The German U-boat 156 was a type IXC, which entered service on 4th September 1941 under the captaincy of Werner Hartenstein. The submarine measured 252 feet in length, and on the surface displaced 1,120 tons of water. She was powered by two diesel electric engines which propelled her at eighteen knots on the surface, or seven knots submerged and carried a crew of twenty-five.

During five patrols from 1941 to 1943 she sunk some twenty vessels; the Laconia was sunk during the U-156's fourth patrol. On 8th March 1943 east of Barbados a US Catalina aircraft sighted the U-156 and dropped depth charges. The U-156 was sunk, all crew aboard were lost including her Captain, Werner Hartenstein.

The sinking of the Laconia, and the rescue operation by enemy submarines and the attack by American aircraft had grave ramifications for the German Navy. Karl Donitz, the German Naval Commander, and later president of Germany on the death of Adolf Hitler, issued the "Laconia Order" stating "All efforts to save survivors of sunken ships...must stop. Rescue contradicts the most basic demands of the war: the destruction of hostile ships and their crews."

The Laconia Order had repercussions for Donitz, the Order was cited in his indictment for war crimes committed during World War II.

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