Modern Views of The Incidents
It was a controversial event and many historians agree it was a violation of protocol to order sailors attacked. Other historians debate this analysis (such as if the order was a violation) or debate aspects of the records, and have been either harsher or more lenient. Widely available German, British, and American records agree on certain facts, but a number of details of the incident may or may not have been fabricated based upon a less notable or extensive violation.
Disputed facts mostly centre on the number of German sailors who escaped the sinking submarine, to be killed later. This dispute undermines the debate about the abuse of a neutral flag and the British captain's order to attack the German survivors, on the grounds of protecting the freighter and her cargo, which could always be alleged. It is not known to what extent escaping German sailors attempted to surrender as they were not asked before shooting them.
Read more about this topic: Baralong Incidents
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