Convoy SC 48

Convoy
Part of World War II
Date 14–18 October 1941
Location North Atlantic
Result German victory
Belligerents
 Kriegsmarine  Royal Navy
 Royal Canadian Navy
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Karl Dönitz Comm:HM Sanders
SOE: Lt.Cdr SW Davis
:Capt L Thebaud
:Cdr Cresswell-Baker
Strength
Mordbrenner
8 U-boats		 52 ships
18 escorts
Casualties and losses
none lost
1 U-boat damaged		 9 ships sunk
2 escorts sunk
1 warship damaged

SC 48 was a North Atlantic convoy of the SC series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

It was notable for being the occasion of the Kearny incident, which brought the United States one step closer to war with Germany.

Contents

Prelude

SC 48 was an east-bound convoy of 52 ships, carrying war materials and sailed from Sydney, Cape Breton on 5 October 1941 bound for Liverpool. It was under the command of Commodore HM Sanders in the MV Castalia.

It was escorted by a Canadian escort group consisting of the destroyer Columbia (Lt Cdr SW Davis as Senior Officer Escort), and 7 corvettes; Wetaskiwin, Baddeck, Camrose, Shediac, the RN's Gladiolus and Free French Mimose.

Opposing this force was the patrol line Mordbrenner, which was to have comprised 8 U-boats and was in the process of forming south of Iceland near the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point. This was the point at which North Atlantic convoys were handed over between the Ocean and the Western Approaches escorts at this stage of the Atlantic campaign.

Allied intelligence became aware of the presence of Mordbrenner, and started to divert the convoys then at sea, but a loss of Ultra intelligence on 12/13 October left SC 48 in the dark; and on the night of 14/15 October it was sighted by U-553 (K/L Thurmann).

At this point in time SC 48 was in some disarray; 11 of its ships, including Castalia, were straggling following heavy weather on the night of 9/10 October. Columbia and two of the corvettes, Camrose and Rosthern, were detached looking for them. A third corvette, Shediac was also separated by the storm and out of radio contact. On 14 October SC 48’s escort comprised just 4 corvettes; Wetaskiwin (as Acting SOE), Baddeck, Gladiolus and Mimose.

Action

In the early hours of 15 October Thurmann of U-553 reported his contact to U-boat Command (BdU) and was ordered to shadow, whilst other U boats were gathered for the attack. However Thurmann chose to attack that night, and succeeded in sinking 2 ships, Silvercedar, which lost 21 crew, and Ila, most of whose crew were saved. U-553 was sighted by Silverhelm, the next ship in the column, which attempted to ram, but failed; U-553 was also sighted by WC Teagle, but she was unable to bring her gun to bear before U-553 escaped.

On 15 October Enigma was re-acquired and Western Approaches Command realized a major attack was building; a number of escorts from nearby convoys were diverted to reinforce SC 48. First a force of US destroyers (DesRon 13), detached from ON 24; 2 RN destroyers (Highlander and Broadwater) from TC 14; 2 RN corvettes (HMS Abelia|Abelia]] and Veronica) from ON 25; and a RCN corvette (Pictou) from Iceland.

Later on 15 October Columbia rejoined, while U-553 was joined by 2 more boats; U-558 (Krech) and U-568 (Preuss). As U-553 continued to shadow, she was sighted by Columbia, who attacked her, driving her away, but with no damage; U-553 fired a torpedo at Columbia, which missed. During the day U-558 joined, having encountered the ship Vancouver Island sailing independently ; she was sunk with the loss of all 73 crew and 32 passengers. Before nightfall U-568 also arrived, and the 3 boats prepared to attack.

As darkness fell on the night of 15/16 October the U-boats attacked again. U-568 attacked and sank Empire Heron, Gladiolus counter-attacked, and U-568 was driven off. Gladiolus then detached to pick up survivors, but never rejoined the convoy; she was lost with all hands, reportedly by U-568 on the 17th, but more probably on the 16th by U-432. After midnight on 15/16th SC 48 made an emergency turn to port, followed before dawn by a turn to starboard, in an attempt to shake off pursuit; this was initially successful, but the pack regained contact in the afternoon of 16th and again closed in.

