Convoy HX 231

The convoy HX 231 was an Allied convoy of the HX convoy series for supplying Great Britain during World War II . He left New York on March 25, 1943 and arrived in Liverpool on April 10 . The Allies lost six cargo ships with 41,500 GRT to German submarines, while two submarines were lost on the German side.

Composition and securing

The convoy HX 231 consisted of 62 cargo ships. On March 25, 1943, they left New York ( Lage ) for Liverpool ( Lage ). The convoy's commodore was Admiral CG Ramsey, who had embarked on the Tyndareus . From the departure until April 31, only a few security vehicles secured the convoy. From April 31st, the British escort group B7 (Cdr. Gretton) took over the escort to Liverpool with the frigate Tay , the destroyer Vidette and the corvettes Alisma , Pink , Snowflake and Loosestrife . 40.66 -74.0353.44 -3.04

Surname	flag	Measurement in GRT	Whereabouts
Amastra	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,031
Ancylus	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,017
Aruba	Netherlands Netherlands	3,979
Asbjorn	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,387
Athel Regent	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,881
Athos	Norway Norway	8,267
Atlantida	Honduras Honduras	4.191
Beaverhill	United Kingdom United Kingdom	10,041
Blitar	Netherlands Netherlands	7,065	sunk by U 632 on April 5th ( Lage ) 57.75 -27.5
British Ardor	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7.124	sunk by U 706 on April 5th ( Lage ) 58.133333 -34.066667
British Confidence	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,494
City of Lyons	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,063
Clan Cameron	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,243
Eli Whitney	United States United States	7.181
Empire Chief	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,040
Empire Coleridge	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,798
Empire Dickens	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,819
Empire Marvell	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,812
Erin	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,841
Esso Dover	United States United States	8,880
FJ Wolfe	United Kingdom United Kingdom	12,190
Fort Finlay	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7.134
Fort Jemseg	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7.134
Fort Thompson	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7.134
Geo W McKnight	United Kingdom United Kingdom	12,502
Georgian	United States United States	5,825
Jamaica Planter	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,098
Joel R Poinsett	United States United States	7.176
Katy	Norway Norway	6,825
Kent	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,697
Lady Rodney	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,194
Laurelwood	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,347
Lochmonar	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9.412
Manchester Port	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,071
Mobilgas	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,925
Mosdale	Norway Norway	3,022
Nassa	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,134
Noah Webster	United States United States	7.176
Norheim	Norway Norway	9,816
Norvinn	Panama Panama	6.322
Ocean Volunteer	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7.174
Ornefjell	Norway Norway	1,334
Pandorian	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4.159
Pierre Soule	United States United States	7.191
Pleiades	United States United States	3,600
Port Sydney	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,129
Raphael Semmes	United States United States	6.165
Reinholt	Norway Norway	4,799
Salland	Netherlands Netherlands	6,447
Saluta	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6261
San Adolfo	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,365
San Ambrosio	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,410
Santa Maria	United States United States	6,507
Scebeli	Norway Norway	3,025
Shillong	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,529	sunk by U 635 on April 5th ( Lage ) 57.166667 -35.5
Slemmestad	Norway Norway	4,258
Sovac	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,724
Stephen C Foster	United States United States	7.106
Sunoil	United States United States	9.005	sunk by U 563 on April 5th ( Lage ) 58.266667 -34.233333
Thomas Sumter	United States United States	7.177
Tjibadak	Netherlands Netherlands	7,083
Torr Head	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,021
Tulsa	United States United States	5,083
Tyndareus	United Kingdom United Kingdom	11,361
USS Merak	United States United States	6,982
Vaalaren	Sweden Sweden	3,406	sunk by U 229 on April 5th ( Lage ) 58 -34
Waroonga	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,365	sunk by U 635 on April 5th
William Mulholland	United States United States	7.176
William Whipple	United States United States	7.181

course

On April 4, 1943, the German submarine U 530 , which was marching back from the operational area to its base in France, sighted the convoy. Thereupon U 229 and U 532 were also assigned to him. Three more boats and two more boats reach the convoy by nightfall. During the night U 635 attacked the Shillong, which sank with the loss of 71 of its 78 crew members. Then U 635 sank the freighter Waroonga, which took 19 of 132 people with it. Subsequently, U 229 destroyed the Swedish freighter Valaaren , which was hanging behind the convoy. The entire 38-man crew was killed. In the meantime, the Allied security vehicles located U 572 during an attempted attack and rammed it. On the day of April 5, several Consolidated B-24 "Liberators" of RAF Squadron 86 appeared and tried to thwart further submarine attacks. Nevertheless, U 563 succeeded in torpedoing and damaging the Sunoil tanker , which had fallen back a little because of an engine failure . Later, U 530 sank him , losing the entire 69-man crew. In the afternoon, U 706 hit the tanker British Ardor and sank it, whereby the entire crew could be saved. Meanwhile, a "Liberator" of the RAF Squadron 120 sank U 635 ( Lage ) with the entire 47-man crew near the convoy . On the night of April 6, U 632 hit the freighter Blitar, which sank and dragged 26 seamen with it. When U 632 ( Lage ) wanted to launch another attack on the afternoon of April 6th, a Liberator from RAF Squadron 86 hit it with depth charges, whereupon it sank quickly and the entire crew of 48 men was killed. This was followed by further attacks by Allied aircraft and security vehicles on U 306 and U 594 , which were slightly damaged in the process. In the meantime, the 4th Support Group with the destroyers Inglefield , Fury , Eclipse and Icarus arrived at the convoy and, together with the air security, pushed the sentient submarines U 270 , U 229 , U 564 , U 134 , U 563 and on April 7th in the morning U 260 from. A total of six ships with 41,494 GRT were sunk. 58.333333 -31.86666758.033333 -28.7

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945, April 1943 , accessed on May 5, 2020.
^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed May 6, 2020.
^ Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Gesjagt 1942-1945, Wilhelm Heine Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , pp. 341-342.

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

[Rohwer-1] Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945, April 1943 , accessed on May 5, 2020.

[2] Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed May 6, 2020.

[BlairS341-3] Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Gesjagt 1942-1945, Wilhelm Heine Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , pp. 341-342.


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