Convoy ON-154

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Convoy ON-154 was a convoy of ships during the second World War. Its name came from it being the 154th of the numbered series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America.

[edit] the convoy

Forty-six ships departed Liverpool on 18 December 1942;[1] and were met by the RCN Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group C-1 consisting of the Canadian River class destroyer St. Laurent with Flower class corvettes Battleford, Chilliwack, Kenogami, Napanee, and Shediac.[2] ON-154 included the convoy rescue ship Toward and the French-crewed 2456-ton Special Service Vessel Fidelity (D57).[3] Fidelity was armed with four 4-inch (10-cm) guns and four torpedo tubes, equipped with a defensive torpedo net, and carried two landing craft, two OS2U Kingfisher float planes, and Motor Torpedo Boat 105.[4]

ON-154 was routed south to avoid storms, and remained distant from escort support groups and out of range of allied patrol bombers for longer than most convoys.[5] U-662 reported the convoy on 26 December.[6] That night U-356 torpedoed the 5,952-ton British freighter Empire Union, the 2,473-ton British freighter Melrose Abbey, the 7,051-ton Dutch freighter Soekaboemi, and the 5,254-ton British freighter King Edward before being sunk by the convoy escorts.[7] Thirty-seven merchant sailors were lost with 3,403 tons of coal and 5,940 tons of general cargo.[8]

During the night of 27/28 December, U-225 torpedoed the 7087-ton oiler Scottish Heather which survived the convoy.[9] During the coordinated night attack of 28/29 December U-406 torpedoed the 5029-ton British freighter Lynton Grange, the 4871-ton British freighter Zarian, and the 3385-ton British freighter Baron Cochrane while U-591 torpedoed the 5701-ton Norwegian freighter Norse King, U-260 torpedoed the 4893-ton British freighter Empire Wagtail, and U-225 torpedoed the 5273-ton British freighter Melmore Head, the 5598-ton British freighter Ville de Rouen, the 7068-ton convoy commodore's freighter Empire Shackleton and the 4919-ton Belgian freighter President Francoui.[10] One-hundred-forty merchant sailors were lost with 9829 tons of coal, 13497 tons of general cargo, and 2000 tons of ammunition and aircraft.[11] As many as twelve U-boats were in contact with the convoy, and the outnumbered escort was running out of fuel.[12] St. Laurent's captain, as commander of Escort Group C-1, suffered a nervous breakdown at the scale of losses. Following loss of the convoy commodore, he invited two fast ships with large passenger complements to escape if they found an opportunity.[13]

The escort was reinforced by the M class destroyers HMS Milne and Meteor on the morning of 29 December.[14] Fidelity suffered engine trouble while operating independently rescuing survivors. The motor torpedo boat and float planes were launched to deter U-boat attacks, and the torpedo net was deployed to foil cautious attacks by U-225 and U-615. Three-hundred-thirty-four men were lost when Fidelity was torpedoed by U-435 on 30 December.[15] The remainder of the convoy reached New York City on 12 January 1943.[16]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hague 2000 p.158
  2. ^ Milner 1985 p.287
  3. ^ Rohwer&Hummelchen 1992 p.183
  4. ^ Lenton&Colledge 1968 p.279
  5. ^ Milner 1985 p.3
  6. ^ Rohwer&Hummelchen 1992 p.183
  7. ^ Rohwer&Hummelchen 1992 p.183
  8. ^ Hague 2000 p.161
  9. ^ Rohwer&Hummelchen 1992 p.183
  10. ^ Rohwer&Hummelchen 1992 p.183
  11. ^ Hague 2000 p.161
  12. ^ Milner 1985 p.4
  13. ^ Milner 1985 pp.4&209
  14. ^ Rohwer&Hummelchen 1992 p.183
  15. ^ Milner 1985 p.209
  16. ^ Hague 2000 p.158

[edit] References

  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-019-3. 
  • Lenton, H.T. and Colledge, J.J. (1968). British and Dominion Warships of World War Two. Doubleday and Company. 
  • 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. and Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X. 
  • Gordon Mumford's account of Convoy ONS-154