Convoy HG 73

Convoy during naval battles of the Second World War

Convoy HG.73
Part of the Battle of the Atlantic of the Second World War

Map of the Bay of Biscay
Date17 September – 1 October 1941
Location
North Atlantic
Belligerents

 Kriegsmarine

 Regia Marina		 United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Karl Dönitz Kenelm Creighton
Strength
5 U-boats
3 Italian submarines		 25 merchant ships
16 escorts
Casualties and losses
10 ships sunk
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Convoy HG 73 (17 September – 1 October 1941) was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 73rd of the numbered HG convoys Homeward bound to the British Isles from Gibraltar. The convoy departed Gibraltar on 17 September 1941 and was spotted by a German reconnaissance aircraft on 18 September. The convoywas attacked over the next ten days. Nine ships were sunk from the convoy before the submarines exhausted their torpedo inventory on 28 September. The convoy reached Liverpool on 1 October.

Background

Bletchley Park

The British Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) based at Bletchley Park housed a small industry of code-breakers and traffic analysts. By June 1941, the German Enigma machine Home Waters (Heimish) settings, used by surface ships and U-boats, could quickly be read. By mid-1941, British Y-stations were able to receive and read Luftwaffe W/T transmissions and warn of Luftwaffe operations. In June and August several convoys were routed around U-boat wolfpacks, reducing sinkings in August to 80,000 long tons (81,000 t).[1]

B-Dienst

The rival German Beobachtungsdienst (B-Dienst, Observation Service) of the Kriegsmarine and the Marinenachrichtendienst (MND, Naval Intelligence Service) had broken several Admiralty codes and cyphers by 1939. In 1941, B-Dienst read signals from the Commander in Chief Western Approaches informing convoys of areas patrolled by U-boats, enabling the submarines to move into these "safe" zones.[2] In September 1941, despite more escorts, convoy losses increased during delays in breaking Enigma, if U-boats were near enough to a convoy. On 11 September the Germans disguised grid coordinates by coding them separately and for weeks U-boat orders could only be guessed at.[3]

Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe

Map of the Bay of Biscay

To assist the Axis land forces in North Africa and to guard against British landings at Algiers and Oran Oberkommando der Marine (OKM, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder) ordered that along with six U-boats sent to the Mediterranean in September, U-boat attacks were to be made on British convoys to Egypt via Gibraltar. Karl Dönitz, Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU, Commander of the U-boats) opposed these orders because the Gibraltar to Britain convoys and their reciprocals were a sideshow compared to the North Atlantic and because most British supplies went around Africa rather than through the Mediterranean. Attacks on Convoy HG 70 and Convoy HG 71 did not inspire optimism, given the number of surface escorts and the extent of air cover that the U-boats had to overcome. Only the best U-boat captains could hope to succeed and even then, the obstacles were formidable.[4]

The best U-boat commanders were needed in the North Atlantic, the decisive theatre of the U-boat tonnage war. A compromise was agreed in that attacks on Gibraltar convoys would continue but with smaller wolfpacks of about eight submarines each, searching much further into the Atlantic where RAF Coastal Command patrols were less frequent and there was the possibility that OS (Outbound South) convoys to Sierra Leone and WS (Winston Specials, troop convoys) might be found. U-boats in the area could be reinforced temporarily by U-boats en route to the North Atlantic or returning to France. Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor long-range reconnaissance bombers based at Bordeaux would search for the convoys.[4]

Prelude

Convoy OG 74

Colourised photograph of a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 C Condor

For three weeks, no OG and SL convoys were found and wolfpacks Bosemüller with seven U-boats and Kurfürst with eight submarines failed to sink any ships. U-boats and aircraft sighted convoys but the British ability to read U-boat signals encyphered with the Enigma machine allowed them evasively to route the convoys away from the wolfpacks in atrocious weather. U-boats sailed for France or to other operations and the remainder formed wolfpack Seewolf but this also came to nothing. U-95 and U-561 were attacked on 14 September by aircraft from Coastal Command and severely damaged, forcing them to abandon the wolfpack. Seewolf was disbanded and then northbound ships of Convoy HG 73 were spotted by an Italian submarine west of Gibraltar. Three U-boats were in striking distance but U-371 was en route to the Mediterranean and was ordered to press on.[a] U-371 passed Convoy HG 73 and sent a sighting report which allowed U-124 and U-201 to close on the convoy. Searching 600 nmi (1,100 km; 690 mi) west of the English Channel, observers on U-124 saw smoke on the horizon on 20 September. The convoy found by U-124 was Convoy OG 74 from Britain. BdU ordered Mohr to shadow the convoy and direct U-201 towards it.[4]

