Convoy SC 7 was the seventh of the SC convoys, bound from Sydney, Nova Scotia across the North Atlantic to a number of British ports, mainly Liverpool. [1] They were called SC as their departure point was designated Sydney, Cape Breton in order to avoid confusion with Sydney in Australia. [2] The convoys formed part of the battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. Large numbers of merchants travelled together with naval escorts to protect against U-boat attacks. They were often slow, the merchants often only being capable of a speed of around 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) and so were particularly vulnerable to attack. [2] This problem was exacerbated by a shortage of suitable escorts from either the Royal Canadian Navy or the Royal Navy in the early stages of the war. [3]
Convoy SC 7 left Sydney on 5 October 1940, consisting of 36 merchants initially escorted by the Canadian armed yacht HMCS Elk and the British sloop HMS Scarborough. [4] Having seen the convoy out of Canadian waters, Elk turned back on 7 October, leaving the convoy to spend three quarters of the crossing escorted by the lone Scarborough. [4] One of the merchants, SS Winona had developed engine problems and also turned back. [4] The crossing was uneventful to begin with, the only casualty being SS Trevisa, which was straggling behind the main convoy, and was torpedoed and sunk on 16 October by U-124. [5]
The main convoy was spotted the following day by U-38, which sank SS Aenos. [6] Further sporadic attacks continued that day and the following, despite the arrival of the sloop HMS Fowey and the corvette HMS Bluebell. The night of 18/19 October saw the successful use of the wolf pack tactics of Germany's U-boat fleet. Five U-boats; U-46, U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123 attacked en-masse, overwhelming the escorts, reinforced by HMS Leith and Heartsease. [7] They sank 16 merchants in a six-hour period, bringing the total to twenty merchants sunk and a total tonnage lost of 79,592 gross registered tons. The U-boats only broke off their attacks to intercept convoy HX 79, which had arrived in the area. They went on to sink a further 12 ships from this convoy, for a total of 28 ships sunk on 18/19 October, making this the deadliest two days of the battle of the Atlantic. [7] The surviving merchants were gathered up by the remaining escorts and brought into port several days later.
This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk
Name | Flag | Cargo | Fate | Date | Lived | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aenos | Greece | Wheat | Sunk, U-38* [8] | 17 October | 25 | 4 | Straggler |
Assyrian | United Kingdom | Grain | Sunk, U-101* | 19 October | 34 | 17 | Convoy commodore's ship [9] |
Beatus | United Kingdom | Steel, timber, aircraft | Sunk, U-46* | 18 October | 37 | 0 | |
Blairspey | United Kingdom | Timber | Damaged, U-101 Damaged, U-100 | 18 October 19 October | 34 | 0 | Reached port, repaired |
Boekelo | Netherlands | Timber | Damaged, U-100 Sunk, U-123* | 18 October 19 October | 25 | 0 | Straggler |
Botusk | United Kingdom | Timber | Reached port | 42 | 0 | ||
Carsbreck | United Kingdom | Timber | Damaged, U-38 | 18 October | 55 | 0 | Towed into port |
Clintonia | United Kingdom | Pulpwood | Damaged, U-99 Sunk, U-123* | 19 October 19 October | 35 | 1 | |
SS Convallaria | Sweden | Pulpwood | Sunk, U-46* | 18 October | 22 | 0 | |
Corinthic | United Kingdom | Steel, scrap metal | Reached port | 21 | 0 | ||
Creekirk | United Kingdom | Iron ore | Sunk, U-101* | 18 October | 0 | 36 | |
Dioni | Greece | Grain | Reached port | 82 | 0 | ||
Eaglescliffe Hall | United Kingdom | Timber | Reached port | 64 | 0 | ||
Empire Brigade | United Kingdom | Metals, ores | Sunk, U-99* | 19 October | 35 | 6 | |
Empire Miniver | United Kingdom | Pig iron, steel | Sunk, U-99* | 19 October | 35 | 3 | |
Fiscus | United Kingdom | Steel, timber, aircraft | Sunk, U-99* | 18 October | 1 | 38 | Straggler |
Flynderborg | United Kingdom | Pulpwood | Reached port | 12 | 0 | ||
SS Gunborg | Sweden | Pulpwood | Sunk, U-46* | 18 October | 23 | 0 | |
Havørn [10] | Norway | Pit props | Reached port | 53 | 0 | ||
Inger Elisabeth [11] | Norway | Pit props | Reached port | 44 | 0 | ||
Karlander [12] | Norway | Timber | Reached port | 92 | 0 | ||
Languedoc | United Kingdom | Fuel oil | Sunk, U-48* [8] | 17 October | 39 | 0 | |
SS Niritos | Greece | Sulphur | Sunk, U-99* | 18 October | 27 | 1 | |
Scoresby | United Kingdom | Pit props | Sunk, U-48* [8] | 17 October | 39 | 0 | |
SS Sedgepool | United Kingdom | Wheat | Sunk, U-123* | 19 October | 36 | 3 | |
SS Shekatika | United Kingdom | Pit props, steel | Damaged, U-123, U-100 Sunk, U-123* | 19 October | 36 | 0 | Joined from convoy SHX 76. 'Romper' (travelling ahead of the convoy) |
Snefjeld [13] | Norway | Timber | Sunk, U-99* | 19 October | 21 | 0 | |
Sneland I [14] | Norway | Sulphur | Reached port | 94 | 0 | ||
Soesterberg | Netherlands | Pit props | Sunk, U-101* | 19 October | 19 | 6 | |
Somersby | United Kingdom | Flour | Reached port | 83 | 0 | ||
SS Thalia | Greece | Steel, lead, zinc | Sunk, U-99* | 19 October | 4 | 22 | |
Thorøy [15] | Norway | Fuel oil | Reached port | 63 | 0 | ||
SS Trevisa | Canada | Timber | Sunk, U-124* | 16 October | 14 | 7 | Straggler. First sinking. |
Trident | United Kingdom | Steel, timber | Reached port | 43 | 0 | ||
Valparaiso | Sweden | General cargo | Reached port | 14 | 0 | ||
Winona | United States | Timber | Returned to port | 34 | 0 | ||
Name | Class | Navy | With convoy | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
HMS Bluebell | Flower-class corvette | Royal Navy | 18–21 October | |
HMCS Elk | Armed yacht | Royal Canadian Navy | 5 –7 October | |
HMS Fowey | Shoreham-class sloop | Royal Navy | 18–21 October | |
HMS Heartsease | Flower-class corvette | Royal Navy | 18–21 October | Dispatched with Carsbreck, 18 October |
HMS Leith | Grimsby-class sloop | Royal Navy | 18–21 October | |
HMS Scarborough | Hastings-class sloop | Royal Navy | 5–21 October | Lost contact 17 October, unable to rejoin |
Name | Commander | Sunk | Damaged | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
U-38 | Heinrich Liebe | 1 | 1 | |
U-46 | Engelbert Endrass | 3 | 0 | |
U-48 | Heinrich Bleichrodt | 2 | 0 | |
U-99 | Otto Kretschmer | 6 | 1 | |
U-100 | Joachim Schepke | 0 | 3 | |
U-101 | Fritz Frauenheim | 3 | 1 | |
U-123 | Karl-Heinz Moehle | 4 | 0 | |
U-124 | Georg-Wilhelm Schulz | 1 | 0 | |
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This is a timeline for the Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945) in World War II.
SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied convoy in the Second World War comprising 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other British ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was attacked by one of the first U-boat wolfpacks. The escorts were overwhelmed, twenty of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and two were damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disaster demonstrated the potency of wolfpacks and the inadequacy of British anti-submarine operations.
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