There seems to be a lot of very insecure people going off topic on this thread. So I'm going to do what they haven't and answer the question. There is a long list of war crimes committed by the United States in World War II, many of which the U.S. government and those responsible for them have not formally apologized or taken responsibility for. Please note that expecting an entire nation or body of representatives to apologize for something they as a whole or majority did not order to be done is just wishful thinking. What we can and should expect is for a country to recognize the faults and mistakes of those responsible and hold them accountable for violating the law. Unfortunately, the Allies, including the United States, have often shown hypocrisy when considering trials of Axis officers, officials and soldiers.
The Laconia Incident
On September 12, 1942, the RMS Laconia, an auxiliary ship converted from an ocean liner, was torpedoed and sunk by a U-156 torpedo. On board were more than 400 Allied soldiers, 80 civilians and 1,800 Italian prisoners of war. The submarine surfaced to rescue the survivors. As soon as the POWs and civilians were in sight, Werner Hartenstein (commander of U-156) radioed the situation command to begin the rescue operation, making no distinction between civilians, Italian POWs and Allied soldiers. This is directly in line with Article 16 of Chapter X of the Hague Convention of 1907:
After every engagement, the belligerents shall, so far as their military interests permit, take measures to search for the shipwrecked, sick and wounded, and to protect them and the dead from pillage and ill-treatment.
They shall ensure that the remains are buried, whether on land or at sea, or cremated before
This is also in accordance with Article 15 of the First Geneva Convention (1868):
This is also in accordance with Article 15 of the First Geneva Convention (1868):
At all times, and in particular after engagements, the parties to the conflict, all possible measures shall be taken promptly to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them from pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead in order to prevent them from being ransacked.
When circumstances permit, a truce or suspension of fire shall be arranged or local arrangements made to permit the transfer, exchange and transportation of the wounded left on the battlefield.
Similarly, local arrangements may be concluded between the parties to the conflict for the transfer or exchange of the sick and wounded from, and the transportation of medical and religious personnel and equipment to, besieged or encircled areas
Article 22 of the London Naval Treaty adds that, in prosecuting merchant ships,
(1) submarines, in taking action against merchant ships, shall be subject to the same international law as that applicable to surface vessels rules. (2) In particular, except in the case of persistent refusal to stop at a formal summons, or active resistance to visits or searches, a warship, whether surface ship and submarine, must not sink or render un-navigable a merchant ship without first putting the passengers, crew and ship's papers in a safe place. For this purpose the ship's vessel is not considered a safe place unless the safety of the passengers and crew is assured in the prevailing sea and weather conditions, neighboring land, or the presence of another vessel is capable of taking them. [3]
Because the Laconia was armed, it was exempt from this clause, but Haltenstein launched a rescue operation anyway, gathering the survivors on the submarine, on the decks, or in lifeboats towed by the submarine as it surfaced, until more troops could arrive to ease their humanitarian efforts. Note that the United States is a signatory to all three treaties.
A Red Cross flag flew on the deck of U-156, and the radio broadcast an unencrypted message in English:
If any ship is willing to help the Laconia crew in distress I will not attack her, provided I am not attacked by a ship or air force. I have captured 193 men. 4 degrees to 53 degrees south latitude and 11 degrees to 26 degrees west longitude. --German Submarine (Blair, 1998)
Two other submarines, U-506 and U-507, as well as Italian submarine captain Capellini, arrived on the scene to help with the rescue effort and rescued the survivors and began towing the lifeboats. U-156, meanwhile, left with the survivors it had already rescued. They were to rendezvous with Vichy French government ships that would take the survivors to North Africa.
A few days later, a U.S. B-24 bomber piloted by Lt. James D. Harden spotted U-156.U-156 radioed the B-24 in Morse code and the English voice of an RAF officer, who said:
Royal Air Force officer speaking from a German submarine, survivors on board Laconia, soldiers, civilians. women, children