Convoy SL 140/MKS 31

Last updated

Convoy SL 140/MKS 31
Part of World War II
Date24 November-5 December 1943
Location
Result Allied victory, complete failure for Germany
Belligerents
War ensign of Germany (1938-1945).svg  Nazi Germany

Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom

Flag of the United States Navy.svg United States
Commanders and leaders
Adm. Karl Dönitz Comm:
Escort:Cdr EC Bayldon
Strength
13 U-boats 65 ships
18 escorts
Casualties and losses
6 U-boats lost, 2 U-boats damaged none

Convoys SL 140/MKS 31 was a combined Allied convoy which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, sailing to Britain in November 1943. SL convoys originated in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with their destination Liverpool and other ports in Britain. This was the 140th convoy to make that trip in WWII. SL 140 was composed of merchant ships bringing raw materials to the UK from various parts of the world. MKS was the designation for convoys from the Mediterranean to Britain. MK indicated ‘Mediterranean to the UK'. More than 100 MK convoys operated during the war. The S in this acronym specified ‘slow.’ This was a slow convoy, since it included thirteen LSTs, which had a top speed of about 10 knots. The LSTs and the additional landing craft they carried would be vital for the upcoming invasion of northern France.

Contents

These two convoys rendezvoused off Gibraltar on 24 November 1943 and sailed north.

They were the subject of a U-boat attack, as part of the Kriegsmarine 's renewed Autumn offensive.

Background

Following the renewal of the U-boat offensive in the Atlantic, convoys on the UK/Gibraltar routes had again come under attack, leading to clashes over Convoy SL 138/MKS 28 and Convoy SL 139/MKS 30. The SL/MKS convoys sailing at this time were of great importance in the Allied war effort for two reasons. First, the ships comprised in the SL portion carried important raw materials for Britain. Even more important were the landing ships: Thirty-four LSTs were part of these three SL/MKS convoys, moving from the action in North Africa, Sicily and Italy to now prepare for D-Day at Normandy, which would happen the next June. LSTs would be crucial in Operation Overlord. By the time of the final planning stages for the invasion of France, D-Day couldn’t take place until there were enough LSTs available to get the job done. [1] Winston Churchill was frustrated that the fate of the war effort depended on bringing a sufficient number of LSTs to England.

German U-boat Control (BdU) had subsequently re-organized its patrol lines off the coast of Portugal, in order as to find and attack the next convoys on this route. Most MKS convoys combined with SL convoys, resulting in more efficient use of the escorting ships and aircraft.

Protagonists

SL 140 left Freetown on 12 November 1943, arriving off Gibraltar on 24 November. It comprised 35 ships and was escorted by an Escort Group of four warships. MKS 31 sailed from Port Said on 13 November. The LSTs in the group sailed from Oran, Algeria, on 22 November, and they all passed through the Strait of Gibraltar to meet SL.140 on 24 November. [2] The combined convoy of about 65 ships sailed for Britain, escorted eventually by 18 escorts [3] including the B-1 Escort Group (seven warships), led by HMS Hurricane, (Commander EC Bayldon).

Opposing this force was wolf pack Weddigen, consisting initially of seventeen U-boats, [4] comprising boats already on station from the disbanded Schill group, with reinforcements from the North Atlantic and from bases in occupied France. [5] The number of submarines in the group was quickly reduced when two returned to base and one (U-538) was sunk on 21 November. Then U-648 disappeared, with its last transmission given on 22 November. There is a report that U-648 may have been sunk by British frigates. [6]

Action

The combined convoy was sighted by German aircraft in the late afternoon of 26 November, west of Cape St Vincent, but were able to evade the shadow with a radical course change during the night. The escorting group was reinforced by the destroyer Watchman, also on the 26th.

On 27 November the convoy was discovered again by aircraft, which brought in U-262. She commenced shadowing until other Weddigen boats could be homed-in. Also during the 27th the convoy was joined by 4 EG, a Support Group of five frigates led by HMS Bentinck (Cdr EH Chavasse). By evening the U-boats had gathered and started their assault. Franke, in U-262 reported that he was able to penetrate the escort screen into the convoy itself. Once in position he said that he attacked the ships there from close range, a tactic used by aces Kretschmer and Schepke two to three years earlier. However his boldness was not rewarded by any success; he fired at, and claimed hits on, three ships, but no hits were confirmed. The three other boats that penetrated the screen, U-764, U-107, and U-238, also failed to make any hits. [7]

With this large number of escorts – including several with much experience in sinking German submarines – plus Allied aircraft defending the combined convoy, there was significant danger for the German U-boats. Three additional boats assigned to wolf pack Weddigen were destroyed in the final week of November 1943. If we add to that U-391, which was sunk on 13 December by a British Liberator aircraft on its voyage back to base, six of the submarines assigned to Weddigen never returned.

