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Convoy SC 7 order of battle

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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. Th 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

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  This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk

Name Flag Cargo Fate Date Lived Died Notes
Aenos  Greece Wheat Sunk, U-38*[8] 17 October 25 4 Straggler
Assyrian  United Kingdom Grain Sunk, U-101* 19 October 34 17 Convoy commodore's ship[9]
Beatus  United Kingdom Steel, timber, aircraft Sunk, U-46* 18 October 37 0
Blairspey  United Kingdom Timber Damaged, U-101
Damaged, U-100		 18 October
19 October		 34 0 Reached port, repaired
Boekelo  Netherlands Timber Damaged, U-100
Sunk, U-123*		 18 October
19 October		 25 0 Straggler
Botusk  United Kingdom Timber Reached port 42 0
Carsbreck  United Kingdom Timber Damaged, U-38 18 October 55 0 Towed into port
Clintonia  United Kingdom Pulpwood Damaged, U-99
Sunk, U-123*		 19 October
19 October		 35 1
SS Convallaria  Sweden Pulpwood Sunk, U-46* 18 October 22 0
Corinthic  United Kingdom Steel, scrap metal Reached port 21 0
Creekirk  United Kingdom Iron ore Sunk, U-101* 18 October 0 36
Dioni  Greece Grain Reached port 82 0
Eaglescliffe Hall  United Kingdom Timber Reached port 64 0
Empire Brigade  United Kingdom Metals, ores Sunk, U-99* 19 October 35 6
Empire Miniver  United Kingdom Pig iron, steel Sunk, U-99* 19 October 35 3
Fiscus  United Kingdom Steel, timber, aircraft Sunk, U-99* 18 October 1 38 Straggler
Flynderborg  United Kingdom Pulpwood Reached port 12 0
SS Gunborg  Sweden Pulpwood Sunk, U-46* 18 October 23 0
Havørn[10]  Norway Pit props Reached port 53 0
Inger Elisabeth[11]  Norway Pit props Reached port 44 0
Karlander[12]  Norway Timber Reached port 92 0
Languedoc  United Kingdom Fuel oil Sunk, U-48*[8] 17 October 39 0
SS Niritos  Greece Sulphur Sunk, U-99* 18 October 27 1
Scoresby  United Kingdom Pit props Sunk, U-48*[8] 17 October 39 0
SS Sedgepool  United Kingdom Wheat Sunk, U-123* 19 October 36 3
SS Shekatika  United Kingdom Pit props, steel Damaged, U-123, U-100
Sunk, U-123*		 19 October 36 0 Joined from convoy SHX 76. 'Romper' (travelling ahead of the convoy)
Snefjeld[13]  Norway Timber Sunk, U-99* 19 October 21 0
Sneland I[14]  Norway Sulphur Reached port 94 0
Soesterberg  Netherlands Pit props Sunk, U-101* 19 October 19 6
Somersby  United Kingdom Flour Reached port 83 0
SS Thalia  Greece Steel, lead, zinc Sunk, U-99* 19 October 4 22
Thorøy[15]  Norway Fuel oil Reached port 63 0
SS Trevisa  Canada Timber Sunk, U-124* 16 October 14 7 Straggler. First sinking.
Trident  United Kingdom Steel, timber Reached port 43 0
Valparaiso  Sweden General cargo Reached port 14 0
Winona  United States Timber Returned to port 34 0

Escorts

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Name Class Navy With convoy Notes
HMS Bluebell Flower-class corvette  Royal Navy 18–21 October
HMCS Elk Armed yacht  Royal Canadian Navy 5 –7 October
HMS Fowey Shoreham-class sloop  Royal Navy 18–21 October
HMS Heartsease Flower-class corvette  Royal Navy 18–21 October Dispatched with Carsbreck, 18 October
HMS Leith Grimsby-class sloop  Royal Navy 18–21 October
HMS Scarborough Hastings-class sloop  Royal Navy 5–21 October Lost contact 17 October, unable to rejoin

U-boats

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Name Commander Sunk Damaged Notes
U-38 Heinrich Liebe 1 1
U-46 Engelbert Endrass 3 0
U-48 Heinrich Bleichrodt 2 0
U-99 Otto Kretschmer 6 1
U-100 Joachim Schepke 0 3
U-101 Fritz Frauenheim 3 1
U-123 Karl-Heinz Moehle 4 0
U-124 Georg-Wilhelm Schulz 1 0

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Canadian convoys
  2. ^ a b Hague 2000, pp. 133–138.
  3. ^ Battle of the Atlantic
  4. ^ a b c Convoy web
  5. ^ Sinking of Trevisa
  6. ^ Sinking of Aenos
  7. ^ a b Timeline of World War II
  8. ^ a b c 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

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  • 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

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