Convoy ON 154
Part of Battle of the Atlantic

HMCS St. Laurent
Date26–30 December 1942
Location
North Atlantic
Result German tactical victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Canada Canada		 Nazi Germany Germany
Commanders and leaders
VAdm. Wion de Malpas Egerton †
Lt.Cdr. Guy Windeyer RCN[1]		 Admiral Karl Dönitz
Strength
50 freighters
1 destroyer
5 corvettes
1 Special Service Vessel		 20 submarines
Casualties and losses
13 freighters sunk (66,922 GRT)
177 killed/drowned
1 Special Service Vessel sunk
369 killed/drowned		 1 submarine sunk
46 killed/drowned

Convoy ON 154 - also ON(S) 154 or ONS 154[Note 1] - was a North Atlantic convoy of the ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 154th of the numbered series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. It came under attack in December 1942 and lost 13 of its 50 freighters. One of the attacking U-boats was destroyed.

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.[2] 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.[3]

Forces involved

The ships departed Liverpool on 18 December 1942 and comprised 50 merchant ships, in ballast or carrying trade goods.[4] It was led by convoy commodore VAdm. W de M Egerton in Empire Shackleton. The convoy sailed in twelve columns of three or four ships each. The convoy formation was five miles (8 km) wide and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[5] ON 154 was a slow convoy, made up of ships that could manage 8 knots at best. Slow convoys were particularly vulnerable, as their top speed was matched by the submerged speed of the U-boats, and was just half their surface speed, thus making it easier for a wolfpack to form.

ON 154’s ocean escort was the Royal Canadian Navy Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group C-1, led by  Lt. Cdr. Guy Windeyer in the River-class destroyer HMCS St. Laurent. The group also comprised the Flower-class corvettes HMCS Battleford, Chilliwack, Kenogami, Napanee, and Shediac.[6] C-1 was missing the Town-class destroyer Burwell, which had mechanical problems and was not replaced. RCN ships generally suffered from overwork compared to their Royal Navy equivalents, and were more likely to be un-modernized. ON 154 included the convoy rescue ship Toward, the oiler Scottish Heather and the French-crewed 2,456-ton special service vessel HMS Fidelity.[7] Fidelity was armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns, four torpedo tubes and a defensive torpedo net. She carried two landing craft (LCV-752 and LCV-754), two OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes and the Motor Torpedo Boat MTB 105.[8]

Opposing ON 154 in the North Atlantic were the U-boat groups Ungestum (13 boats) and Spitz (11 boats) on patrol in the notorious Air Gap, where Allied air cover was unable to reach. A third group, Falke, acted as back-stop, but became involved with convoy HX 219[9] and had no effect on the fight for ON 154.

Action

Discovery on 26/27 December

ON 154 was routed south to avoid storms and remained distant from escort support groups and out of range of Allied patrol bombers for longer than most convoys.[10] U-662 reported the convoy on 26 December.[7] That night U-356 torpedoed the leading ships from two of the starboard columns. Empire Union was hit at 01:40, Melrose Abbey was hit ten minutes later. Both British freighters sank at about 02:30. Toward rescued 63 survivors from the first ship and 47 from the second.[5]

In a second attack, U-356 torpedoed the Dutch freighter Soekaboemi at 04:10, and the British freighter King Edward at 04:15. King Edward sank within three minutes.[5] U-356 was detected by the escorts and was sunk with no survivors following depth charge attacks by St. Laurent, Chilliwack, Battleford and Napanee.[7] At dawn, Toward rescued 25 men from the King Edward and assisted Napanee, recovering all but one of Soekaboemi's crew.[5] Soekaboemi remained afloat when abandoned at 07:30.[11]

Second attack on 27/28 December

U-225 began stalking Scottish Heather as she refuelled some of the escorts fifteen miles astern of the convoy on the afternoon of 27 December. U-225 was twice driven off by Chilliwack before hitting the oiler with a single torpedo in a third approach at 20:40. The ship was temporarily abandoned, but the second mate re-boarded her with ten men and sailed the ship out of the danger zone. At dawn he returned and pattern-searched for lifeboats. The oiler returned to England independently after recovering all of her crew.[5]

Main attack on 28/29 December

U-260 began shadowing the convoy on the morning of 28 December and directed 18 U-boats to the convoy. Fidelity attempted to launch a Kingfisher, but the plane capsized and sank at 19:15. While St. Laurent rescued the Kingfisher crew, a coordinated night attack began with U-boats entering the starboard side of the convoy at 19:58. U-591 torpedoed the Norwegian freighter Norse King at 20:00. U-225 torpedoed the British freighters Melmore Head at 20:03 and Ville de Rouen at 20:05. U-260 torpedoed the British freighter Empire Wagtail at 20:45. As Empire Wagtail disintegrated in an explosion that claimed all of her crew, Fidelity reported a main engine failure; Shediac was sent to assist her two miles (3.2 km) astern of the convoy.[5]

