Convoy HX 65

The convoy HX 65 was an allied convoy of the HX convoy series to supply Great Britain during World War II . He left Halifax, Canada on August 12, 1940 and arrived in Liverpool on August 27 . The Allies lost eight cargo ships with 53,756 GRT to German submarines and aircraft .

Composition and securing

The convoy HX 65 consisted of 51 cargo ships. On August 12, 1940, they left Halifax ( Lage ) for Liverpool ( Lage ). Part of the escort continued to Methil ( Lage ). The convoy's commodore was Vice-Admiral BG Washington, who had embarked on the Harpalyce . After sailing, the Canadian destroyers Assiniboine and Saguenay and the auxiliary warships French and Laurier secured the convoy for a few days. Meanwhile, the British auxiliary cruiser Voltaire remained there as a backup until 23 August. From August 20, the British corvette Godetia and, from August 24, also the Canadian destroyer Skeena and the British destroyer Westcott, and from August 26, the British destroyers Jaguar and Javelin and the British sloop Lowestoft took over the escort. 44.63 -63.5453.44 -3.0456.1844 -3.0223

Surname	flag	Measurement in GRT	Whereabouts.
Agapenor	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,391
Alfred Olsen	Norway Norway	8,817
Anna Mazaraki	Greece Greece	5,411
Aspasia Nomikos	Greece Greece	4,855
Athelcrest	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,825	sunk by U 48 on August 25 ( Lage ) 58.4 -11.25
Atlantic	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,414
Axel Johnson	Sweden Sweden	4,915
Blairatholl	United Kingdom United Kingdom	3,319
British Lord	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,098
Canford Chine	United Kingdom United Kingdom	3,364
Cape York	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,027	sunk on August 26th by coastal flier group 506 ( location ) 57.7 -1.551389
Cetus	United Kingdom United Kingdom	2,614
Chama	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,077
City of Hankow	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,360
Conus	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,123
Cymbula	United Kingdom United Kingdom	8,082
Eclipse	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,767
Empire Merlin	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,763	sunk by U 48 on August 25 ( Lage ) 58.5 -10.25
FJ Wolfe	United Kingdom United Kingdom	12,190
Remote bank	United States United States	4,333
Fircrest	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,394	sunk by U 124 on August 25 ( Lage ) 58.866667 -6.566667
Gard	Norway Norway	8,259
Gitano	United Kingdom United Kingdom	3,956
Harpalyce	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,169	sunk by U 124 on August 25th
Housatonic	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,559
Inverlee	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,158
Juno	United Kingdom United Kingdom	1,763
La Brea	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6,665	sunk by U 48 on August 24 ( Lage ) 57.4 -11.35
Lodestone	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,877
Manchester Merchant	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,264
Maplewood	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,566
Nellie	Greece Greece	4,826
Nerissa	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,583
Nikoklis	Greece Greece	3,576
Nordlys	United Kingdom United Kingdom	3,762
Pecten	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,468	sunk by U 57 on August 25 ( Lage ) 56.366667 -7.916667
Prins Maurits	Netherlands Netherlands	1,287
Rangitane	United Kingdom United Kingdom	16,712
Reedpool	United Kingdom United Kingdom	4,848
Regent panther	United Kingdom United Kingdom	9,556
Remuera	United Kingdom United Kingdom	11,445	sunk on August 26th by coastal flier group 506 ( location ) 57.833333 -1.9
Sitala	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6.218
solarium	United Kingdom United Kingdom	6.239
Stakesby	United Kingdom United Kingdom	3,900
Statesman	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7,939
Taria	Netherlands Netherlands	10,354
Torr Head	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,021
Torvanger	Norway Norway	6,568
Uskbridge	United Kingdom United Kingdom	2,715
Welsh Prince	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,148
Winkleigh	United Kingdom United Kingdom	5,468

course

During the course of August 24, 1940, the convoy had been split in the area of the Western Approaches . One part (sometimes referred to as the HX 65A convoy) continued towards Methil on the Scottish east coast, while the other part went to Liverpool. Two ships that left the convoy due to engine problems were sunk as stragglers. On August 24, for example, the tanker La Brea , which was loaded with oil and fuel and was destroyed on August 24 by the German submarine U 48 . Another latecomer was the tanker Pecten , which U 57 sank on August 25th. 48 of the 56 sailors died. On the morning of August 25, U 48 sighted the convoy and fired torpedoes at the British tanker Athelcrest , killing 30 of the 36 crew members. The tanker, which was irreparably damaged, was sunk by the Godetia . Subsequently, U 48 sank the British freighter Empire Merlin , which had loaded sulfur, losing 35 men of the 36-man crew. In the evening U 124 reached the convoy north of the Hebrides and attacked over water. The two rear torpedoes that were aimed at an escort vehicle passed by. Then U 124 shot the four bow torpedoes at four different ships. The Fircrest sank with the loss of the entire 39-man crew and the Harpalyce , which had loaded steel and took 37 of its 42 crew members into the depths. The also hit Stakesby was only damaged and could be saved. On the following day, four Heinkel He 115s of the coastal flier group 506 reached the convoy and sank the passenger ship Remuera with torpedoes , from which the entire crew was rescued. In another air raid by eight Junkers Ju 88s , also from Kü.Fl.Gr. 506, the freighter Cape York was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned the following day.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed May 6, 2020.
^ Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Jäger 1939-1942, Wilhelm Heine Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 227.
↑ Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945, August 1940 , accessed on May 11, 2020.

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

[Hague-1] A ^b Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed May 6, 2020.

[BlairS227-2] Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Die Jäger 1939-1942, Wilhelm Heine Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 227.

[Rohwer-3] Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945, August 1940 , accessed on May 11, 2020.


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