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Or they believed they were firing on enemy personnel from an enemy vessel they had just sunk. Not exactly very sporting or within the norms of modern western nations, but not that crazy.
Mistaken identity/friendly fire incidents happen all the time, the US has a somewhat infamous reputation for blue on blue incidents with allied nations.
Not that crazy? Shooting at shipwrecked sailors is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention; it's literally a war crime!
From the Second Geneva Convention, Chapter II, Article 12:
You know what they say, it's only a war crime if you lose the war.
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The whole concept of "honor" has been so lost that even those who profess to defend it are constantly in the act of denigrating it.
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