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Convoy ON 144
Part of Battle of the Atlantic
HMS Vervain 4 inch Mk IX gun 1942 IWM A 10666
Bow of the corvette HMS Vervain
Date15–18 November 1942
LocationNorth Atlantic
Result German tactical victory
Belligerents
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Norway Norway
War Ensign of Germany 1938-1945 Germany
Commanders and leaders
CAPT J K Brook RNR
LCDR Monssen RNorN[1]
Admiral Karl Dönitz
Strength
33 freighters[1]
5 corvettes
10 submarines
Casualties and losses
5 freighters sunk (25,396 GRT)
86 killed/drowned
1 corvette sunk
47 killed/drowned
1 submarine sunk
50 killed/drowned


Convoy ON 144 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the second World War. It was the 144th of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed Liverpool on 7 November 1942 and were joined on 8 November [2] by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-6 consisting of the Flower class corvettes Vervain, Potentilla, Eglantine, Montbretia and Rose[1] and the convoy rescue ship Perth.[3] Group B-6 had sailed without the destroyers Fame and Viscount which had been damaged in the battle for eastbound convoy SC 104. The United States Coast Guard cutters Bibb, Duane, and Ingham accompanied the convoy from the Western Approaches with ships that detached for Iceland on 15 November.[4]

Background[]

As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the second happy time, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) or commander in chief of U-Boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through B-Dienst decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3.[5] However, of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943, only 20 percent lost ships to U-boat attack.

The Norwegian-manned corvettes of escort group B-6 fought three of these convoy battles in sequential voyages with convoys SC 104, ON 144, and HX 217.[6]

15 November[]

After rendezvousing with convoys to and from Iceland, Convoy ON 144 was discovered and shadowed by U-521.[7]

16 November[]

When initial attempts to summon additional U-boats to the convoy were unsuccessful, U-521 was granted permission to attack, and missed with a salvo of six torpedoes.[7] Rose unsuccessfully counterattacked with depth charges.[1]

17 November[]

U-184, U-262 and U-264 found the convoy and launched a simultaneous attack after sunset. U-262 missed with three torpedoes.[7] U-264 sank the 6,696-ton Greek freighter Mount Taurus, and U-184 sank the 3,192-ton British freighter Widestone.[2]

18 November[]

U-624, U-522, U-521, U-224, U-383, U-454 and U-753 launched torpedoes in the pre-dawn hours.[7] U-624 sank the 5,344-ton British tanker President Sergent and the 4,732-ton American freighter Parismina and damaged the 5,432-ton American freighter Yaka which was later sunk by U-522.[2] The Type 271 centimeter-wavelength radar-equipped corvettes counterattacked, and U-184 was sunk by one of those attacks. Montbretia was torpedoed by U-262 and sank while still moving forward.[7]

19 November[]

The U-boats had broken off the engagement by the time the four surviving corvettes were reinforced by the destroyers HMS Firedrake and HMS Badger, and the Western Local Escort Force assumed responsibility for the convoy on 20 November.[7]

Ships in Convoy[]

Name[4] Flag[4] Dead[2] Tonnage (GRT)[4] Cargo[2] Notes[4]
Agia Marina (1912) Flag of Greece Greece 4,151 Destination Halifax
Baxtergate (1925) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 5,531 Destination New York City
Bestik (1920) Flag of Norway Norway 2,684 Destination New York City
Borgfred (1925) Flag of Norway Norway 2,183 Coal Destination Halifax
Cetus (1920) Flag of Norway Norway 2,614 Destination New York City
Dimitros Inglessis (1918) Flag of Greece Greece 5,275 Destination St John, New Brunswick
Empire Stour (1930) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 4,696 Ferro manganese Destination Sydney, Nova Scotia
Fjallfoss (1919) Flag of Iceland Iceland 1,451 Joined from Iceland on 15 November
Godafoss (1921) Flag of Iceland Iceland 1,542 Joined from Iceland on 15 November
Governor John Lind (1918) US flag 48 stars United States 3,431 Joined from Iceland on 15 November; Destination Halifax
Guido (1920) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 3,921 General cargo Destination New York City
Ingertre (1921) Flag of Norway Norway 2,462 Destination Halifax
Leonidas N. Condylis (1912) Flag of Greece Greece 3,923 Destination Halifax
Maycrest (1913) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 5,923 Destination New York City; ship's master was convoy vice-commodore
Minister Wedel (1930) Flag of Norway Norway 6,833 Destination New York City
Monkleigh (1927) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 5,203 Destination New York City
Moscha D. Kydoniefs (1915) Flag of Greece Greece 3,874 Destination Halifax
Mount Taurus (1920) Flag of Greece Greece 2 6,696 In Ballast Sunk by U-624
Nordeflinge (1942) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 2,873 Destination New York City
Norlom (1919) Flag of Norway Norway 6,412 Destination Halifax
Orwell (1905) Flag of Norway Norway 7,920 Destination New York City
Parismina (1908) US flag 48 stars United States 22 4,732 In Ballast Joined from Iceland on 15 November; sunk by U-624 on 18 Nov
Perth (1915) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 2,259 Convoy rescue ship
President Sergent (1923) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 20 5,344 In Ballast Carried convoy commodore Capt J K Brook RNR. Sunk by U-624 on 18 Nov
Reigh Count (1907) Flag of Panama Panama 4,657 Destination New York City
Robert E. Hopkins (1921) US flag 48 stars United States 6,625 Destination New York City
Selfoss (1914) Flag of Iceland Iceland 775 Joined from Iceland on 15 November
Suderøy (1913) Flag of Norway Norway 7,562 Destination New York City
Tahchee (1914) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 6,508 Destination New York City
Titanian (1924) Flag of Norway Norway 4,880 Coal Destination Saint John, New Brunswick
Van de Velde (1919) Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 6,389 Coal Destination Boston
Widestone (1920) Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 42 3,192 3,400 tons coal Sunk by U-184
Yaka (1920) US flag 48 stars United States 0 5,432 In Ballast Joined from Iceland on 15 November; sunk by U-522
Yemassee (1922) Flag of Panama Panama 2,001 Joined from Iceland on 15 November; Destination New York City

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Rohwer & Hummelchen pp.177&178
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Hague pp.158&161
  3. Milner pp.180-181
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/on/index.html. Retrieved 2012-09-09. 
  5. Tarrant p.108
  6. Hague pp.132, 137-138, 161-162, 164, 181
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Blair pp.118-120

References[]

  • Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942-1945. Random House. ISBN 0-679-45742-9. 
  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-019-3. 
  • Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-450-0. 
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I The Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1943. Little, Brown and Company. 
  • Rohwer, J. and Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X. 
  • Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive 1914-1945. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-520-X. 
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Convoy ON 144 and the edit history here.
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