Also that afternoon of 16 October the first reinforcements arrived, in the form of DesRon 13; this comprised the destroyers Decatur, Kearny, and Livermore, led by Plunkett (Capt L Thebaud). These were joined later by Thebaud's 5th destroyer,Greer accompanied by Pictou. As senior officer present Thebaud assumed command of the escorts; however although he had seniority Thebaud had little experience in escort work, and a number of mistakes were made allowing the U-boats to mount a successful attack that night.

By nightfall on 16th BdU had gathered 9 U boats for the attack; the 3 Mordbrenner boats plus 7 newcomers, ( U-101, U-109, U-208, U-374, U-432, U-502 and U-573)

During the night of 16/17th the pack attacked, closing in with little interference from the escorts. U-553 sank Bold Venture at about 8pm. U-558 sank WC Teagle about an hour later; Erviken was attacked and sunk as she stopped to pick up survivors and Rym was also sunk as she slowed to do the same. U-432 sank Evros and Barfonn just before midnight.

Just after midnight U-568 hit a destroyer which had stopped to avoid a collision with a corvette; this was USS Kearny. She was severely damaged, losing 11 killed and 22 wounded, but was saved by effort of the crew. She was detached to Iceland, escorted by Decatur andGreer.

In the early hours of 17 October more warships arrived; Highlander and Broadwater from TC 14, and Abelia and Veronica from ON 25. With this reinforcement further attacks were warded off, but the pack remained in contact, awaiting a further opportunity.

At dawn on 17 October the convoy was joined by Western Approaches escort; This was EG 3, comprising 4 destroyers (Bulldog, Amazon, Richmond and Georgetown)and 1 corvette (Heartsease), with 2 trawlers and a rescue ship. The RCN group departed at this point, being low on fuel; also DesRon 13 left to follow Kearny to Iceland.

The pack was still in contact, but all further attacks were frustrated by the escort. Veronica made a determined attack on a contact and claimed a kill, but no U boat loss was confirmed. A Catalina flying air cover also bombed U-558 which was damaged, but continued to shadow until the attack was called off.

On the night of 17/18 October the pack tried again; all attacks were repelled but U-101 fired on Broadwater, causing her mortal damage; she remained afloat for another 12 hours, but had to be abandoned and sunk.

On 18 October BdU ordered the attack discontinued. Mordbrenner, which had never completely formed, was dissolved, the remaining boats being sent west to form a new patrol line off the coast of Canada. The remaining boats were moved east to form a new patrol line, Reisswolf, south-east of Greenland.

SC 48 continued without further loss, the 31 ships arriving at Liverpool on 22 October 1941. The 11 stragglers which had become separated in the storm on 10 October had been gathered up by Camrose and Rosthern. Led by Commodore Sanders in Castalia and with just two corvettes as escort this group was able to make the crossing without interference, arriving in Britain 10 days after the main body.

Conclusion

This was undoubtedly a victory for the U boat arm; SC 48 lost 9 ships of 51,093 tons, while the escort lost 2 ships sunk and 1 damaged; no U boats were lost. Some of the losses, in the face of a large and powerful escort force, can be attributed to Capt. Thebaud’s inexperience in convoy escort duty. This, and other cases, led to the practice of leaving the escort group commander of the convoy in charge of its defence, regardless of seniority; a major break with tradition. The attack on Kearny and the loss of American lives was seen as an affront to the United States, and was another step out of her isolation in World War II.

Tables

Allied ships sunk

Date Name Nationality Casualties Tonnage Sunk by…
14/15 October 1941 Silvercedar British 20 4354 GRT U-553
14/15 Ila Nor 14 1583 GRT U-553
15/16 Oct Empire Heron British 42 6023 GRT U-568
16/17 Oct Bold Venture Pan 17 3222 GRT U-553
16/17 W.C Teagle British 48 9552 GRT U-558
16/17 Erviken Nor 28 6595 GRT U-558
16/17 Rym Nor none 1369 GRT U-558
16/17 Evros Greek 30 5283 GRT U-432
16/17 Barfonn Nor 14 9739 GRT U-432

Allied warships hit

Date Name Nationality Casualties Type Fate Sunk by…
16/17 October 1941 Gladiolus British 89 Corvette sunk U-558
16/17 Oct Kearny US 11 Destroyer damaged U-568
17/18 Oct Broadwater British  ? Destroyer sunk U-101

U-boats hit

Date Number Type Captain Casualties Fate hit by…
18 October 1941 U-558 VIIC Krech none damaged Catalina flying boat

External links

References