A flight of FAA Martlets similar to those on HMS Audacity

Convoy OG 74 comprised 27 ships with an escort of the escort carrier, HMS Audacity, a sloop and five corvettes. The convoy was shadowed until the night of 20/21 September when both U-boats attacked. U-124 obtained three hits from three torpedoes and claimed two ships and a tanker but sank only two small merchant ships. The convoy illuminated the night with snowflake star shells which were particularly bright, forcing U-124 to submerge and retire. On 22 September as the two U-boats moved to positions from which to resume their attacks during the night and KG 40 sent Condors to attack the convoy. F4F Wildcats (Martlets in British service) from Audacity attacked the Condors and shot one down, one Martlet strafed U-124 or U-201, forcing it to dive but one Condor sank a merchant ship, that had stopped to rescue survivors from the two ships sunk by U-124 and not caught up with the convoy. The two U-boats attacked after dark on both flanks of the convoy and U-201 sank three small ships of 4,500 GRT total, five ships being sunk for a loss of 8,700 GRT.[6]

Convoy HG 73

Diagram of the Strait of Gibraltar

Convoy HG 73 comprised 25 ships homeward bound from Gibraltar, some in ballast and others carrying trade goods. The convoy commodore was Rear-Admiral Kenelm Creighton in the cargo liner Avoceta and the convoy was protected by a Western Approaches Command escort group consisting of the sloop HMS Fowey and eight corvettes, reinforced by the auxiliary cruiser and CAM ship (catapult aircraft merchant ship) HMS Springbank. The convoy sailed from Gibraltar on 17 September 1941 and German agents across the bay in neutral Spain reported its composition, escort strength and departure time. Condors from Kampfgeschwader 40 (KG 40) from Bordeaux and the Italian submarines Leonardo da Vinci, Alessandro Malaspina, Morosini and Luigi Torelli on patrol west of Gibraltar were ordered to search for the convoy, while three U-boats further north were deployed in a search patrol line across the convoy's probable route.[7][b]

18–20 September

On 18 September a Condor sighted Convoy HG 73 off Cape St Vincent; Springback opened fire with its 4-inch anti-aircraft guns, which forced the Condor to open the range. Petty Officer F. J. Shaw the Fulmar pilot (804 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm) launched from Springbank but the Condor escaped by flying at wave-top height. Shaw returned after half an hour to report that the Condor was too fast; he could parachute into the water or attempt the flight to Gibraltar and chose the latter, landing safely.[8] This left the convoy with no means to attack a Condor that appeared next morning.[9] On 19 September the convoy was sighted again, first by Morosini and later by U-371, though both lost contact; Morosini fell out of the pursuit with engine trouble and U-371, en route to the Mediterranean, was ordered to continue on her way.[7] On 20 September the destroyers Duncan and Farndale departed and were replaced by destroyer HMS Wild Swan.

Action

21/22 September

Convoy HG 73 was attacked by the Italian boats and on the night of 21/22 September Vimy attacked a contact and damaged Torelli. On 22 September Vimy and Wild Swan, left the escort, replaced by destroyer HMS Highlander.

23–25 September

On 23 September Da Vinci made contact and shadowed the convoy throughout the day, but was unable to make an attack.[7] On 24 September a Condor spotted the convoy and reported three ships on fire, though British records show no ships hit. BdU diverted U-boats U-203 and U-205 to the attack from France; these arrived over the next two days. On 25 September U-124 made contact in heavy seas and fired on a ship identified as a cruiser; this may have been Springbank, but no hits were achieved, and no attack was noticed by any Allied ship. That night U-203 joined, and both U-boats attacked, scoring several hits. Just after midnight U-203 sank Avoceta and Varengberg but came under attack from the corvette HMS Larkspur. A few hours later U-124 sank Cortes and Petrel. The coaster, Lapwing, stopped to pick up survivors from these two ships but was torpedoed just before dawn. Of the 109 men on these three ships only 18 men survived, reaching land after a two-week voyage in an open lifeboat.

