Captain Robert C. Richardson III, who claimed later that he did not know that this was a Red Cross-sanctioned German rescue operation, ordered the B-24 to "sink the sub". The patrolling bomber loaded with depth charges and bombs reported that the submarine had a white flag with a red cross and they had unsuccessfully challenged the submarine via radio to display its national flag. The submarine blinked via signal light what the bomber crew understood to read "German Sir". The bomber crew asked Ascension Island what to do next. The order given by Richardson has been called a prima facie war crime. Under the conventions of war at sea any ship engaged in rescue operations, including submarines, are held immune from attack. The conduct of the aircraft commander appears to be entirely inexcusable since he must have observed the rescue operation. During the time that they are engaged in such an operation, enemy submarines are no longer lawful objects of attack. The fact that the US Army Air Force took no action to investigate this incident, and that no trials took place under the then-effective domestic criminal code, the Articles of War, is a serious reflection on the entire chain of military command. This action became known as the "Laconia incident", and led Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, chief of German Submarine Operations, to issue the "Laconia Order" to his U-boat commanders that stated in part "No attempt of any kind must be made at rescuing members of ships sunk ..." At the end of the war, the Laconia Order was unsuccessfully used against Admiral Dönitz in his war crime trial, because Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz testified that in the war with Japan the US Navy had followed the same general policy as was set forth in the German admiral's directive. The Laconia Incident showed how a small tactical decision can have strategic impact across history. Back to the United States and on to Europe While on Ascension Island, then-Major Richardson boasted, over drinks, to a visiting Air Staff team that he could successfully ferry a group of P-38 Lightnings via the South Atlantic air route. In March 1943, Richardson was ordered back to the United States as the project officer and flight leader to make good his boast that he could ferry P-38 Lightnings to North Africa via the South Atlantic. In April 1943, he successfully delivered 52 of the