Convoy HX 112

The convoy HX 112 was an allied convoy of the HX convoy series to supply Great Britain during World War II . He left Halifax, Canada on March 1, 1941 , and arrived in Liverpool on March 20 . The Allies lost five cargo ships with 34,505 GRT to German submarines, while on the German side the U 99 and U 100 submarines were sunk. The commander of U 99 , Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer , the most successful submarine commander of the Second World War after sunk tonnage, was taken prisoner by the British .

Composition and securing

The convoy HX 112 consisted of 42 cargo ships. On March 1, 1941, they left Halifax ( Lage ) for Liverpool ( Lage ). The convoy's commodore was Rear Admiral FB Watson, who had embarked on the Tortuguero . At the time of departure he had no fuse. It was not until March 5 that the heavy cruiser Norfolk was added to the convoy. On March 10, the Canadian corvettes Bittersweet and Fennel joined the convoy for one day . On March 15th, when the convoy approached the western approach, the 5th Escort Group took over the security with the destroyers Walker , Vanoc , Volunteer , Sardonyx , Scimitar and the corvettes Bluebell and Hydrangea . 44.63 -63.5453.44 -3.04

Surname	flag	Measurement in GRT	Whereabouts
Ahamo	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,621
Auris	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,030
Beduin	Norway Norway	8,136	sunk by U 99 on March 16 ( Lage ) 61.033333 -11.883333
Bic Island	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,000
Black Condor	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,358
Bonde	Norway Norway	1,570
British Commodore	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,865
British Sincerity	Norway Norway	8,538
Chaucer	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,792
Cistula	Netherlands Netherlands	8.097
City of Oxford	United Kingdom United Kingdom	2,759
Dalcross	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,557
Diloma	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,146
Elona	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,192
Erodona	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,207	damaged by U 110 on March 15 ( Lage ) 61.333333 -17
Everleigh	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,222
Ferm	Norway Norway	6,592	sunk by U 99 on March 16 ( Lage ) 60.7 -13.166667
Franche-Comte	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9.314	Damaged by U 99 on March 16
Gloucester City	United Kingdom United Kingdom	3,071
Ixion	United Kingdom United Kingdom	10,263
JB White	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,375	sunk by U 99 on March 16 ( Lage ) 60.95 -12.45
Katendrecht	Netherlands Netherlands	5,099
Krorshamn	Sweden Sweden	6,673	sunk by U 99 on March 16
Lancaster Castle	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,172
Lima	Sweden Sweden	3,762
Margarita Chandris	Greece Greece	5,401
Mosli	Norway Norway	8,291
Mount Cassion	Greece Greece	7.914
Norefjord	Norway Norway	3,082
Ocana	Netherlands Netherlands	6,256
Oilreliance	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,666
Reynolds	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5.113
Robert F hand	United Kingdom United Kingdom	12,197
San Cipriano	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,966
Silvercedar	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,354
Staad Haarlem	Netherlands Netherlands	4,518
Tortuguero	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,285
Traveler	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,963
Trekieve	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,244
Venetia	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,728	sunk by U 99 on March 16 ( Lage ) 61 -12.6
Westland	Netherlands Netherlands	5,888
Winamac	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,621