26 September – 1 October

On 26 September, Highlander departed from the escort, while U-124 and U-203 continued to shadow. U-201 and U-205 also joined, but during the day U-205 was attacked by an Allied aircraft; she was damaged and forced to return to base. During the night of 26/27 September the three U-boats in contact attacked again; just before midnight U-124 sank Siremalm and at 2:00 a.m. U-201 torpedoed and sank Cervantes and torpedoed Springbank; whose survivors were taken off and then Jasmine sank Springbank with gunfire rather than leave her as a hazard. During 27 September the three boats continued to shadow and that night U-201 made a final attack, sinking Margareta. The U-boats were obliged to abandon the operation and return to base to re-arm.[7] Convoy HG 73 sailed on without further incident, arriving at Liverpool on 1 October.[10]

Aftermath

Of the 25 ships that departed Gibraltar nine were lost (36 per cent) and an escort vessel was sunk. Of the 177 convoys of the HG series run during the three years between September 1939 and September 1942, thirteen (just over one in ten) were attacked. Of the ships convoyed, 44 (about 20 per cent) were lost.[11] The operation was a victory for the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The three U-boat commanders who had sunk ships were credited with the destruction of fifteen ships, of 91,000 GRT; the three ships spotted sinking on 24 September were credited to Malaspina, which had failed to return. (In 1997 Clay Bliar wrote that the three ships did not appear in British records.)[12] The nine ships sunk amounted to 25,800 GRT.[12]

Orders of battle

Allied merchant ships

Merchant ships (data from Kindell [2024] unless indicated)[13]
Name Year Flag (GRT) Notes
Avoceta 1923  United Kingdom 3,442 Convoy Commodore, sunk U-203 26 Sep, 47°57'N, 24°05'W, 123 killed, 36 survivors[14][c]
Cervantes 1919  United Kingdom 1,810 Sunk U-201 27 Sep, 48°37′N, 20°01′W, 8 dead, 32 survivors[16]
Cortes 1919  United Kingdom 1,374 Sunk U-124 26 Sep, 47°48′N, 23°45′W, 36 killed[17]
Coxwold 1938  United Kingdom 1,124
Cressado 1913  United Kingdom 1,228
Ebro 1920  Denmark 1,547
Empire Lake 1941  United Kingdom 2,852
Empire Stream 1941  United Kingdom 2,911 Sunk U-124 25 Sep, 6 crew, 2 stowaways killed[9]
Finland 1939  United Kingdom 1,375
Lanarhone 1928  Ireland 1,221 Bound For Dublin
Lapwing 1920  United Kingdom 1,348 Straggler, sunk U-203 26 Sep, 26 dead, including survivors from Cortes and Petrel.[18][19][d]
Leadgate 1925  United Kingdom 2,125
Margareta 1904  United Kingdom 3,103 Sunk U-201 27 Sep, crew rescued by Hibiscus.[18]
Marklyn 1918  United Kingdom 3,090
Meta 1930  United Kingdom 1,575
Panos 1920  United Kingdom 4,914
Penhale 1924  United Kingdom 4,071
Petrel 1920  United Kingdom 1,354 Sunk U-124 26 Sep, 26 killed[19]
Rudby 1924  United Kingdom 4,846
Siremalm 1906  Norway 2,468 Sunk U-201 26 Sep, 49°05'N, 20°10′W all 27 killed[20]
Spero 1922  United Kingdom 1,589
Starling 1930  United Kingdom 1,320
Switzerland 1922  United Kingdom 1,291
Vanellus 1921  United Kingdom 1,886 Vice-Convoy Commodore
Varangberg 1915  Norway 2,842 Sunk by U-203 26 Sep, 47°50'N, 34°50'W, 21 killed, 6 survivors[21]

Convoy escorts

Escorts[13] Convoy escorts
Name Flag Type Dates Notes
HMS Begonia  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Duncan  Royal Navy D-class destroyer leader 17–20 September 1941
HMS Farndale  Royal Navy Hunt-class destroyer 17–20 September 1941
HMS Fowey  Royal Navy Shoreham-class sloop 17–30 September 1941
HMS Gentian  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Hibiscus  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Highlander  Royal Navy H-class destroyer 22–26 September 1941
HMS Jasmine  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Larkspur  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Myosotis  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Periwinkle  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Springbank  Royal Navy Fighter catapult ship 17–27 September 1941 Torpedoed 2:10 a.m. U-201, 27 Sep 1941, 49°50'N, 21°40'W, sank 7:15 p.m. 32 killed 201 survivors[22]
HMS Stonecrop  Royal Navy Flower-class corvette 17–30 September 1941
HMS Vimy  Royal Navy V-class destroyer 17–22 September 1941
HMS Wild Swan  Royal Navy W-class destroyer 20–22 September 1941
HMS Wolverine  Royal Navy W-class destroyer 28 Sept – 1 Oct 1941

