Mike, thank you for the reference. I looked it up on Wikipedia then chased down some of their references.
The Americans do not appear to have been duped. The orders were given by the Americans knowing the sub was offering aid the shipwrecked victims by an American officer who said he did not think the sub was could legally fly a Red Cross flag. I wonder if he was influenced by the opinion that most of the survivors were Italian POWs of the British. I could find nothing on that aspect other than the Brits noted many survivors were POWs. when they informed the Americans.
So, bad call on the US part.
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