course

On March 15, 1941 at around 10 p.m., the German submarine U 110 was about 280 km south of Iceland when it picked up the screw noise of a distant convoy via its listening device. Controlling the noise of the screws, U 110 sighted the convoy moving eastwards towards midnight. After a report was sent to the commander of the submarines , the U 110 got into firing position and hit the petrol-laden tanker Erodona with the stern torpedo, which was badly damaged after an explosion on board and broke apart. 36 out of 51 crew members were killed. The boat evaded the subsequent depth charges by the destroyers Scimitar , Vanoc and Walker and kept in touch with the convoy. At 04:10 a.m. U 110 shot four bow torpedoes and one stern torpedo into the convoy, none of which hit. Although U 110 was supposed to keep in contact with the convoy, it lost it due to a technical defect and because it had to dive because of a British Sunderland aircraft. Around noon, the U 37 , which was assigned to the convoy, sighted the convoy and brought U 99 and U 100 to them. Around 10 p.m. on March 16, U 99 attacked the convoy by driving over water into the convoy and unleashing eight torpedoes that hit seven different ships. The Norwegian tanker Ferm , which had loaded heating oil and the Beduin with a petroleum load , the Swedish Korshamn and the British JB White with steel and newspaper, and Venetia were sunk . A total of 30 crew members died on these ships. Meanwhile, the British tanker Franche Comte , which was also hit, was only damaged. In the meantime U 110 and U 74 had also arrived with the convoy and tried to get into position. On March 17 at around 1:30 a.m., the destroyer Walker U 100 located under water and called at the site. Together with the destroyer Vanoc , they dropped 29 depth charges, which were set at different depths. Due to a close hit, the U 100 got out of control and sank to 230 meters. The commandant Kapitänleutnant Schepke then inflated all the diving cells so that the boat came back to the surface at around 3 a.m. The Vanoc located the boat with its radar, drove at full speed towards the unmanoeuvrable submarine and rammed it into the tower. Schepke, who was on the tower, was killed. The submarine then sank quickly, so that only 6 crew members were able to free themselves from the boat and were rescued. During this operation, the destroyer Walker had an underwater location of a submarine again, ran into the spot and dropped 6 depth charges. These exploded near the boat and caused severe damage, so that U 99 sank uncontrollably. The commander Kapitänleutnant Kretschmer appeared and tried to escape in the dark. But since neither the diesel engines nor the electric motors were working, the Vanoc and the Walker caught him and shot him. Thereupon Kretschmer initiated the scuttling and was rescued with most of the crew. Three crew members remained missing. The convoy arrived in Liverpool on March 20, 1941. A total of five ships with 34,505 GRT were sunk.

The German submarines U 99 and U 100 were among the most famous boats at the time. Joachim Schepke, commander of U 100, was a favorite of Nazi propaganda and in 1940 published the book "U-boat drivers of today" which he illustrated himself. After his death, Schepke continued to be portrayed by the Propaganda Ministry as a special role model for German youth. Otto Kretschmer, the commander of U 99, was at that time and remained so until the end of the war, the most successful submarine commander of the Second World War after sunk tonnage.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945, March 1941 , accessed on February 18, 2019.
^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed February 18, 2019.
↑ Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Jäger 1939-1942, Wilhelm Heine Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X , pp. 309-314.
^ Joachim Schepke: Submarine drivers of today. German publisher, Berlin 1940.
↑ John Costello, Terry Hughes: Atlantic Battle - The War at Sea 1939-1945. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1981, most recently Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1995, ISBN 3-404-65038-7 , p. 198.

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

[Rohwer-1] Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945, March 1941 , accessed on February 18, 2019.

[2] Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed February 18, 2019.

[3] Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Jäger 1939-1942, Wilhelm Heine Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X , pp. 309-314.

[4] Joachim Schepke: Submarine drivers of today. German publisher, Berlin 1940.

[5] John Costello, Terry Hughes: Atlantic Battle - The War at Sea 1939-1945. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1981, most recently Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1995, ISBN 3-404-65038-7 , p. 198.


