn|Blair|1998|p=61}}

''U-156'' was soon crammed above and below decks with nearly 200&nbsp;survivors, including five women, and had another&nbsp;200 in tow aboard four lifeboats. At 6&nbsp;a.m. on 13&nbsp;September, Hartenstein broadcast an [[Plaintext|uncoded]] message in English on the {{convert|25|m|ft|adj=on|abbr=on}} band to all shipping in the area, giving his position, requesting assistance with the rescue effort, and promising not to attack. It read: "If any ship will assist the shipwrecked Laconia crew I will not attack her, providing I am not being attacked by ship or air force. I picked up 193&nbsp;men. 4°-53"&nbsp;South, 11°-26"&nbsp;West.&nbsp;– German submarine."{{sfn|Blair|1998|p=53}}

The British in [[Freetown]] intercepted this message but, believing it might be a [[ruse of war]], refused to credit it. Two days later, on 15&nbsp;September, a message was passed to the Americans that ''Laconia'' had been torpedoed and the British merchant ship {{ship||Empire Haven|ship|2}} was en route to pick up survivors. The "poorly composed message" implied that ''Laconia'' had only been sunk that day and made no mention that the Germans were involved in a rescue attempt under a cease-fire or that neutral French ships were also en route.{{sfn|Blair|1998|p=62}}

''U-156'' remained on the surface at the scene for the next two-and-a-half days. At 11:30&nbsp;a.m. on 15&nbsp;September, she was joined by ''U-506'', and a few hours later by both {{nowrap|''U-507''}} and the ''Comandante Cappellini''. The four submarines, with lifeboats in tow and hundreds of survivors standing on their decks, headed for the African coastline and a rendezvous with the Vichy French surface warships that had set out from Senegal and Dahomey.<ref name="AAR2">{{cite web |title=Amphibian Patrol Squadrons (VP-AM) Histories: VP-AM-1 to VP-AM-5 |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/Chap6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030708100133/http://history.navy.mil/avh-vol2/Chap6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2003 |date=2003 |access-date=2006-09-05 |publisher=US Navy |df=dmy-all}}</ref>