Convoy HX 212

Convoy HX 212
Part of Battle of the Atlantic

A depth charge being loaded onto a depth-charge thrower aboard the corvette HMS Dianthus
Date26–29 October 1942
LocationNorth Atlantic
Belligerents
 United Kingdom
 United States
 Canada		  Germany
Commanders and leaders
VADM W de M Egerton
CDR T.L.Lewis USCG[1]		 Admiral Karl Dönitz
Strength
43 freighters
1 destroyer
1 cutter
6 corvettes		 17 submarines
Casualties and losses
6 freighters sunk (51,997 GRT)
243 killed/drowned

Convoy HX 212 was the 212th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool.[2] The ships departed New York City on 18 October 1942[3] and were met on 23 October by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the USCG Treasury Class Cutter Campbell, the destroyer Badger and the Flower class corvettes Dianthus, Rosthern, Trillium, Dauphin, Alberni, Summerside and Ville de Quebec. The first five escorts had worked together previously, but the last three corvettes were attached to the convoy only for passage to the eastern Atlantic in preparation for assignments on Operation Torch. Summerside was the only escort equipped with modern Type 271 centimeter-wavelength radar.[4]

Background

As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the second happy time, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) or commander in chief of U-Boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through B-Dienst decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3.[5] However, only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943 lost ships to U-boat attack.[6]

26 October

U-436 reported the convoy and shadowed it without being detected by the convoy escort.[7]

27 October

U-436 launched five torpedoes at 2110Z hitting Sourabaya, Gurney Newlin and Frontenac. Alberni and Summerside dropped back to rescue survivors from the torpedoed ships.[4]

28 October

U-606 torpedoed Kosmos II on the starboard side at 0345Z. Barrwhin dropped back to rescue survivors, and both ships were sunk while the convoy proceeded ahead. A patrolling Consolidated B-24 Liberator from No. 120 Squadron RAF in Iceland prevented five U-boats from reaching attack positions during daylight hours but Bic Island and Pan-New York were torpedoed after sunset.[4]

29 October

Northern routing enabled the convoy to pass through the narrowest portion of the air gap, and continuous daylight air patrols forced the U-boats to lose contact with the convoy.[4] The Naval trawlers Bodo and Molde escorted the convoy through the Western Approaches on 1 November; and the convoy reached Liverpool on 2 November.[8]

Ships in convoy

Name [8] Flag [8] Dead [9] Tonnage (GRT)[8] Cargo [9] Notes [8]
Abraham Lincoln (1929) Norway5,740General CargoCarried convoy vice-commodore CAPT B B Grant RNR; survived this convoy and convoy HX 229
Arc Light (1906) United Kingdom2,949
Barrwhin (1929) United Kingdom244,9988,200 tons grain & storesVeteran of convoy PQ 11; sunk 29 October by U-436
USS Beaver (AS-5) (1909) United States4,670Explosives
Belgian Gulf (1929) Panama8,237PetrolSurvived this convoy and convoy HX 229
Bic Island (1917) United Kingdom4,000General CargoStraggled and sunk by U-224
British Vigilance (1942) United Kingdom8,093Benzine & 130 passengersSurvived this convoy to be sunk 3 months later in convoy TM 1
C.J.Barkdull (1917) Panama6,773Diesel oilSurvived this convoy to be sunk 1/10/1943 [10] by U 632[11]
Cairnesk (1926) United Kingdom5,007General Cargo
Cape Breton (1940) United Kingdom6,044Phosphates
City of Lille (1928) United Kingdom6,588Wheat
Coptic (1928) United Kingdom10,629Refrigerated & General Cargo
Cymbula (1938) United Kingdom8,082Petrol
Dorchester (1926) United States5,649From Newfoundland to Greenland; survived this convoy to be sunk 3 months later in convoy SG 19
Empire Bronze (1940) United Kingdom8,142Paraffin & Aviation Gasoline
Empire Dickens (1942) United Kingdom9,819Petrol
Empire Fletcher (1942) United Kingdom8,194Petrol
Esso Bayway (1937) United States7,699Furnace Fuel Oil
Exchester (1919) United States4,999Stores
Exilona (1919) United States4,971SteelSurvived this convoy, convoy ON 166 and convoy HX 300
Fairfax (1926) United Kingdom5,649From Newfoundland to Greenland
Fort a la Corne (1942) United Kingdom7,133General Cargo
Fort Amherst (1936) United Kingdom3,489
Francis Parkman (1942) United States7,176StoresLiberty ship
Frontenac (1928) Norway7,350Fuel OilDamaged 27 October by U-436, but survived to sail with convoy HX 300
Gdynia (1934) Sweden1,636General Cargo
Gulfgem (1920) United States6,917Furnace Fuel Oil for Scapa Flow
Gurney E Newlin (1942) United States608,22512,000 tons petrol & paraffinSunk 27 October by U-436 & U-606
Helgoy (1920) Norway5,614General Cargo
Jamaica Planter (1936) United Kingdom4,098Refrigerated & General CargoCarried convoy commodore VADM W DE M Egerton
Katy (1931) Norway6,825Petrol
Kosmos II (1931) Norway4016,96621,000 tons crude oilDamaged 27 October by U-436 and sunk on 28 October by U-606 & U-624
Lancastrian Prince (1940) United Kingdom1,914General CargoVeteran of convoy ON 67
Laurelwood (1929) United Kingdom7,347furnace fuel oil
Mahia (1917) United Kingdom10,014Refrigerated
Matthew Luckenbach (1918) United States5,848Steel & General CargoReturned to Canada; sunk 5 months later in convoy HX 229
Ocean Courier (1942) United Kingdom7,178General CargoLiberty ship
Pacific Shipper (1924) United Kingdom6,290General Cargo
Pan-New York (1938) United States427,70112,500 tons petrolSunk 29 October by U-624
Pan-Rhode Island (1941) United States7,742Aviation GasolineSurvived this convoy and convoy HX 229
Paul H Harwood (1918) United States6,610Diesel Oil
R.G.Stewart (1917) United States9,229
Saint Bertrand (1929) United Kingdom5,522General Cargo
Salinas (1920) United States5,422
Sarpedon (1923) United Kingdom11,321Refrigerated
Skaraas (1936) Norway9,826Oil
Snar (1920) Norway3,176
Sourabaya (1915) United Kingdom7710,1077,800 tons furnace fuel oilSunk 27 October by U-436
Southern Princess (1915) United Kingdom12,156Furnace Fuel OilSurvived this convoy to be sunk 5 months later in convoy HX 229
Thomas B Robertson (1942) United States7,176storesLiberty ship; survived this convoy and convoy ON 166
Topdalsfjord (1921) Norway4,271Sugar & Timber
Tudor Prince (1940) United Kingdom1,914General Cargo
Zacapa (1909) United States4,488Valuable cargo
Zoella Lykes (1940) United States6,829

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Morison p.323
  2. ↑ Hague p.127
  3. ↑ Hague p.128
  4. 1 2 3 4 Milner pp.175-177
  5. ↑ Tarrant p.108
  6. ↑ Hague pp.132,137-138,161-162,164&181
  7. ↑ Rohwer & Hummelchen pp.169&170
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  9. 1 2 Hague p.132
  10. ↑ American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org, as the source
  11. ↑

References

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