SC convoys

Last updated January 29, 2023

The SC convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys that ran during the battle of the Atlantic during World War II.

They were east-bound slow convoys originating in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (designated as Sydney, Cape Breton by the Allied navies to avoid confusion with Sydney, New South Wales); from there they sailed to ports in the UK, mainly Liverpool. The Royal Canadian Navy base responsible for the Sydney operations was HMCS Protector.^[1] The first convoy, SC 1, departed Sydney Harbour on 15 August 1940.^[2]

For a time after the entry of the United States into the war the point of origin was switched to New York, but congestion problems there resulted in a further move, this time to Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, the SC designation was retained throughout.

SC convoys ran from August 1940 until May 1945,^[3] although they were suspended during the summer of 1944 when a number of escort groups were diverted to cover the Normandy landings. During this period all east-bound traffic sailed in the HX series, which ran as Fast or Slow convoys, and whose sizes were effectively doubled.

A total of 177 SC convoys ran during the campaign, totalling 6,806 ships. Only 3 failed to complete the passage: SC 52 suffered an attack shortly after leaving port, and was forced to return; and SC 62 and SC 63 were both scattered by appalling weather conditions which forced those ships to proceed independently.

Of these formations, 29 (around 20%) were attacked; they saw the loss of 145 ships ( though this number does not include stragglers, perhaps the same number again) and a further 18 lost in marine accidents (perhaps 340 in total; around 5%).

As these were slow convoys, composed of ships making 8 knots or less, they were correspondingly more vulnerable, and witnessed a disproportionate number of attacks.

The SC convoys were the subject of some of the major battles of the campaign. Of the 40 convoys which lost 6 or more ships, 11 of them were SC series.

Some notable SC convoy battles were:

SC 7 . Attacked in October 1940, 20 ships were sunk in the worst day's shipping losses of the entire campaign.
SC 42 . Two U-boats were sunk by reinforcements coming to the aid of the weak Canadian escort for this September 1941 convoy.^[4] 14 ships lost in 3 days.
SC 48 . One of eight U-boats were damaged two warships were sunk one damaged and nine ships were sunk during 14–18 October 1941 convoy.^[4] 14 ships lost in 3 days.
SC 94 in August 1942 marked the beginning of the climactic North Atlantic convoy battles following the 2nd Happy Time off the American east coast.^[5]
SC 104 lost seven ships while Escort Group B6 sank two U-boats in October 1942.^[6]
SC 107 lost 15 ships in November 1942 including five torpedoed by Kapitänleutnant Siegfried von Forstner's U-402.^[7]
SC 118 . Attacked in February 1943. Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross when his U-402 torpedoed seven ships including Henry R. Mallory transporting American troops to Iceland.^[8]
SC 121 . Attacked in March 1943 after being scattered by a Force 10 gale.^[9] Only 76 of the 275 crewmen of the sunken ships were rescued.^[10]
SC 122 . Attacked in March 1943, this action, which converged with that around HX 229, was the largest convoy battle of the Atlantic campaign.
SC 130 . Attacked in May 1943, this convoy was successfully defended, seeing the destruction of 5 U-boats and the death of Admiral Karl Dönitz's son Peter Dönitz without losing any ships. This action culminated the period known as Black May, which saw the withdrawal from the North Atlantic by the German navy.

Notes

Related Research Articles

Royal Canadian Navy base HMCS Protector, also known as the Point Edward Naval Base, was located next to Sydney Harbour, on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. It was founded in 1940 and used by the navy during the Second World War. It was mainly used to provision, protect and repair the various merchant marine convoys to Quebec, Halifax, and the United Kingdom. It was a main combat zone during the Battle of the St. Lawrence and the more general Battle of the Atlantic. It continued to be utilized during the Cold War's early stages. It was decommissioned in 1964 and became the initial facility to house the Canadian Coast Guard College that same year. Currently, the Sydport Industrial Park utilizes the base's former piers and land.

The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom. They absorbed the BHX convoys from Bermuda en route. Later, after the United States entered the war, HX convoys began at New York.

This is a timeline for the Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945) in World War II.

Escort Group B2 was a convoy escort British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic. The group was under the command of Cdr Donald Macintyre, one of Britain's most successful anti-submarine warfare commanders.

During the Battle of the Atlantic, British merchant shipping was formed into convoys for protection against German submarine attack. In March 1943 convoys HX 229 and SC 122 were the focus of the largest convoy battle of the war. Kriegsmarine tactics against convoys employed multiple-submarine wolfpack tactics in nearly simultaneous surface attacks at night. Patrolling aircraft restricted the ability of submarines to converge on convoys during daylight. The North Atlantic winters offered the longest periods of darkness to conceal surfaced submarine operations. The winter of 1942–43 saw the largest number of submarines deployed to the mid-Atlantic before comprehensive anti-submarine aircraft patrols could be extended into that area.

HX 79 was an Allied North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

Convoy ON 166 was the 166th of the numbered ON series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. Sixty-three ships departed Liverpool 11 February 1943 and were met the following day by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the Treasury-class cutters Campbell and Spencer and the Flower-class corvettes Dianthus, Chilliwack, Rosthern, Trillium and Dauphin.

