In the film, the crew fires torpedos before they see the Destroyer - are they then technically breaking some kind of navy code.
No.
Your premise is wrong on several levels.
First off, the very basis of your belief is in error.
It is not some law of the sea that they can only use torpedoes on armed ships and must use the deck gun on unarmed.
The reason they would do it that way when possible to do so is twofold.
1) Using the deck gun when they can, saves the torpedoes for when they can't. Using the deck gun entails a very high risk to the sub and is very dangerous.
2) The German sailors were human beings too and not monsters like the Nazis. (Not all Germans were Nazis) If they had the ability to allow the crew to depart prior to sinking they would. In fact, they were well known to even provide food/water and even direction to the nearest land to the survivors of their attacks. Eventually culminating in the Laconia Incident where A German U-Boat which was rescuing the survivors of their own sinking was taken under attack by allied forces. This promoted BdU to give orders that forbade U-Boats from offering assistance.
So yes... The Germans would use the Deck gun
IF it was safe to do so. It was only safe to do so however if the surface ship was unarmed and alone. Which meant that opportunities were rarer and rarer as the war wore on. Most shipping grouped together in escorted convoys, and even the rare independent steamer would likely have some sort of small caliber armament. Even that little bit however posed a great threat to a surfaced sub as any hole would prevent the sub from diving to safety.
It was not out of any sense of rules of war. Very early on there were such rules of warfare but very shortly into the war the Germans went to a doctrine of Unrestricted Submarine warfare.
Secondly... Even if your presumption of some rule was true, They were attacking an escorted convoy. There were enemy destroyers about even if none were spotted yet. In fact is was because none were spotted that the targets they were attacking were "defensless". Meaning the escorts were not in a position in the formation to be able to stop them. Not because they didnt exist. So any presumed rules on your part would still be proper.
A sub making a surface torpedo attack merely has to clear a few sailors down a single watertight hatch, flood the main ballast tanks and the negative ballast tank, close the main induction and dive. They could be underwater and fully submerged in about 30 seconds.
A sub requiring the use of the Deck gun has many more sailors out on deck through several hatches, the Gun itself rigged for firing, and additional hatches open for the ready ammo locker as well as the ammo train passing the rounds up from the inside from the main magazine. Attempting to dive in this condition would require several minutes, not 30 seconds. Suicide for the sub if there was a destroyer present.
I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!
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