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