1939	HX 1 • HXF 1 • HX 2 • HXF 2 • HX 3 • HX 3S • HX 4 • HX 5 • HX 6 • HXF 6 • HX 7 • HXF 7 • HX 8 • HXF 8 • HX 9 • HXF 9 • HX 10 • HXF 10 • HX 11 • HXF 11 • HX 12 • HXF 12 • HX 13 • HXF 13 • HX 14 • HXF 14
1940	HX 15 • HXF 15 • HX 16 • HXF 16 • HX 17 • HXF 17 • HX 18 • HXF 18 • HX 19 • HXF 19 • HX 20 • HXF 20 • HX 21 • HX 22 • HX 23 • HX 24 • HX 25 • HX 26 • HX 27 • HX 28 • HX 29 • HX 30 • HX 31 • HX 32 • HX 33 • HX 34 • HX 35 • HX 36 • HX 37 • HX 38 • HX 39 • HX 40 • HX 41 • HX 42 • HX 43 • HX 44 • HX 45 • HX 46 • HX 47 • HX 48 • HX 49 • HX 50 • HX 51 • HX 52 • HX 53 • HX 54 • HX 55 • HX 56 • HX 57 • HX 58 • HX 59 • HX 60 • HX 61 • HX 62 • HX 63 • HX 64 • HX 65 • HX 66 • HX 67 • HX 68 • HX 69 • HX 70 • HX 71 • HX 72 • HX 73 • HX 74 • HX 75 • HX 76 • HX 77 • HX 78 • HX 79 • HX 80 • HX 81 • HX 82 • HX 83 • HX 84 • HX 85 • HX 85/1 • HX 86 • HX 87 • HX 88 • HX 89 • HX 90 • HX 91 • HX 92 • HX 93 • HX 94 • HX 95 • HX 96 • HX 97 • HX 98 • HX 98/1 • HX 99
1941	HX 100 • HX 101 • HX 102 • HX 103 • HX 104 • HX 105 • HX 106 • HX 107 • HX 108 • HX 109 • HX 110 • HX 111 • HX 112 • HX 113 • HX 114 • HX 115 • HX 116 • HX 117 • HX 118 • HX 119A • HX 119B • HX 120 • HX 121 • HX 122 • HX 123 • HX 124 • HX 125A • HX 125B • HX 126 • HX 127 • HX 128 • HX 129 • HX 130 • HX 131 • HX 132 • HX 133 • HX 134 • HX 135 • HX 136 • HX 137 • HX 138 • HX 139 • HX 140 • HX 141 • HX 142 • HX 143 • HX 144 • HX 145 • HX 146 • HX 147 • HX 148 • HX 149 • HX 150 • HX 151 • HX 152 • HX 153 • HX 154 • HX 155 • HX 156 • HX 157 • HX 158 • HX 159 • HX 160 • HX 161 • HX 162 • HX 163 • HX 164 • HX 165 • HX 166 • HX 167
1942	HX 168 • HX 169 • HX 170 • HX 171 • HX 172 • HX 173 • HX 174 • HX 175 • HX 176 • HX 177 • HX 178 • HX 179 • HX 180 • HX 181 • HX 182 • HX 183 • HX 184 • HX 185 • HX 186 • HX 187 • HX 188 • HX 189 • HX 190 • HX 191 • HX 192 • HX 193 • HX 194 • HX 195 • HX 196 • HX 197 • HX 198 • HX 199 • HX 200 • HX 201 • HX 202 • HX 203 • HX 204 • HX 205 • HX 206 • HX 207 • HX 208 • HX 209 • HX 210 • HX 211 • HX 212 • HX 213 • HX 214 • HX 215 • HX 216 • HX 217 • HX 218 • HX 219 • HX 220 • HX 221
1943	HX 222 • HX 223 • HX 224 • HX 225 • HX 226 • HX 227 • HX 228 • HX 229 • HX 229A ; • HX 230 • HX 231 • HX 232 • HX 233 • HX 234 • HX 235 • HX 236 • HX 237 • HX 238 • HX 239 • HX 240 • HX 241 • HX 242 • HX 243 • HX 244 • HX 245 • HX 246 • HX 247 • HX 248 • HX 249 • HX 250 • HX 251 • HX 252 • HX 253 • HX 254 • HX 255 • HX 256 • HX 257 • HX 258 • HX 259 • HX 260 • HX 261 • HX 262 • HX 263 • HX 264 • HX 265 • HX 266 • HX 267 • HX 268 • HX 269 • HX 270 • HX 271 • HX 272 • HX 273
1944	HX 274 • HX 275 • HX 276 • HX 277 • HX 278 • HX 279 • HX 280 • HX 281 • HX 282 • HX 283 • HX 284 • HX 285 • HX 286 • HX 287 • HX 288 • HX 289 • HX 290 • HX 291 • HX 292 • HX 293 • HX 294 • HX 295 • HX 296 • HX 297 • HX 298 • HX 299 • HX 300 • HX 301 • HX 302 • HX 303 • HX 304 • HX 305 • HX 306 • HX 307 • HX 308 • HX 309 • HX 310 • HX 311 • HX 312 • HX 313 • HX 314 • HX 315 • HX 316 • HX 317 • HX 318 • HX 319 • HX 320 • HX 321 • HX 322 • HX 323 • HX 324 • HX 325 • HX 326 • HX 327 • HX 328 • HX 329
1945	HX 330 • HX 331 • HX 332 • HX 333 • HX 334 • HX 335 • HX 336 • HX 337 • HX 338 • HX 339 • HX 340 • HX 341 • HX 342 • HX 343 • HX 344 • HX 345 • HX 346 • HX 347 • HX 348 • HX 349 • HX 350 • HX 351 • HX 352 • HX 353 • HX 354 • HX 355 • HX 356 • HX 357 • HX 358 • HX 359