Convoy SC 104

Convoy SC 104
Part of World War II
Date 12–16 October 1942 Location North Atlantic Result ?
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
CinC:Admiral Karl Dönitz	Commodore: Escort: Cdr R Heathcote
Strength
8 U-Boats	48 ships 2 destroyers 4 corvettes
Casualties and losses
2 U-boats sunk 2 U-boats damaged 50 dead	8 ships sunk 2 escorts damaged 216 dead

Convoy SC-104 was the 104th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool.^[1] A U-boat wolf pack sank eight ships from this October, 1942, convoy. Convoy escorts sank two of the attacking submarines.

Background

Forty-seven ships departed New York City on 3 October 1942 and were met by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-6 consisting of the E and F class destroyer Fame and V and W class destroyer Flower class corvettes Convoy rescue ship Goathland.

Opposing this force was the U-boat patrol group Wotan comprising 8 boats: U-221, edit] Action

The convoy was found and reported by U-258 on 11 October, and the other Wotan boats were ordered to join. By the evening of 12 October U-258 had been joined by U-221 and U-356, and during the night of 12/13 October these boats attacked. U-258 and U-356 were unsuccessful, being driven off by the escorts, but U-221 was able to sink three ships, the Norwegian freighters Senta,^[4] and Fagersten, and the British freighter Ashworth.

On the 13th they continued to shadow the convoy, and were joined during the day by five other boats; on the night of the 13/14 October the wolf pack attacked again.

This time U-221 sank two ships, the American freighter Susana and the British whale factory ship Southern Empress. U-607 torpedoed the Greek freighter Nellie, which later sank, but was attacked and severely damaged, and was forced to return to France for repairs. U-661 torpedoed the Yugoslavian freighter Nikolina Matkovic, and U-618 torpedoed the Empire Mersey.

Throughout 15 October the Wotan boats shadowed SC 104, but were unable to mount any successful attacks that night.

On 15 October Viscount detected U-661 in fog, and attacked with gun-fire, ramming and depth-charge. U-661 was destroyed, but Viscount was also damaged, and had to finish the voyage as part of the convoy.

On 16 October U-353 was sighted by Fame which attacked and destroyed her by ramming, again suffering damage in the process. Command of the escort passed to Monsen in Potentilla who was able to make an attack on a contact later that day; no identification was made, or result credited, but post-war examination shows that U-254 was severely damaged in this attack, and forced to retire to base.

On the 16 and 17 October SC 104 came in range of allied air patrols, long–range B-24 Liberators and Catalina flying boats. These were able to break up any further attacks and on the 17th, Donitz ceased further operations against SC 104.^[3][5]

The remainder of the voyage was unhindered, and the convoy reached Liverpool on 21 October. SC 104 lost 8 ships of 44,000 tons, with 2 escorts damaged, and saw the destruction of 2 U-boats with the damaging of 2 more.

Losses

Convoy Losses^[2]

Date	Name	Nationality	Casualties	Tonnage	Cargo	Sunk by…
12/13 Oct	Senta	Norwegian	?	3,785 gross register tons (GRT)	?	U-221
12/13 Oct	Ashworth	British	49	5,227 GRT	bauxite	U-221
12/13 Oct	Fagensten	Norwegian	19	2,342 GRT	steel,lumber	U-221
13/14 Oct	Susana	US	38	5,929 GRT	general cargo	U-221
13/14 Oct	Southern Empress	British	48	12,398 GRT	fuel oil	U-221
13/14 Oct	Nellie	Greek	32	4,826 GRT	steel, lumber	U-607
13/14 Oct	Nikolina Matkovic	Yugoslav	14	3,672 GRT	lumber, sugar	U-661
13/14 Oct	Empire Mersey	British	16	5,791 GRT	govt. stores	U-618

'U-Boat losses^[6]

Date	Number	Type	Captain	Casualties	cause	by
15 Oct	U-661	VIIC	O/L v Lillenfeld	44	gun, d/c, ramming	HMS Viscount
16 Oct	U-353	VIIC	O/L Romer	6	depth charge	HMS Fame

Notes

1. ^ Hague 2000 p.133
2. ^ ^{a b} Hague 2000 p.135
3. ^ ^{a b} Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.167
4. ^ Showell 2002 p.113
5. ^ Blair p 39-41
6. ^ Kemp p 92

References

• Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-019-3. 
• Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-450-0. 
• Rohwer, J. and Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X. 
• Showell, Jak P. Mallmann (2002). U-Boat Warfare. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-001-0. 
• Clay Blair : Hitler’s U-Boat War Vol II (1998) ISBN 0-304-35261-7
• Paul Kemp  : U-Boats Destroyed ( 1997) . ISBN 1-85409-515-3

External links

• http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sc/index.html convoy.web
• http://uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=SC-104 u.boat.net