U-boats then entered the port side of the convoy. U-406 torpedoed the British freighters Lynton Grange at 21:20, Zarian at 21:23, and Baron Cochrane at 21:24. U-662 hit the damaged Ville de Rouen again at 22:10 and U-225 torpedoed the convoy commodore's freighter Empire Shackleton at 22:15 and the Belgian freighter President Francoui at 22:30.[7]

Disabled ships were also being attacked astern of the convoy. Baron Cochrane was sunk at 21:50 by U-123 and U-628 sank Lynton Grange a few minutes later. The crews had abandoned both ships when they were hit earlier.[5] U-123 and U-435 sank Empire Shackleton at 22:55.[5] U-591 sank the abandoned Zarian just before midnight.[5]

Shediac was ordered to leave Fidelity 30 miles (48 km) astern and rejoin the convoy while searching for survivors. Shediac rescued 35 survivors from Melmore Head and 71 from Ville de Rouen between 03:10 and 03:30 and 24 from Empire Shackleton at 05:30. Shediac rejoined the convoy at 13:00 short of fuel and with inadequate provisions for the number of survivors aboard.[5]

Two lifeboats abandoned the damaged President Francoui, but the remainder of the crew attempted to sail independently to the Azores. U-225 torpedoed the ship again at 06:30 and it was sunk at 09:30 by U-336. The damaged Norse King was similarly attempting to reach the Azores when she was sunk by U-435 at 15:07.[5] There were no survivors.[11]

The convoy escort was reinforced by the M-class destroyers HMS Milne and Meteor at 14:00 on 29 December[7] after the arriving destroyers rescued 42 survivors from Baron Cochrane at 07:00, 52 survivors from Lynton Grange at 07:20 and 49 survivors from Zarian at 08:15.[5]

HMS Fidelity 29/30 December

Fidelity restarted main engines at 05:00 and declined the offer to dispatch a tug from Gibraltar. Speed was limited to two knots while streaming anti-torpedo nets when observed by Meteor and Milne at 05:30. U-615 found Fidelity while her main engines were again stopped for repairs between 10:15 and 11:00. U-615 identified Fidelity as a Q-ship and shadowed her cautiously. A reconnaissance flight by Fidelity's remaining Kingfisher observed two shadowing submarines and two of Empire Shackleton's lifeboats. Fidelity launched LCV-752 and LCV-754 to tow-in the lifeboats. Fidelity recovered the Kingfisher and the two landing craft with Empire Shackleton's survivors that afternoon and launched MTB-105 to conduct anti-submarine patrols through the night. U-615 launched four torpedoes at Fidelity at about 20:00, but the anti-torpedo net protected the ship from damage. MTB-105 experienced engine problems and lost contact with Fidelity at about 23:00. MTB-105 heard radio calls from Fidelity shortly after dawn, but had inadequate battery power to respond. U-435 torpedoed Fidelity at 16:30 and was surprised by the size of the resulting explosion and by the large number of men subsequently seen floating in the water where the ship had sunk. MTB-105 rigged a makeshift sail to try and reach land.[5] Fidelity had on board 369 people (274 crew, 51 Marines and 44 survivors from Empire Shackleton), all were lost at sea, including the convoy commodore of ON 154 Vice Admiral Wion de Malpas Egerton.

Survivors 30 December

On 30 December British destroyer Fame arrived, her skipper Cdr. R Heathcote (who was SOE of B-6 Escort Group) taking over as Senior Officer; at this point Windeyer, St. Laurent's captain, collapsed from stress and  exhaustion.[12] Battleford, Shediac, Milne and Meteor were released on 30 December to refuel in the Azores.[5] leaving only four escorts remaining and as many as twelve U-boats in contact with the convoy. Following the loss of the convoy commodore, the two fast ships with large passenger complements (Calgary and Advastun), were invited to escape if they found an opportunity.[13] When HMCS St. Francis and the V-class destroyer HMS Viceroy reinforced the convoy escort before nightfall on 30 December, the U-boats were ordered to disengage.