Axis submarines and aircraft

Axis submarines and Luftwaffe
Name Flag Class Notes
Leonardo da Vinci  Kingdom of Italy Marconi-class submarine BETASOM (acronym of Bordeaux Sommergibili)
Alessandro Malaspina  Kingdom of Italy Marconi-class submarine BETASOM Sunk 7 September by RAAF Sunderland[7]
Morosini  Kingdom of Italy Marcello-class submarine BETASOM
Luigi Torelli  Kingdom of Italy Marconi-class submarine BETASOM, damaged night 21/22 by Vimy[7]
U-124  Kriegsmarine Type IXB Sank four ships[7][23]
U-201  Kriegsmarine Type VIIC Sank three ships[7]
U-203  Kriegsmarine Type VIIC Sank two ships[24]
U-205  Kriegsmarine Type VIIC Damaged by Coastal Command aircraft[7]
U-371  Kriegsmarine Type VIIC
Kampfgeschwader 40  Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor Long-range reconnaissance bomber

Notes

  1. ^ U-124 was a Type IX U-boat usually thought to be too big, too slow-diving and lacking in manoeuvrability for operations against convoys with plenty of escorts.[5]
  2. ^ Malaspina had been sunk, possibly by a Sunderland of 10 Squadron RAAF on 7 September.[7]
  3. ^ In 1999, John Terraine wrote that Avoceta had a crew of forty and 128 passengers, with 28 survivors of 168 people embarked.[15]
  4. ^ Eight survivors and some from Petrel made landfall at Slyne Bay, County Galway, 9 October.[19]

References

  1. ^ Macksey 2004, pp. 141–142; Hinsley 1994, pp. 141, 145–146; Budiansky 2013, p. 192.
  2. ^ Kahn 1973, pp. 238–241.
  3. ^ Winton 1988, pp. 113–114.
  4. ^ a b c Blair 1997, pp. 388–389.
  5. ^ Blair 1997, p. 389.
  6. ^ Blair 1997, pp. 389–390.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005, p. 101.
  8. ^ Terraine 1999, pp. 383–384.
  9. ^ a b Woodman 2005, p. 380.
  10. ^ Blair 1997, pp. 389–391.
  11. ^ Hague 2000, pp. 177–179.
  12. ^ a b Blair 1997, p. 390.
  13. ^ a b Kindell 2024.
  14. ^ Jordan 2006, p. 487.
  15. ^ Terraine 1999, p. 384.
  16. ^ Jordan 2006, p. 491.
  17. ^ Jordan 2006, p. 493.
  18. ^ a b Hague 2000, p. 179.
  19. ^ a b c Woodman 2005, p. 382.
  20. ^ Jordan 2006, p. 564.
  21. ^ Jordan 2006, p. 566.
  22. ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005, p. 101; Woodman 2005, p. 387; Brown 1995, p. 50.
  23. ^ Blair 1997, pp. 390–391.
  24. ^ Blair 1997, p. 391.

Bibliography

  • Blair, Clay (1997) [1996]. Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942. Vol. I. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84076-2.
  • Brown, David (1995) [1990]. Warship Losses of World War Two (2nd rev. ed.). London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-1-85409-278-6.
  • Budiansky, Stephen (2013). Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare (e-book ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-96263-8.
  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945: Its Organisation, Defence and Operation. London: Chatham. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
  • Hinsley, F. H. (1994) [1993]. British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series (2nd rev. abr. ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN 978-0-11-630961-7.
  • 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.
  • Kindell, Don (2024). "HG Convoys: Convoy HG.73". convoyweb. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  • Macksey, K. (2004) [2003]. The Searchers: Radio Intercept in two World Wars (Cassell Military Paperbacks ed.). London: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-36651-4.
  • Kahn, D. (1973) [1967]. The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing (10th abr. Signet, Chicago ed.). New York: Macmillan. LCCN 63-16109. OCLC 78083316.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-257-3.
  • Terraine, John (1999) [1989]. Business in Great Waters (Pbk. repr Wordsworth Editions, Ware ed.). London: Leo Cooper. ISBN 1-84022-201-8.
  • Winton, John (1988). Ultra at Sea: How Braking the Nazi code affected Allied Naval Strategy during World War II (e-book ed.). Leeds: Sapere Books. ISBN 978-1-80055-522-8.
  • Woodman, Richard (2005) [2004]. The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939–1943 (Pbk. ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-6599-5.

Further reading

  • Creighton, Kenelm (2017) [1956]. Convoy Commodore (ePuB ed.). Pittsburgh, PA: Arcole. pp. 124–136. ISBN 978-1-78720-921-3.
  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. St. Catharines, Ont.: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
  • Kolbicz, Rainer (2024). "Convoy HG 73". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  • Kolbicz, Rainer (2009). "Convoy HG-73: Reassessment of U-boat attacks during the nights of 25/26 and 26/27 September 1941". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  • Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The War at Sea 1939–1945: The Defensive. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC 881709135. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
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