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| B-7 Escort Group | |
|---|---|
| Active | World War II |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Allegiance | British Empire |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort Group |
| Role | Anti-Submarine Warfare |
| Size | ~9 ships |
| Part of | Western Approaches Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Lisahally |
| Engagements | Convoy ON 153 Convoy ONS 5 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Cdr WE Banks Cdr EH Tilden Cdr PW Gretton |
B-7 Escort Group was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Contents |
B-7 Escort Group (B-7 EG) was one of seven British escort groups which served with the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF), which provided convoy protection in the most dangerous mid-section of the North Atlantic route. The MOEF was originally to be 5 American, 5 British and 4 Canadian groups. B-7 was formed in the spring of 1942, following the inability of the USN to form groups A-4 and A-5 due to other commitments. To replace them two new escort groups, B-6 and B-7 were formed.
Led by Firedrake, and under the leadership of Cdr WE Banks, B-7 comprised six Flower class corvette; Loosestrife from the disbanded American group A-5, and Alisma, Coreopsis, Jonquil, Pink and Sunflower. [1] These were joined later by the destroyers Chesterfield and Ripley
B-7’s first convoys, in the spring of 1942, were uneventful, and as the pace of the Battle of the Atlantic hotted up in the summer and autumn the group's convoys were escorted without loss. But in December 1942, while escorting ON 153 the convoy came under attack, and 3 ships were sunk. During this action, on 11 December, Firedrake was torpedoed by U-211 and sank with the loss of 168 of her crew, including her current commander, and group SOE, Cdr EH Tilden.
B-7s new SOE assigned was Cdr PW Gretton, of Duncan, a tough and capable leader, who quickly moulded B-7 to his own image.
At this point B-7 comprised the destroyers Duncan, Vidette, the frigate Tay, and the corvettes Alisma, Loosestrife, Pink, Sunflower and Snowflake.
After several convoys escorted without loss, B-7 escorted HX 231 in April 1943. This came under attack by the Lowenherz U-boat group, which sank 6 ships, but lost 2 U-boats destroyed, and 5 damaged. In May 1943 B-7 escorted ONS 5, sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Atlantic campaign. In a week long battle against 3 U-boat groups, Star, Amstel and later Fink, ONS 5 saw the loss of 13 ships, for the destruction of 6 U-boats. At least 4 of these were credited to ships of B-7 EG. Later in May returning with SC 130, B-7 saw the destruction of between 3 and 5 U-boats (sources vary) for no losses. at least one of these was credited to ships of B-7 EG.
A series of uneventful convoys followed, as the U-boat Arm withdrew from the North Atlantic after Black May, while Gretton lobbied for a chance for B-7 to operate as a Support Group.[2]
In October 1943 this was given, as the U-boat Arm launched its autumn offensive. B-7 was involved in the battles for convoys ONS 20 and ON 206, ON 207 and ON 208, during which period 9 U-boats were destroyed. The battle for ONS20/206 saw 6 U-boats destroyed, of which U-631 was credited to Sunflower and another, U-844 was damaged by Duncan, to be destroyed later in an air attack. ON 207 saw 3 U-boats destroyed, one (U-282) by ships of B-7, and another shared with aircraft. During this period B-7 had steamed 6,700 miles, crossing back and forth across the Atlantic five times. The group members had refueled at sea on six occasions, and had also re-armed with depth charges at sea.[3]
Following this B-7 returned to escort duty on the North Atlantic route, continuing without major incident until the group was disbanded in the summer of 1944 as part of the preparations for Operation Neptune.
.[5]
| From | To | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 4 May 1942 | 1 September 1942 | Cdr William Eric Banks |
| 1 September 1942 | 17 December 1942 | Cdr Eric Henry Tilden |
| December 1942 | May 1944 | Cdr Peter Gretton |
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