Convoy SC 121 was the 121st of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City 23 February 1943; and were met by the Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Treasury-class cutter USCGC Spencer, the American Wickes-class destroyer USS Greer, the British and Canadian Flower-class corvettes HMS Dianthus, HMCS Rosthern, HMCS Trillium and HMCS Dauphin and the convoy rescue ship Melrose Abbey. Three of the escorts had defective sonar and three had unserviceable radar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convoy SC 118</span> Convoy during naval battles of the Second World War

Convoy SC 118 was the 118th of the numbered series of World War II slow convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island, to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 24 January 1943 and were met by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-2 consisting of V-class destroyers Vanessa and Vimy, the Treasury-class cutter Bibb, the Town-class destroyer Beverley, Flower-class corvettes Campanula, Mignonette, Abelia and Lobelia, and the convoy rescue ship Toward.

Convoy SC 107 was the 107th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 24 October 1942 and were found and engaged by a wolfpack of U-boats which sank fifteen ships. It was the heaviest loss of ships from any trans-Atlantic convoy through the winter of 1942–43. The attack included one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions in history, when U-132 torpedoed ammunition ships SS Hobbema and SS Hatimura - both were sunk, one exploded, with the German submarine also being destroyed in the explosion.

Convoy SC 94 was the 94th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool. The ships departed Sydney on 31 July 1942 and were met by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group C-1.

Convoy ON 154 - also ON(S) 154 or ONS 154 - was a North Atlantic convoy of the ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 154th of the numbered series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. It came under attack in December 1942 and lost 13 of its 50 freighters. One of the attacking U-boats was destroyed.

Convoy SC 130 was a North Atlantic convoy which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 130th of the numbered series of Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. SC 130 was one of several convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of May 1943.

Convoy SC 104 was the 104th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. During October 1942, a U-boat wolf pack sank eight ships from the convoy. The convoy escorts sank two of the attacking submarines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Ocean Escort Force</span>

Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British, and Canadian escorts to these convoys reflected preferences of the United States upon their declaration of war, and the organisation persisted through the winter of 1942–43 despite withdrawal of United States ships from the escort groups. By the summer of 1943, United States Atlantic escorts were focused on the faster CU convoys and the UG convoys between Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean Sea; and only British and Canadian escorts remained on the HX, SC and ON convoys.

Convoy HX 156 was the 156th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool. Forty-three ships departed Halifax on 22 October 1941, and were met two days later by United States Navy Task Unit 4.1.3 consisting of Gleaves-class destroyer Niblack, Clemson-class destroyer Reuben James, Wickes-class destroyer Tarbell, and Benson-class destroyers Benson and Hilary P. Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Local Escort Force</span> World War II-era escort group in the Royal Canadian Navy

Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point near Newfoundland where ships of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) assumed responsibility for safely delivering the convoys to the British Isles.

Convoy HX 212 was the 212th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 18 October 1942 and were met on 23 October by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the United States Coast Guard Treasury-class cutter USCGC 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.

Convoy ON 144 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 144th of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed Liverpool on 7 November 1942 and were joined on 8 November by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-6 consisting of the Flower-class corvettes Vervain, Potentilla, Eglantine, Montbretia and Rose and the convoy rescue ship Perth. Group B-6 had sailed without the destroyers Fame and Viscount which had been damaged in the battle for eastbound convoy SC 104. The United States Coast Guard cutters Bibb, Duane, and Ingham accompanied the convoy from the Western Approaches with ships that detached for Iceland on 15 November.

Convoy ON 122 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the second World War. It was the 122nd of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed Liverpool on 15 August 1942 and were joined on 17 August by Escort Group B6 of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force.

References

van der Vat, Dan (1988). The Atlantic campaign: the great struggle at sea, 1939–1945. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-37751-2.
Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. St Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-861-76147-7.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (2001). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I The Battle of the Atlantic 1939–1943. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois. ISBN 978-0-252-06963-5.
Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Derek Masters (trans.) (2nd revised, expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-105-9.
Tennyson, Brian Douglas; Sarty, Roger F. (2000). Guardian of the Gulf: Sydney, Cape Breton, and the Atlantic wars. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-4492-1.

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[FOOTNOTETennysonSarty2000232,_290-1] Tennyson & Sarty 2000, pp. 232, 290.

[FOOTNOTETennysonSarty2000232-2] Tennyson & Sarty 2000, p. 232.

[FOOTNOTEHague2000133–134-3] Hague 2000, pp. 133–134.

[FOOTNOTERohwerHümmelchen199282-4] 1 2 Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 82.

[FOOTNOTEMorison2001317–322-5] Morison 2001, pp. 317–322.

[FOOTNOTERohwerHümmelchen1992167-6] Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 167.

[FOOTNOTEHague2000135-7] Hague 2000, p. 135.

[FOOTNOTEMorison2001336-8] Morison 2001, p. 336.

[FOOTNOTERohwerHümmelchen1992196-9] Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 196.

[FOOTNOTEMorison2001342-10] Morison 2001, p. 342.

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