Shediac and Meteor ran out of fuel before reaching the Azores. Battleford towed Shediac the last 40 miles (64 km) and Meteor was towed the last five miles (8 km). All four refuelled and joined the search for survivors. HMCS Prescott found and rescued the eight men aboard MTB-105 on 1 January; but, aside from the two-man Kingfisher crew rescued earlier by St. Laurent, there were no other survivors from Fidelity's crew of 325 and the men rescued from Empire Shackleton. Prescott also saved 26 crewmen from President Francoui, but the recovery effort found no other convoy survivors.[5] The remainder of the convoy reached New York City on 12 January 1943.[4]

Analysis

ON 154 lost 14 ships of 69,378 GRT and 486 men killed. It ranked as one of the half-dozen worst North Atlantic convoy disasters of the war.[14] The Admiralty was critical of the Canadians for the outcome of this voyage, comparing it unfavourably with the transit of ON 155 escorted by B-6 escort group without loss. However both Blair and Milner point out that the Admiralty also bore responsibility for routing the convoy so far south, through the widest part of the Air Gap, with a five day transit  without air cover. C-1 was also  expected to operate with a destroyer short, with inadequate provision for re-fueling and with without modern equipment, against a pack that outnumbered it by four to one.[14][12] Milner also points out that B-6 had been given a more northerly course, and a faster convoy, and that the RCN groups had generally been assigned to the more vulnerable slow convoys of the SC and ON(S) series, while the RN groups had the faster HX and ON convoys. Analysis of the convoy’s losses also shows that of the fourteen ships sunk, nine were lost outside the convoy, having been damaged or disabled in a previous attack and forced to drop out. After the first attack by U-356 just five U-boats (U-225, U-406, U-591, U-260 and U-123) had succeeded in penetrating the escort screen, while the rest of the pack had been driven off, and had picked off the stragglers. Blair also points out that the German success against ON 154 was an exception; in December the Allies ran 16 trans-Atlantic convoys, containing some 650 ships; only three of them were attacked, and sank only 20 ships (ie. apart from the fourteen in ON 154, only two from HX 217 and four from ON 153), plus seven other ships sailing independently.[15]

Conclusion

The attack on ON 154 was undoubtedly a success for the Germans, but the safe arrival of over two-thirds of the convoy’s ships, coupled with the destruction of one of the attackers, whilst being outnumbered by nearly four to one, was not a complete failure by the escort forces. However the Admiralty took the drastic decision to withdraw the RCN escort groups from the Atlantic, sending them for intensive training at the RN facilities at Liverpool and Tobermory. However they also set about refitting of Canadian escort ships with modern equipment, a tacit acceptance of the RCN's complaints.[15][16] Meanwhile the burden of escorting slow convoys on the Atlantic route fell to the RN, leading to experiences not dissimilar to those suffered by the RCN up to then during the campaign.