U-boats from Wolfpack Weddigen lost or damaged - November 1943
datefate
U-53821 Novsunk by HMS Foley & HMS Crane 17 crew rescued
U-64823 Nov?last transmission 22 Novall hands lost (50)
U-600 25 Novsunk by HMS Bazeley & HMS Blackwood all hands lost (54)
U-542 28 Novsunk by British Wellington aircraftall hands lost (56)
U-86 29 Novsunk by HMS Tumult & HMS Rocket all hands lost (50)
U-391damaged by British Wellington on 28 Nov; sunk by British Liberator 13 Decall hands lost (51)
U-23830 Novdamaged by aircraft from USS Bogue 2 killed, 5 injured

During the night the convoy was again reinforced by the arrival of 2 EG, a Support Group led by Captain F.J. "Johnnie" Walker, Britain's most successful anti-submarine warfare commander, in HMS Starling. This brought the total number of escorts for the convoy to seventeen warships.

In addition to the ships, Allied aircraft were overhead during the night to assist in defending the convoy. In the darkness of the night of November 27/28 a British Wellington bomber piloted by airman Thomas Wilkin discovered U-764 and attacked. The aircraft was equipped with high intensity lights to illuminate their target. The U-boat returned fire and the bomber crashed. Officer Wilkin and three others in his crew perished. [8] Other German submarines were very near the crash site, and the two crew members from the Wellington who survived were picked up by U-238 to become POWs.

U-238’s skipper, Horst Hepp, radioed a long account of his interrogation of the captured airmen, which was intercepted and tracked by HF/DF (radio direction finding). Hepp was meanwhile ordered to meet U-764, which was returning to base, in order to transfer the prisoners. Allied forces were sent to intercept the two U-boats, with a view to rescuing the airmen, and prevent the two boats from getting away. Both U-764 and U-238 were attacked the following day by aircraft from the USS Bogue; both were damaged but were able to escape. [9]

Also on 28 November, 2 EG located U-842 and subjected her to a prolonged attack, but she also was able to escape.

By now with significant losses, and outnumbered by the convoy escort, Weddigen had little chance of achieving any success; BdU ordered a halt to the attack. Convoy SL.140/MKS.31 continued their passage and despite being slowed by a huge Atlantic storm made it safely to England without further incident, the individual ships each then moving to their intended destinations. It is noted in the deck log of U.S.S. LST-311 that they passed the Isles of Scilly on 4 December and the thirteen LSTs then anchored in Plymouth on the 5th.


Aftermath

Wolf pack Weddigen was a complete failure. [10] Despite the energy of the attack on SL 140/MKS 31 no ships in this convoy were even damaged. The escort had successfully beaten off every attack. Six of the U-boats assigned to this group were destroyed, a major loss for the German navy.

All of the raw materials transported by the merchant ships in the combined convoy reached Britain. Everyone of the landing ships, crucial for the upcoming invasion of Normandy, arrived safely. Each LST carried an LCT plus several other smaller landing ships, so as many as sixty or seventy landing ships and landing craft used in Operation Overlord arrived in England with this convoy.

Notes

  1. Symonds, C. (2018, June). The unloved, unlovely, yet indispensable LST. HistoryNet.Com. https://www.historynet.com/unloved-unlovely-yet-indispensable-lst.htm
  2. Deck Log of U.S.S. LST-311; 22 November 1943 (https://www.fold3.com/image/270791191/war-diary-111-3043-page-29-wwii-war-diaries)
  3. Arnold Hague convoy database - SL convoys (convoyweb.org.uk)
  4. Wolfpack Weddigen - German U-boat Operations. https://www.uboat.net/ops/wolfpacks/157.html
  5. Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942-1945. ISBN 0-304-35261-6, pp. 450-452
  6. Blair, p. 450
  7. Blair, p. 451
  8. "The Type IXB U-boat U-110 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net".
  9. Blair, p. 451
  10. Blair, p. 452

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Atlantic</span> Attempt by Germany during World War II to cut supply lines to Britain

The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.

German submarine U-238 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service in the Second World War. She was laid down on 21 April 1942, by Germaniawerft of Kiel as yard number 668, launched on 7 January 1943 and commissioned on 20 February, with Oberleutnant zur See Horst Hepp in command. Hepp commanded her for her entire career, receiving promotion to Kapitänleutnant in the process.

HMS <i>Egret</i> (L75) Lead ship of Egret-class sloop-of-war

HMS Egret was a sloop of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was built by J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight, was launched on 31 May 1938, and entered service on 11 November that year. Egret served as a convoy escort with the Western Approaches Command from 1940 until her loss in August 1943: She was on anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay when she was sunk by a guided missile in combat, the first ship to be lost in this manner.

