I guess it is pretty easy to judge them while I am propped up in my bed in the comfort of my house.
Still I really think they should have fought.
I recently saw the story of the tin can sailors who fought the Japanese battleships with destroyer escorts, destroyers and jeep carriers which did not even have the ordinance to fight battleships.
They fought like tigers and most of them died but they fought so fiercely that the Japanese admiral thought he was fighting the main American force. They did a lot of damage to the Japanese ships including blowing off the entire aft section of a cruiser.
The Japanese turned around and the beachhead was saved.
Our troops have to have permission to fire their weapons. They’d likely be charged with murder otherwise.
The naval engagement you are referring to was the Battle of Layte Gulf. My father served on the USS Heermann during this battle.
But you are correct, I know of no sailor that I served with who would have surrendered without a fight to the death.
This entire incident smells of skullduggery.