Convoy HX 212
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 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.[4]
| Convoy HX 212 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Battle of the Atlantic | |||||
 A depth charge being loaded onto a depth-charge thrower aboard the corvette HMS Dianthus | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
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| 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 | |||||
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) |  | 5,740 | General Cargo | Carried convoy vice-commodore CAPT B B Grant RNR; survived this convoy and convoy HX 229 | |
| Arc Light (1906) |  | 2,949 | |||
| Barrwhin (1929) | | 24 | 4,998 | 8,200 tons grain & stores | Veteran of convoy PQ 11; sunk 29 October by U-436 |
| USS Beaver (AS-5) (1909) | | 4,670 | Explosives | ||
| Belgian Gulf (1929) |  | 8,237 | Petrol | Survived this convoy and convoy HX 229 | |
| Bic Island (1917) | | 4,000 | General Cargo | Straggled and sunk by U-224 | |
| British Vigilance (1942) | | 8,093 | Benzine & 130 passengers | Survived this convoy to be sunk 3 months later in convoy TM 1 | |
| C.J.Barkdull (1917) | | 6,773 | Diesel oil | Survived this convoy to be sunk 1/10/1943 [10] by U 632[11] | |
| Cairnesk (1926) | | 5,007 | General Cargo | ||
| Cape Breton (1940) | | 6,044 | Phosphates | ||
| City of Lille (1928) | | 6,588 | Wheat | ||
| Coptic (1928) | | 10,629 | Refrigerated & General Cargo | ||
| Cymbula (1938) | | 8,082 | Petrol | ||
| Dorchester (1926) | | 5,649 | From Newfoundland to Greenland; survived this convoy to be sunk 3 months later in convoy SG 19 | ||
| Empire Bronze (1940) | | 8,142 | Paraffin & Aviation Gasoline | ||
| Empire Dickens (1942) | | 9,819 | Petrol | ||
| Empire Fletcher (1942) | | 8,194 | Petrol | ||
| Esso Bayway (1937) | | 7,699 | Furnace Fuel Oil | ||
| Exchester (1919) | | 4,999 | Stores | ||
| Exilona (1919) | | 4,971 | Steel | Survived this convoy, convoy ON 166 and convoy HX 300 | |
| Fairfax (1926) | | 5,649 | From Newfoundland to Greenland | ||
| Fort a la Corne (1942) | | 7,133 | General Cargo | ||
| Fort Amherst (1936) | | 3,489 | |||
| Francis Parkman (1942) | | 7,176 | Stores | Liberty ship | |
| Frontenac (1928) | | 7,350 | Fuel Oil | Damaged 27 October by U-436, but survived to sail with convoy HX 300 | |
| Gdynia (1934) |  | 1,636 | General Cargo | ||
| Gulfgem (1920) | | 6,917 | Furnace Fuel Oil for Scapa Flow | ||
| Gurney E Newlin (1942) | | 60 | 8,225 | 12,000 tons petrol & paraffin | Sunk 27 October by U-436 & U-606 |
| Helgoy (1920) | | 5,614 | General Cargo | ||
| Jamaica Planter (1936) | | 4,098 | Refrigerated & General Cargo | Carried convoy commodore VADM W DE M Egerton | |
| Katy (1931) | | 6,825 | Petrol | ||
| Kosmos II (1931) | | 40 | 16,966 | 21,000 tons crude oil | Damaged 27 October by U-436 and sunk on 28 October by U-606 & U-624 |
| Lancastrian Prince (1940) | | 1,914 | General Cargo | Veteran of convoy ON 67 | |
| Laurelwood (1929) | | 7,347 | furnace fuel oil | ||
| Mahia (1917) | | 10,014 | Refrigerated | ||
| Matthew Luckenbach (1918) | | 5,848 | Steel & General Cargo | Returned to Canada; sunk 5 months later in convoy HX 229 | |
| Ocean Courier (1942) | | 7,178 | General Cargo | Liberty ship | |
| Pacific Shipper (1924) | | 6,290 | General Cargo | ||
| Pan-New York (1938) | | 42 | 7,701 | 12,500 tons petrol | Sunk 29 October by U-624 |
| Pan-Rhode Island (1941) | | 7,742 | Aviation Gasoline | Survived this convoy and convoy HX 229 | |
| Paul H Harwood (1918) | | 6,610 | Diesel Oil | ||
| R.G.Stewart (1917) | | 9,229 | |||
| Saint Bertrand (1929) | | 5,522 | General Cargo | ||
| Salinas (1920) | | 5,422 | |||
| Sarpedon (1923) | | 11,321 | Refrigerated | ||
| Skaraas (1936) | | 9,826 | Oil | ||
| Snar (1920) | | 3,176 | |||
| Sourabaya (1915) | | 77 | 10,107 | 7,800 tons furnace fuel oil | Sunk 27 October by U-436 |
| Southern Princess (1915) | | 12,156 | Furnace Fuel Oil | Survived this convoy to be sunk 5 months later in convoy HX 229 | |
| Thomas B Robertson (1942) | | 7,176 | stores | Liberty ship; survived this convoy and convoy ON 166 | |
| Topdalsfjord (1921) | | 4,271 | Sugar & Timber | ||
| Tudor Prince (1940) | | 1,914 | General Cargo | ||
| Zacapa (1909) | | 4,488 | Valuable cargo | ||
| Zoella Lykes (1940) | | 6,829 |
See also
- Convoy Battles of World War II
Notes
- Morison p.323
- Hague p.127
- Hague p.128
- Milner pp.175-177
- Tarrant p.108
- Hague pp.132,137-138,161-162,164&181
- Rohwer & Hummelchen pp.169&170
- "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- Hague p.132
- American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org, as the source
References
- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-019-3.
- Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-450-0.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I The Battle of the Atlantic 1939–1943. Little, Brown and Company.
- Rohwer, J.; Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
- Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-520-X.