HMS <i>Vidette</i> (D48) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Vidette (D48) was an Admiralty V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Built at the end of the First World War, she served in the final months of that conflict, and saw extensive service in the inter war years and in World War II. She was an effective convoy escort and U-boat killer, being credited with the destruction of five U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. HMS Vidette transported Spike Island Republican Prisoners to Bere Island Internment Camp in 1921. *Refer Spike Island’s Republican Prisoners, 1921 by Tom O’Neill MA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediterranean U-boat campaign of World War II</span>

The Mediterranean U-boat Campaign lasted from about 21 September 1941 to 19 September 1944 during the Second World War. Malta was an active British base strategically located near supply routes from Europe to North Africa. Axis supply convoys across the Mediterranean Sea suffered severe losses, which in turn threatened the fighting ability of the Axis armies in North Africa. The Allies were able to keep their North African armies supplied. The Kriegsmarine tried to isolate Malta but later it concentrated its U-boat operations on disrupting Allied landing operations in southern Europe.

HMS Marigold was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 4 September 1940 and was sunk by an Italian air-dropped torpedo on 9 December 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convoy HG 76</span> Convoy during naval battles of the Second World War

HG 76 was an Allied convoy of the HG series, during the Second World War. It was notable for the destruction of five German U-boats.

The 2nd Escort Group was a British anti-submarine formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Convoys SL 138/MKS 28 were two Allied convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. SL 138 was one of the SL convoys from the South Atlantic to Britain, and MKS 28 one of the MKS convoys between Britain and the Mediterranean. They were sailing together on the Gibraltar homeward route, having made a rendezvous off Gibraltar in order to cross the Bay of Biscay with the maximum possible escort. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack in October 1943, the first battle in the Kriegsmarine's renewed Autumn offensive.

Convoys SL 139/MKS 30 were two Allied convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. SL 139 was one of the SL convoys from the South Atlantic to Britain, and MKS 30 one of the MKS convoys between Britain and the Mediterranean. They were sailing together on the Gibraltar homeward route, having made a rendezvous off Gibraltar in November 1943. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack, as part of the Kriegsmarine's renewed Autumn offensive.

Schill was a wolfpack of German U-boats that operated during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

Weddigen was a wolfpack of German U-boats that operated during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

Borkum was a wolf pack of German U-boats that operated during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

Convoy HG 73 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 73rd of the numbered HG convoys Homeward bound to the British Isles from Gibraltar. The convoy departed Gibraltar on 17 September 1941 and was found on 18 September and was attacked over the next ten days. Nine ships were sunk from the convoy before the submarines exhausted their torpedo inventory on 28 September. Surviving ships reached Liverpool on 1 October.

USS <i>LST-21</i>

USS LST-21 was a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship used primarily in the Europe–Africa–Middle East Theater during World War II, but also transported British forces from Calcutta and landed them at Regu Beach, Burma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SL convoys</span>

SL convoys were a numbered series of North Atlantic trade convoys during the Second World War. Merchant ships carrying commodities bound to the British Isles from South America, Africa, and the Indian Ocean traveled independently to Freetown, Sierra Leone to be convoyed for the last leg of their voyage to Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar convoys of World War II</span>

The Gibraltar convoys of World War II were oceangoing trade convoys of merchant ships sailing between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. Gibraltar convoy routes crossed U-boat transit routes from French Atlantic ports and were within range of Axis maritime patrol aircraft making these convoys vulnerable to observation and interception by bombers, submarines, and surface warships during the Battle of the Atlantic. OG convoys brought supplies from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar from September 1939 until September 1942. Beginning with Operation Torch, OG convoys were replaced by KM convoys transporting military personnel and supplies from the United Kingdom to and past Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. HG convoys brought food, raw materials, and later empty ships from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom from September 1939 until September 1942. After Operation Torch, HG convoys were replaced by MK convoys returning mostly empty ships from the Mediterranean to the United Kingdom. KM and MK convoys ended in 1945.

HMS <i>Dart</i> (K21) 1943 River-class frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Dart (K21) was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Dart was built to the RN's specifications as a Group I River-class frigate.

HMS <i>Crane</i> (U23) Modified Black Swan-class sloop

HMS Crane was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton on 13 June 1941, launched on 9 November 1942 and commissioned on 10 May 1943, with the pennant number U23. She saw active service during the Second World War, initially performing convoy escort roles in the Atlantic before supporting the Normandy landings. In the final months of the war, Crane joined the British Pacific Fleet and saw service during the Battle of Okinawa. Post-war, Crane remained in south-east Asia and took part in hostilities during the Korean War. She was redeployed to the Middle East during the Suez Crisis before returning to Asia for service during the Malayan Emergency. Crane was withdrawn from service in the early 1960's and was scrapped in 1965.

HMS <i>Petunia</i> (K79) Flower-class corvette

HMS Petunia (K79) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy and was built by Henry Robb in 1940. She was named after Petunia. Commissioned in 1940, rammed and sold to the Chinese Nationalist Government and renamed ROCS Fu Bo.

References