Convoy SC 107

Convoy SC 107
Part of Battle of the Atlantic
File:Digby 1.jpg RCAF Digby bomber about 1942
Date 29 October–4 November 1942 Location North Atlantic Result German tactical victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
VADM B C Watson LCDR D.W. Piers RCN	Admiral Karl Dönitz
Strength
39 freighters 2 destroyers 6 corvettes	17 submarines
Casualties and losses
15 freighters sunk (83,790GRT) 150 killed/drowned	2 submarines sunk 100 killed/drowned

Convoy SC 107 was the 107th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 24 October 1942 and were found and engaged by a wolfpack of U-boats which sank fifteen ships. It was the heaviest loss of ships from any trans-Atlantic convoy through the winter of 1942-43.

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. However, only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943 lost ships to U-boat attack.

Discovery

Convoy SC 107 was found and reported by U-522 on 29 October as the Western Local Escort Force turned the convoy over to Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group C-4 consisting of the Canadian River class destroyer Restigouche with the Flower class corvettes Amherst, Arvida, Sherbrooke, Celandine, Algoma, Moose Jaw, and the Convoy rescue ship Stockport. As wolfpack Veilchen assembled to intercept the convoy, U-520 was sunk by a No. 10 Squadron RCAF Digby bomber, and U-658 was sunk by a RCAF Lockheed Hudson.

First attack on 1/2 November

Stockport and Restigouche located 25 HF/DF transmissions on the afternoon of 1 November, but the single destroyer was unable to investigate all of them. While Arvida had a RADAR malfunction, U-boat Ace Kapitänleutnant Siegfried von Forstner's U-402 penetrated the starboard side on the convoy screen about midnight to torpedo the British freighter Empire Sunrise. Restigouche narrowly avoided torpedoes launched a short time later by U-381. While Celandine dropped astern to screen Stockport rescuing survivors from Empire Sunrise, U-402 twice more penetrated the convoy screen where Celadine had been and torpedoed the Greek freighter Rinos and British freighters Dalcroy, Empire Antelope, and Empire Leopard. U-522 torpedoed the Greek freighter Mount Pelion and British freighters Hartington and Maratima. Kapitänleutnant von Forstner would receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his work in U-402 during this convoy and in Convoy SC-118 on the next patrol.

2 November

Stormy weather caused the U-boats to lose contact after U-522 torpedoed Greek freighter Parthenon in a daylight attack. The escort was reinforced by the V class destroyer Vanessa from convoy HX-213 before nine U-boats regained contact when visibility improved on 3 November.

USS Schenck (DD-159)

Second attack on 3/4 November

U-521 torpedoed the American tanker Hahira in a daylight attack on 3 November. U-89 torpedoed the convoy commodore's freighter Jeypore after sunset on 3 November while U-132 torpedoed the Dutch freighter Hobbema and British freighters Empire Lynx and Hatimura. U-132 is believed to have been destroyed by the detonation of the ammunition cargo of the latter ship.

On 4 November, Arvida and Celandine were detached to Iceland with Stockport and two tugs overcrowded with 240 survivors. U-89 torpedoed the British freighter Daleby shortly before the convoy escort was reinforced by the USCG Treasury Class Cutter Ingham and the Wickes class destroyers Leary and Schenck from Iceland. No. 120 Squadron RAF B-24 Liberators scrambled from Iceland drove off the remaining U-boats, and the convoy reached Liverpool on 10 November.

Ships in convoy

Name	Flag	Dead	Tonnage gross register tons (GRT)	Cargo	Notes
Agios Georgios (1911)	Greece		4,248	Grain & general cargo	Survived this convoy and convoy ONS 5
Ann Skakel (1920)	United States		4,949		Detached to Iceland 7 Nov; survived this convoy and convoy SC 118
Benedick (1928)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		6,978	Furnace fuel oil	Survived this convoy, convoy SC 122 and convoy SC 130
Berkel (1930)	Netherlands		2,130	Lumber	Survived this convoy, convoy ON 154 and convoy ONS 5
Bruarfoss (1927)	Iceland		1,580		Detached to Iceland 7 Nov
Carrier (1921)	Norway		3,036	Grain
Dalcroy (1930)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	0	4,558	1,809 tons steel & lumber	Sunk by U-402
Daleby (1929)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	0	4,640	8,500 tons grain	Veteran of convoy SC 26; sunk by U-89
Empire Antelope (1919)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	0	4,945	5,560 tons general cargo	Veteran of convoy SC 94; sunk by U-402
Empire Leopard (1917)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	37	5,676	7,410 tons zinc concentrates	Sunk by U-402
Empire Lynx (1917)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	0	6,379	7,850 tons general cargo	Sunk by U-132
Empire Shackleton (1941)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		7,068	Steel & lumber	CAM ship; survived to be sunk the following month in convoy ON 154
Empire Sunrise (1941)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	0	7,459	10,000 tons steel & lumber	Sunk by U-402 & U-84
Empire Union (1924)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		5,952	General cargo	Survived to be sunk the following month in convoy ON 154
Fairwater (1928)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		4,108	Steel & lumber
Geisha (1921)	Norway		5,113	General cargo	Ship's master was convoy vice-commodore
Granfoss (1913)	Norway		1,461	Flour
Hahira (1920)	United States	3	6,855	8,985 tons furnace fuel oil	Sunk by U-521
Hartington (1932)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	24	5,496	Tanks & 8,000 tons wheat	Sunk by U-522, U-438 & U-521
Hatimura (1918)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	4	6,690	Food, steel, ammunition & explosives	Sunk by U-132
Hobbema (1918)	Netherlands	28	5,507	7,000 tons explosives & general cargo	Sunk by U-132
Janeta (1929)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		4,312	Steel & lumber	Survived this convoy and convoy ON 154
Jeypore (1920)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	1	5,318	6,200 tons explosives & general cargo	Carried convoy commodore VADM B C Watson CB DSO; sunk by U-89
L V Stanford (1921)	United States		7,138	Fuel oil	Survived this convoy and convoy SC 121
Maratima (1912)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	32	5,804	7,167 tons explosives & general cargo	Sunk by U-522
Marsa (1928)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		4,405	Steel & lumber
Mount Pelion (1917)	Greece	7	6,625	7,452 tons general cargo & trucks	Veteran of convoy SC 94; sunk by U-522
New York City (1917)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		2,710	General cargo	Survived this convoy and convoy SC 118
Olney (1928)	United States		7,294	Diesel	Survived this convoy and convoy ON 154
Oropos (1913)	Greece		4,474	Grain
PLM 17 (1922)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		4,008	Phosphates	Survived damaged by depth charge explosions
Pacific (1914)	Sweden		4,978	General cargo
Parthenon (1908)	Greece	6	3,189	Paper	Sunk by U-522
USS Pleiades (1939)	United States		3,600		Veteran of convoy ON 67; detached to Iceland
Rinos (1919)	Greece	8	4,649	6,151 tons general cargo & trucks	Sunk by U-402
Stockport (1911)	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland		1,583		convoy rescue ship
Tidewater (1930)	United States		8,886	Furnace fuel oil
Titus (1930)	Netherlands		1,712	Flour	Veteran of convoy SC 42
Vest (1920)	Norway		5,074	Grain & lumber	Survived this convoy and convoy ON 154

References

• 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. 
• 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.