Ships in the convoy

Name[17] Flag[17] Dead[18] Tonnage (GRT)[17] Cargo[18] Notes[17]
Aldrastus (1923) United Kingdom7,905
Algorab (1921) Netherlands4,938Destination Cape Town
Baron Cochrane (1927) United Kingdom23,3854,376 tons coalSunk by U-406 and U-123
Baron Elgin (1933) United Kingdom3,942Veteran of convoy SL 125; destination Halifax; survived this convoy, convoy SC 122 & convoy ONS 5
Baron Inchcape (1917) United Kingdom7,005
Belle Isle (1932) United States1,960
Berkel (1930) Netherlands2,130Veteran of convoy SC 107; survived this convoy and convoy ONS 5
Bonita (1918) Panama4,929Survived this convoy and convoy SC 122
Bornholm (1930) United Kingdom3,177Veteran of convoy SL 125; survived this convoy and convoy ONS 5
Calgary (1921) United Kingdom7,206Veteran of convoy SL 125
Dundrum Castle (1919) United Kingdom5,259Veteran of convoy SC 42 and convoy SL 125
E G Seubert (1918) United States9,181Survived this convoy and convoy SC 130
Empire Cougar (1919) United Kingdom5,758Veteran of convoy SL 125
Empire Geraint (1942) United Kingdom6,991
Empire Shackleton (1941) United Kingdom377,0682,000 tons ammunition, aircraft & general cargoVeteran of convoy SC 107, carried convoy commodore VADM W de M Egerton DSO; sunk by U-225, U-123 & U-435
Empire Simba (1919) United Kingdom5,691Veteran of convoy SL 125
Empire Union (1921) United Kingdom65,952940 tons general cargoVeteran of convoy SC 107; sunk by U-356
Empire Wagtail (1919) United Kingdom434,893Sunk by U-260
Esturia (1914) United Kingdom6,968
Euthalia (1918) Greece3,553
Fana (1939) Norway1,375Survived this convoy and convoy ONS 5
Fort Lamy (1919) United Kingdom5,242Ship's Master was convoy vice-commodore; survived to be sunk 2 months later in convoy SC 121
Henry R Mallory (1916) United States6,063Survived to be sunk a month later in convoy SC 118
James Hawson (1930) Norway6,074
Janeta (1929) United Kingdom4,312Veteran of convoy SC 107
Jasper Park (1942) United Kingdom7,129Survived to be sunk later on 6 July 1943.
King Edward (1919) United Kingdom235,224In BallastVeteran of convoy SL 125; sunk by U-356
Kiruna (1921) Sweden5,484Veteran of convoy HX 79; survived this convoy and convoy SC 118
Lynton Grange (1937) United Kingdom05,0295,997 tons general cargoVeteran of convoy SL 125; sunk by U-628 and U-406
Melmore Head (1918) United Kingdom145,273In BallastVeteran of convoy SC 7 and convoy SC 94; sunk by U-225
Melrose Abbey II (1936) United Kingdom72,4733,403 tons coalSunk by U-356
Norhauk (1919) Norway6,086
Norse King (1920) Norway355,7015,453 tons coalSunk by U-435 and U-591
Northmoor (1928) United Kingdom4,392Destination Cape Town, detached c. 25 December to Azores,[19] arriving 30 December[20]
Olney (1920) United States7,294Veteran of convoy SC 107
President Francqui (1928) Belgium54,919In BallastSunk by U-225 and U-336
Ramo (1921) Norway2,334
Ravnefjell (1938) Norway1,339Veteran of convoy HX 79; survived this convoy, convoy SC 121 and convoy SC 130
Runswick (1930) United Kingdom3,970Returned to England
Scottish Heather (1928) United Kingdom7,087Escort oiler, damaged by U-225 and returned to England
Soekaboemi (1923) Netherlands17,0515,000 tons general cargoSunk by U-441 as a coup de grace, after having sustained damage from an earlier attack by U-356[21]
Toward (1923) United Kingdom1,571convoy rescue ship
Tynemouth (1940) United Kingdom3,168Veteran of convoy SC 94 and convoy SL 125
Umgeni (1938) United Kingdom8,149Detached 1 January
Veni (1901) Norway2,982Veteran of convoy SC 94
Vest (1920) Norway5,074Veteran of convoy SC 107
Ville de Rouen (1919) United Kingdom05,0835,500 tons general cargoVeteran of convoy SL 125; sunk by U-591 and U-662
Vistula (1920) United States8,537Survived this convoy and convoy SC 122
Wisla (1928) Poland3,106Veteran of convoy SC 42
Zarian (1938) United Kingdom44,8717,500 tons general cargoVeteran of convoy SL 125; sunk by U-406 and U-591

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ ON 154 was a slow convoy of the ON series. It is described in some sources as ON(S) 154, or ONS 154 but this is a mosnomer; the ONS convoys were a separate series which did not commence until March 1943

Notes

  1. ↑ Milner pp. 206–209
  2. ↑ Tarrant p. 108
  3. ↑ Hague pp. 132, 137–138, 161–162, 164 & 181
  4. 1 2 Hague 2000 p. 158
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Convoy ONS 154". J. Gordon Mumford. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  6. ↑ Milner 1985 p. 287
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p. 183
  8. ↑ Lenton & Colledge 1968 p. 279
  9. ↑ Blair p128
  10. ↑ Milner 1985 p. 3
  11. 1 2 Hague 2000 p. 161
  12. 1 2 Milner 2003 p143
  13. ↑ Milner 1985 pp. 4 & 209
  14. 1 2 Blair p133
  15. 1 2 Blair p134
  16. ↑ Milner 2003 p144
  17. 1 2 3 4 "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  18. 1 2 Hague 2000 p. 146
  19. ↑ National Archives ADM 199/356/31
  20. ↑ National Archives BT 389/22/131
  21. ↑ "Soekaboemi – Dutch steam merchant". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 14 November 2013.

Bibliography

  • Blair, Clay (1998) Hitler's U-Boat War [Volume 2]: The Hunted 1942–1945 Cassell ISBN 0-304-35261-6 (2000 UK paperback ed.)
  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-019-3.
  • Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J. (1968). British and Dominion Warships of World War Two. Doubleday and Company.
  • Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-450-0.
  • Milner, Marc (2003) Battle of the Atlantic History Press ISBN 978-0-7524-6187-8
  • 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.; 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.
  • Gordon Mumford's account of Convoy ONS 154
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