Convoy TS 37

TS 37 was a South Atlantic convoy of the TS series which ran during World War II from Takoradi to Freetown. It lost seven ships in "one of the most remarkable convoy attacks of the war."[1]

Convoy TS.37
Part of World War II
Date30 April – 1 May 1943
Location
South Atlantic
Belligerents
 Nazi Germany  United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Karl Dönitz
Strength
1 U-Boat 19 merchant ships
4 escorts
Casualties and losses
7 ships sunk

Background

TS 37 was a convoy of the TS/ST series, organized to protect merchant traffic between Takoradi on the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Freetown was the main naval base for the Royal Navy’s West Africa Station and was the departure and dispersal point for SL/OS convoys to Britain. The TS series had been established in September 1942 in response to U-boat depredations amongst independently routed shipping on the coast of West Africa.

Ships involved

TS 37 comprised 19 merchant ships. The escort comprised HMS Bellwort, a Flower-class corvette, and three ASW trawlers, Arran, Birdlip and Fandango. The Senior Officer (Escort) was Lt. NFR Gill, the captain of Bellwort. TS 37 departed Takoradi on 26 April, but one ship, dropped out on and was forced to return, escorted by Fandango.[2]

U-Boat involved

U Boat Command (BdU) had organized a force of three U-Boats, with a supply boat for logistical support off the coast of West Africa. U-515, skippered by KL (later KK) Werner Henke (Knight's Cross), had been dispatched with two others as relief and reinforcement to this group. U-515 was the only U-boat involved in the attack on TS 37.[3]

Action

TS 37 departed Takoradi on 26 April, and by 29 April was some 120 miles from Freetown where it was sighted by U-515.

Henke made his approach and just before 11pm (GMT, local time) staged his first assault. Approaching from the rear of the convoy he fired six torpedoes, scoring hits on four ships. With a new and effective magnetic influence detonators in use all four hits were fatal: Kota Tjandi, Nagina, Bandar Shapour and Corabella were sunk, while a counter-attack by the escorts was ineffective. Arran and Birdlip commenced picking up survivors, though some were not found until two days later.[2] Henke (according to his log) surfaced to find Birdlip picking up survivors and made an attack on her, though he does not describe how, and it had no effect.[2]

Before dawn on the following morning U-515 was able to make a second attack, this time hitting three ships. Two, City of Singapore and Mokambo, were sunk, while the third, Clan Macpherson, was damaged. She was taken in tow and was handed over to salvage tugs during the day, but foundered before reaching port. On receiving notice that the convoy was under attack, three destroyers (Rapid, Malcolm and Wolverine) were dispatched as reinforcement, but were unable to make contact before Henke had retired from the scene. Later that day the twelve surviving ships of TS 37 were brought without further harm to harbour at Freetown.[2]

Aftermath

Henke's attack has been described as “one of the most remarkable convoy attacks of the war” [1] and is on a par with Schepke's attack on SC 11 and Kretschmer's on SC 7.[2] Returning to base on 24 June after an “arduous but productive” 124-day patrol (one of the longest undertaken by the U-boat Arm) Henke was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross.

By contrast Churchill described the incident as “deplorable”[4] but the Admiralty countered, noting that losses were unavoidable when the enemy mounted operations in areas previously free from attack. In fact TS 37 had been the only TS convoy to be attacked since the start of the series in September 1942, and up to 29/30 April 743 ships had been conveyed safely on the route.[4] Just one other ship from a TS convoy (and two stragglers) were during the rest of the conflict.

Table

Merchant ships
Merchant ships[5]
Name Flag Tonnage (GRT) Notes
Bandar Shahpour (1927)  United Kingdom 5,236 Sunk by U-515[6]
Baron Ramsay (1929)  United Kingdom 3,650
Blairclova (1938)  United Kingdom 5,083
Buteshire (1912)  United Kingdom 6,590
City Of Derby (1921)  United Kingdom 6,616
City Of Singapore (1923)  United Kingdom 6,555 Sunk by U-515[7]
Clan Macpherson (1929)  United Kingdom 6,940 Sunk by U-515[8]
Corabella (1937)  United Kingdom 5,682 Sunk by U-515.[9] 9 dead
Empire Voice (1940)  United Kingdom 6,828
Glenpark (1939)  United Kingdom 5,136
Glenwood (1940)  United Kingdom 4,897
Kota Tjandi (1930)  Netherlands 7,295 Sunk by U-515[10] 130 nautical miles (240 km) SW of Freetown. 6 dead
Matadian (1936)  United Kingdom 4,275
Mokambo (1938)  Belgium 4,996 Sunk by U-515[11]
Nagina (1921)  United Kingdom 6,551 Sunk by U-515[12]
Norton (1941)  United Kingdom 7,195
Silverash (1926)  United Kingdom 7,750
Strategist (1937)  United Kingdom 6,255
Zarembo (1919)  United States 4,957

Escorts
Escorts[2][5]
Name Flag Type Duration
Arran  Royal Navy ASW trawler Escort 26 Apr – 1 May.
Bellwort  Royal Navy Corvette Escort 26 Apr – 1 May.
Birdlip  Royal Navy ASW trawler Escort 26 Apr – 1 May.
Fandango  Royal Navy ASW trawler Escort 26 Apr – 1 May.
Malcolm  Royal Navy Destroyer Reinforcement 1 May.
Rapid  Royal Navy Destroyer Reinforcement 1 May.
Wolverine  Royal Navy Destroyer Reinforcement 1 May.

U-boat
U-boats[13]
Name Flag Type Commander
U-515  Kriegsmarine IXC Werner Henke
gollark: That's a picture of America.
gollark: U
gollark: T
gollark: S
gollark: R

References
  1. Blair, p206
  2. Gannon pp12-27
  3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Convoy TS 37". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  4. Roskill p372
  5. "Convoy TS.37". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Bandar Shahpour – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  7. Helgason, Guðmundur. "City of Singapore – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  8. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Clan Macpherson – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  9. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Corabella – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Kota Tjandi – Dutch Motor merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  11. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Mokambo – British motor merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  12. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Nagina – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  13. U-515 at uboat.net

Bibliography
  • Clay Blair : Hitler's U-Boat War [Volume 2]: The Hunted 1942–1945 (1998). ISBN 0-304-35261-6
  • Michael Gannon : Black May ( 1998). ISBN 1-85410-588-4
  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
  • Stephen Roskill : The War at Sea 1939–1945 Vol II (1956). ISBN (none)
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