“Prize rules” — the set of maritime laws which require a ship’s crew to send a boarding party to inspect any suspicious merchant vessels. If the merchant ship was found to be carrying cargo bound for the enemy, then the submarine was permitted to sink the vessel — after the merchant crew had been put into a place of safety.
Two submarine commanders had very different opinions on this “fair play” during the Second World War. One man was bound by these rules and followed them to the letter — the other didn’t and he was about to learn the consequences!
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