Laconia Order

The Laconia Order (Laconia-Befehl) was issued by German Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) Karl Dönitz during World War II as a result of the Laconia incident.

Prior to this incident, vessels of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) customarily picked up survivors of a sunk allied vessel. In 1942, off the coast of west Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, the German vessels (among them the german submarines "U 156", "U 506" and "U 507") attempting to rescue survivors of the ocean liner RMS Laconia were indiscriminately attacked by American aircraft despite having informed the allieds of the rescued allied soldiers on board (among them many women and children) beforehand.

The order
The order was as follows:

Nuremberg trial
This order, along with War Order No. 154 of 1939, were introduced by the prosecution at the post-war Nuremberg Trial of Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz at which Dönitz was indicted for "war crimes", including the issuance of the "Laconia order":