Escort Group B7 | |
---|---|
Active | Second World War |
Country | United Kingdom |
Allegiance | British Empire |
Branch | Royal Navy |
Type | Escort Group |
Role | Anti-submarine warfare |
Size | ~Nine ships |
Part of | Western Approaches Command |
Garrison/HQ | Lisahally |
Engagements | Convoy ON 153 Convoy ONS 5 |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Commander W. E. Banks Cdr E. H. Tilden Cdr Peter Gretton |
Escort Group B7 was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War; principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Escort Group B7 was one of seven such British naval groups which served with the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF). It provided convoy protection in the most dangerous middle section of the North Atlantic route. The MOEF was originally to be five American, five British and four Canadian groups. B7 was formed in the spring of 1942, following the inability of the USN to form groups A-4 and A-5 due to other commitments. To replace them, two new escort groups, Escort Group B6 and Escort Group B7, were formed.
Led by HMS Firedrake, under the leadership of Commander William Banks, B7 comprised six Flower-class corvettes; HMS Loosestrife from the disbanded American group A-5 and Alisma, Coreopsis, Jonquil, Pink and Sunflower. [1] [2] These were joined later by the destroyers HMS Chesterfield and Ripley.
B7's first convoys, in the spring of 1942, were uneventful and as the Battle of the Atlantic increased in intensity in the summer and autumn, the group's charges were escorted without loss. In December, while escorting Convoy ON 153, the convoy came under attack and three ships were sunk. During this action, on 11 December, Firedrake was torpedoed by the U-boat U-211 and sank with the loss of 168 of her crew, including her commander and the group's Senior Officer – Escort (SOE), Commander Eric Tilden. Thirty-five survived the torpedoing but only 27 managed to get on board Sunflower (Captain John Treasure Jones). [3]
B7's new SOE was Commander Peter Gretton, of HMS Duncan, a tough and capable leader, who quickly molded the group to his own image. At this point B7 comprised the destroyers Duncan and Vidette, the frigate HMS Tay and the corvettes HMS Alisma, Loosestrife, Pink, Sunflower and Snowflake.
After several convoys had been escorted without loss, B7 covered Convoy HX 231 in April 1943. This came under attack by Wolfpack Lowenherz, which sank six ships, for the loss of two submarines destroyed and five damaged. In May 1943, B7 escorted Convoy ONS 5, sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Atlantic campaign. In a week-long battle against wolfpacks, Star, Amstel and later Fink, Convoy ONS 5 lost 13 ships, for the destruction of six U-boats and the disabling of seven. At least four of these were credited to B7. Later that month, returning with Convoy SC 130, B7 saw the destruction of between three and five U-boats (sources vary) for no loss. at least one of these was credited to B7. A series of uneventful convoys followed, as the U-boat Arm withdrew from the North Atlantic after Black May, while Gretton lobbied for a chance for B7 to operate as a Support Group. [4] In October 1943 this was given, as the German U-boat arm launched its autumn offensive.
B7 was involved in the battles for convoys ONS 20 and ON 206, Convoy ON 207 and Convoy ON 208, during which nine U-boats were destroyed. The battle for Convoy ONS20/206 saw six U-boats sunk, of which U-631 was credited to Sunflower and U-844 was damaged by Duncan, to be destroyed later in an air attack. Convoy ON 207 saw three U-boats destroyed, U-282 by ships of B7, another shared with aircraft. B7 had steamed 6,700 nmi (12,400 km; 7,700 mi), crossing the Atlantic five times. The group members had refuelled at sea on six occasions and had re-armed with depth charges at sea. [5] B7 returned to escort duty on the North Atlantic route, continuing without major incident until the group was disbanded in the summer of 1944 as part of the preparations for Operation Neptune, the naval contribution to the Normandy invasion.
Ship | Flag | class | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Firedrake | Royal Navy | F-class destroyer | Torpedoed, 11 December 1942 U-211, scuttled, 168 †, 27 rescued |
HMS Duncan | Royal Navy | D-class destroyer | Destroyer leader, replaced Firedrake |
HMS Loosestrife | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | |
HMS Alisma | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | |
HMS Coreopsis | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | |
HMS Jonquil | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | |
HMS Pink | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | |
HMS Sunflower | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | |
HMS Chesterfield | Royal Navy | Clemson-class destroyer | |
HMS Ripley | Royal Navy | Clemson-class destroyer | |
HMS Vidette | Royal Navy | Admiralty V-class destroyer | |
HMS Tay | Royal Navy | River-class frigate | New ship, joined September 1942 |
U-boat | Flag | Ship | Flag | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
U-192 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Pink | Royal Navy | 5 May 1943 | Depth-charged |
U-638 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Loosestrife | Royal Navy | 5/6 May 1943 | Depth-charged |
U-125 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Oribi | Royal Navy | 6 May 1943 | Ramming, gunfire from HMS Snowflake |
U-531 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Snowflake | Royal Navy | 6 May 1943 | Depth-charge, Hedgehog HMS Vidette |
U-381 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Snowflake | Royal Navy | 19 May 1943 | Depth-charge, Hedgehog HMS Duncan |
U-631 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Sunflower | Royal Navy | 17 October 1943 | Depth-charged, gunfire HMS Snowflake |
U-274 | Kriegsmarine | Aircraft, HMS Duncan | Royal Navy | 26 October 1943 | Hedgehog |
U-282 | Kriegsmarine | HMS Duncan | Royal Navy | 29 October 1943 | Shared with HMS Vidette |
Rank | Name | Dates |
---|---|---|
Commander | William Banks | 4 May – 1 September 1942 |
Commander | Eric Tilden † | 1–17 December 1942 |
Commander | Peter Gretton | December 1942 – May 1944 |
HX convoys were transatlantic convoys in the North Atlantic during the First World War and in the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. HX convoys sailed eastwards from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada, to Liverpool and other ports in Britain. They were joined the BHX convoys from Bermuda en route. After the United States entered the war, HX convoys began at New York.
HMS Duncan was a D-class destroyer leader built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935 where she remained until mid-1939. Duncan returned to the Mediterranean Fleet just after World War II began in September 1939. She was transferred to the Home Fleet in December 1939, although she was badly damaged in a collision the following month, and required repairs that lasted until July 1940. The ship joined Force H at Gibraltar in October, escorting the larger ships and various convoys until March 1941 when she was transferred to West Africa for convoy escort duties for a few months. Duncan rejoined the 13th Destroyer Flotilla at Gibraltar in July and escorted several convoys to Malta during the rest of the year. After a refit, she briefly returned to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla before joining the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean to participate in Operation Ironclad in May 1942. The ship was recalled home to be converted into an escort destroyer in late 1942.
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The ON and later ONS convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Atlantic campaign of the Second World War. The ON convoys replaced the earlier OA/OB series of outbound convoys in July 1941 and ran until the end of the campaign in May 1945. They were organized as alternating fast and slow convoys until March 1943, when the ONS series was begun to take over the slow trans-Atlantic traffic, after which all in the ON series were fast.
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ON 207 was a North Atlantic convoy of the ONS/ON series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the subject of a major U-boat attack in October 1943, the fourth battle in the German autumn offensive.
Vice Admiral Sir Peter William Gretton was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was active in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, and was a successful convoy escort commander. He eventually rose to become Fifth Sea Lord and retired as a vice admiral before entering university life as a bursar and academic.
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