Convoy RA 59
The convoy RA 59 was an allied northern sea convoy , which was put together in April 1944 in the Soviet Murmansk and drove largely unloaded to the Scottish Loch Ewe . The Allies lost a freighter (7176 GRT) and an airplane. On the German side, three submarines were lost.
Composition and securing
The convoy RA 59 consisted of 45 cargo ships. On April 28, 1944, they left the Kola Bay ( Lage ) off Murmansk in the direction of Loch Ewe ( Lage ). The convoy's commodore was Captain JO Dunn, who had embarked on the Fort Yukon . The extensive security consisted of the flak cruiser HMS Diadem , the escort carriers HMS Fencer and HMS Activity , the destroyers HMS Boadicea , HMS Ulysses , HMS Verulam , HMS Virago , HMS Walker , HMS Whitehall , HMS Milne , HMS Marne , HMS Matchless , HMS Meteor , HMS Musketeer , HMS Keppel , HMS Beagle , HMS Inconstant , HMS Westcott and HMS Wrestler , the corvette HMS Lotus and the Canadian frigates Cape Breton , Grou , Outremont and Waskesiu . Initially, the convoy group by the Soviet destroyer Gremjaschtschi and Rasjarenni , the minesweeper T-112 , T-114 , T-119 and U-Hunter BO-201 , BO-204 , BO-205 , BO-207 , BO-209 and BO-212 reinforced.
| Surname | Type | flag | Measurement in GRT | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Carnegie | freighter |
 United States
|
7176 | |
| Arunah S Abell | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Benjamin H Latrobe | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Benjamin Schlesinger | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Charles Henderson | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Dolabella | freighter |
 United Kingdom
|
8142 | |
| Edward Alexander | freighter |
United States
|
7201 | |
| Fort Brule | freighter |
United Kingdom
|
7133 | |
| Fort Columbia | freighter |
United Kingdom
|
7155 | |
| Fort Hall | freighter |
United Kingdom
|
7157 | |
| Fort Kullyspell | freighter |
United Kingdom
|
7190 | |
| Fort Yukon | freighter |
United Kingdom
|
7153 | |
| Francis Scott Key | freighter |
United States
|
7191 | |
| Francis Vigo | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| George Gale | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| George M Cohan | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| George T Angell | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Gilbert Stuart | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Grace Abbott | freighter |
United States
|
7191 | |
| Hawking Fudske | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Henry Villard | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| James Smith | freighter |
United States
|
7181 | |
| John B Lennon | freighter |
United States
|
7198 | |
| John Carver | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| John Davenport | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| John McDonogh | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| John T Holt | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Joseph N Nicolett | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Joshua Thomas | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Joyce Kilmer | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Julien Poydras | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Lapland | freighter |
United Kingdom
|
2897 | |
| Morris Hillquit | freighter |
United States
|
7210 | |
| Nicholas Biddle | freighter |
United States
|
7210 | |
| Noreg | freighter |
 Norway
|
7605 | |
| Pierre S Dupont | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Robert Eden | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| Thomas Sim Lee | freighter |
United States
|
7191 | |
| Townsend Harris | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| William D Byron | freighter |
United States
|
7210 | |
| William Matson | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| William McKinley | freighter |
United States
|
7200 | |
| William Moultrie | freighter |
United States
|
7177 | |
| William Pepper | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | |
| William S Thayer | freighter |
United States
|
7176 | Sunk by U 307 on April 30th |
course
After the convoy was captured by the German aerial reconnaissance around midnight on April 28, 1944, two submarine groups were assigned to it. From April 30th, the groups “Donner” with U 277 , U 278 , U 307 , U 387 and U 636 and “Keil” with U 711 , U 739 , U 674 , U 354 , U 315 , U 959 and U 313 stood at the convoy. In doing so, U 307 sank the freighter William S. Thayer (7176 GRT). Further attacks by the submarines - including on May 1 - failed. A swordfish of the escort carrier Fencers sank U 277 ( Lage ). On May 2, the Swordfish sank two other submarines, U 959 ( Lage ) and U 674 ( Lage ), which attacked the convoy. After U 278 was attacked by three aircraft on May 3, it shot down one machine and escaped undamaged. On May 6th the convoy reached Loch Ewe.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronik des Maritime War 1939–1945, March 1944. Retrieved January 18, 2017 .
- ^ Arnold Hague: Arnold Hague Convoy Database, RA Convoy Series. Retrieved January 18, 2017 .
Map with all coordinates: