What were the rules of engagement of World War 2?

Answer 1

"Rules of engagement" was not a term used during WWII, although there were orders given that specified the same thing. Basically, the question is, if I see the enemy, what should I do? That would vary from "Do nothing,we've got to keep going and don't want to get bogged down in a firefight," to "Attack at once, with everything you've got," or"Don't fire and give away our position." You see, it varied from hour to hour, place to place, and even unit to unit. Right before Pearl Harbor, Admiral Kimmel would have attacked any Japanese warship within 5-600 miles, since any positioned that close to Pearl would be considered to be on a hostile mission. But the number of miles from Pearl was not written instone, and probably a single Japanese destroyer would not have been attacked, simply escorted away. After receiving the "War warning " message, Kimmel gave orders to sink any Japanese sub found close to Pearl Harbor,something he had been prohibited from doing while there was still some hope for a negotiated settlement with the Japanese. You could term that action a change in the rules of engagement.

see the bad guy ; shoot the bad guy