https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_54_%28 ... n_IncidentThe fishing vessel approached and Kapitänleutnant Loewe, who spoke English well, asked for rescue. Martin refused. In a later newspaper interview, he stated that the nine crew of King Stephen were unarmed and badly outnumbered and would have had little chance of resisting the German airmen if, after being rescued, they had hijacked his vessel to sail it to Germany An alternative explanation for his action, suggested by a 2005 BBC documentary on the incident, is that King Stephen was in a zone in which fishing was prohibited by the British authorities and that Martin feared that if he returned to a British port with a large number of German prisoners, attention might have been drawn to this and he would have been banned from fishing. Ignoring the Germans' pleas for help, promises of good conduct and even offers of money, Martin sailed away. He later said he intended to search for a Royal Navy ship to report his discovery to. However, he met none and the encounter with the L 19 was only reported to the British authorities on his return to King Stephen's home port of Grimsby.
Would people here describe the actions of Martin as a war crime (or crime against humanity) or regard them as a reasonable course of action?