Convoy HX 126
Convoy HX.126 | |||||
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Part of World War II | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
Admiral Karl Dönitz | Rear-Admiral F B Watson | ||||
Strength | |||||
9 U-boats |
33 merchant ships 22 escorts (1 during attacks) | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
9 merchant ships sunk |
Convoy HX 126 was the 126th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool.
Prelude[edit]
The ships departed Halifax on 10 May 1941.[1] At this time, there were no ecorts to provide protection against U-Boats for the whole duration of the journey across the North Atlantic. For the first leg of the crossing, the only escort was the armed merchant cruiser Aurania ( later renamed in HMS Artifex ) which task was to provide protection against merchant raiders.
On the U-Boat side, U-boats were reorganized in the group West after the attack on convoy OB-318 and were sent to scout for convoys ever more westward.[2]
Action[edit]
On 19 May, the U-94 found the convoy and she homes in other boats of the group West. The group starts attacking on 20 May :
- The first attack of U-94 in the early morning misses, but in a second attack she can sink 1[3] or 2 ships.[4][2] Then contact with the convoy is lost.
- Next U-556 finds the convoy at noon. In 2 attacks she can sink 3 ships.[3] As the convoy is still unescorted at the time, it starts to break up.
- U-111 finds the large 13,000 ton tanker San Felix and damages it with a torpedo, but the tanker does not belong to HX-126, it is an outbound vessel from the dispersed convoy OB-322.[5]
- In the evening U-98 sinks the freighter Rothermere.
- Around the same time U-94 regains contact with the convoy and sinks the tanker John P. Pedersen.
- Just before midnight, U-109 sinks the straggler Harpagus with 2 torpedoes. The Harpagus had fallen behind to rescue survivors from the Norman Monarch.
- The 12th escort group, which comprised at the time 5 destroyers, 4 corvettes and 2 A/S trawlers, arrives and starts to round up all dispersed ships and reforms the convoy. 5 of the escorts find the U-109 and manage to damage it with depth charges. As a result U-109 aborts to France.[6]
- In the early morning of the 21th, U-93 hits the tanker Elusa which is later scuttled.
- U-74 is damaged and forced to abort to France by depth charge attacks of the corvette Verbena and a 4-stack destroyer ( the Churchill[4] or the Burnham [7] )
When the German command learns that a strong escort has arrived, it disengages the U-Boats and reforms them in a new patrol line further South. Only the U-111 is left in place in order to transmit decoy radio signals. On 22 may U-111 finds and sinks the Barnby which has either straggled or romped from the convoy.
Ships in the convoy[edit]
Allied merchant ships[edit]
A total of 33 merchant vessels joined the convoy, either in Halifax or later in the voyage.[8]Surviving ships reached Liverpool on 28 May.[1]
Name | Flag | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Athelprincess (1929) | ![]() |
8,882 | |
Barnby (1940) | ![]() |
4,813 | Straggled and sunk by U-111[9] |
Baron Carnegie (1925) | ![]() |
3,178 | |
Baron Elgin (1933) | ![]() |
3,942 | |
Bente Maersk (1928) | ![]() |
5,722 | |
British Freedom (1928) | ![]() |
6,985 | Straggled 20 May |
British Security (1937) | ![]() |
8,470 | Sunk by U-556[10] |
British Splendour (1931) | ![]() |
7,138 | |
Cockaponset (1919) | ![]() |
5,995 | Sunk By U-556[11] |
Darlington Court (1936) | ![]() |
4,974 | Sunk By U-556[12] |
Dorelian (1923) | ![]() |
6,431 | |
Eemland (1906) | ![]() |
4,188 | Straggled 20 May |
Elusa (1936) | ![]() |
6,235 | Sunk By U-93[13] |
Empire Kudu (1919) | ![]() |
6,622 | |
Gretavale (1928) | ![]() |
4,586 | |
Hada County (1921) | ![]() |
4,853 | |
Harpagus (1940) | ![]() |
5,173 | Sunk By U-109.[14] Rescue Ship |
Havsten (1930) | ![]() |
6,161 | |
Hindustan (1940) | ![]() |
5,245 | Rear-Admiral F B Watson DSO (Commodore) |
John P Pedersen (1930) | ![]() |
6,128 | Sunk By U-94[15] |
Karabagh (1932) | ![]() |
6,427 | |
Morgenen (1930) | ![]() |
7,093 | |
Nicoya (1929) | ![]() |
5,364 | |
Norman Monarch (1937) | ![]() |
4,718 | Sunk By U-94[16] |
Regent Panther (1937) | ![]() |
9,556 | |
Ribera (1940) | ![]() |
5,559 | Straggled 20 May |
Rosewood (1931) | ![]() |
5,989 | Iceland |
Rothermere (1938) | ![]() |
5,356 | Sunk By U-98[17] |
Salando (1920) | ![]() |
5,272 | Returned |
Tongariro (1925) | ![]() |
8,720 | |
Toward (1923) | ![]() |
1,571 | Rescue Ship |
Westport (1918) | ![]() |
5,665 | Joined Ex Convoy SC 31 |
Winona County (1919) | ![]() |
6,159 | Returned |
Convoy escorts[edit]
A series of armed military ships escorted the convoy at various times during its journey.[8] Only one escort was present during the German attacks.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Hague p.127
- ^ a b Rohwer &Hummelchen, p.62
- ^ a b "HX-126".
- ^ a b Blair, p.286
- ^ "San Felix".
- ^ Hirschfeld, Wolfgang (1985). Feindfahrten. Logbuch eines U-Bootfunkers (in German). Miunchen: Heyne. pp. 48–70. ISBN 3-453-02051-0.
- ^ "U-74".
- ^ a b "Convoy HX.126". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Barnby – British steam merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "British Security – British motor tanker". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Cockaponset – British steam merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Darlington Court – British motor merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Elusa – Dutch motor tanker". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Harpagus – British steam merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "John P Pedersen – Norwegian motor tanker". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Norman Monarch – British steam merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ "Rothermere – British steam merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
Bibliography[edit]
- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
- Rohwer, J.; Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
- Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War [Volume 1 ]: The Hunters. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35260-8.