Order of battle for Convoy SC-7

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HMS Fowey was one of the Royal Navy ships to come to the assistance of the convoy

Convoy SC 7 was the seventh of the SC convoys, bound from Sydney, Nova Scotia across the North Atlantic to British ports, mainly Liverpool.[1] They were called SC as their departure point was designated Sydney, Cape Breton to avoid confusion with Sydney in Australia.[2] The convoys formed part of the battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. Large numbers of merchant ships travelled with naval escorts to protect against U-boat attacks. The convoys were often slow, the merchantmen often only being capable of a speed of around 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) and so were particularly vulnerable to attack.[2] This problem was exacerbated by a shortage of suitable escorts from either the Royal Canadian Navy or the Royal Navy early in the war.[3]

Convoy SC 7 left Sydney on 5 October 1940, consisting of 36 freighters initially escorted by the Canadian armed yacht HMCS Elk and the British sloop HMS Scarborough.[4] Having seen the convoy out of Canadian waters, Elk turned back on 7 October, leaving the convoy to spend three-quarters of the crossing escorted by Scarborough.[4] SS Winona had developed engine problems and also turned back.[4] The crossing was uneventful, the only casualty being SS Trevisa, which straggled behind the convoy and was torpedoed and sunk near Rockall on 16 October by U-124.[5]

The main convoy was spotted the following day by U-38, which sank SS Aenos.[6] Further sporadic attacks continued that day and the following, despite the arrival of the sloop HMS Fowey and the corvette HMS Bluebell. The night of 18/19 October saw the use of the wolf pack tactic by the U-boats. Five U-boats; U-46, U-99, U-100, U-101 and U-123 attacked together, overwhelming the escorts, despite being reinforced by HMS Leith and Heartsease.[7] They sank 16 ships in a six-hours, bringing the total to twenty freighters sunk and a total tonnage lost of 79,592 gross registered tons. The U-boats only broke off their attacks to intercept convoy HX 79, which had arrived in the area. They went on to sink a further 12 ships from this convoy, for a total of 28 ships sunk on 18/19 October, making this the deadliest two days of the battle of the Atlantic.[7] The surviving merchant ships were gathered up by the remaining escorts and brought into port several days later.

Merchant ships

  This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk

Escorts

Name Navy Class Dates Notes
HMS Bluebell Royal NavyFlower-class corvette18–21 October
HMS Heartsease Royal NavyFlower-class corvette18–21 OctoberDispatched with Carsbreck, 18 October
HMS Leith Royal NavyGrimsby-class sloop18–21 October
HMS Scarborough Royal NavyHastings-class sloop5–21 OctoberLost contact 17 October, unable to rejoin
HMS Fowey Royal NavyShoreham-class sloop18–21 October
HMCS Elk Royal Canadian NavyArmed yacht5 –7 October

U-boats

Name Flag Commander Sunk Damaged Notes
U-38 KriegsmarineHeinrich Liebe11
U-46 KriegsmarineEngelbert Endrass30
U-48 KriegsmarineHeinrich Bleichrodt20
U-99 KriegsmarineOtto Kretschmer61
U-100 KriegsmarineJoachim Schepke03
U-101 KriegsmarineFritz Frauenheim31
U-123 KriegsmarineKarl-Heinz Moehle40
U-124 KriegsmarineGeorg-Wilhelm Schulz10

Footnotes

  1. "Canadian convoys". Archived from the original on 13 April 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  2. Hague 2000, pp. 133–138.
  3. Battle of the Atlantic
  4. Convoy web
  5. Sinking of Trevisa
  6. Sinking of Aenos
  7. Timeline of World War II
  8. Woodman 2013, p. 234.
  9. Jordan 2006, p. 486.
  10. D/S Havørn, warsailors.com
  11. D/S Inger Elisabeth, warsailors.com
  12. D/S Karlander, warsailors.com
  13. D/S Snefjeld, warsailors.com
  14. D/S Sneland I, warsailors.com
  15. D/T Thorøy, warsailors.com

References

  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. London: Chatham. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
  • Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999]. The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships (2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal. ISBN 978-1-86176-293-1.
  • Woodman, Richard (2013) [2004]. The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic 1939–1943 (3rd (repr.) Pen & Sword Maritime, Barnsley ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 978-1-84884-415-5.

Further reading