- Convoy SC 118
-
USS Schenck (DD-159)
Convoy SC-118 was the 118th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool.[1]
Contents
Prelude
Ships departing New York City on 24 January 1943[2] were met by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-2 consisting of V class destroyers USCG Treasury Class Cutter Bibb, the Town class destroyer Beverley, Flower class corvettes convoy rescue ship Toward.[3]
On 2 February convoy HX 224. A survivor of one of the sunken ships was picked up by edit] Battle
A careless merchant seaman of convoy SC-118 accidentally fired a pyrotechnic snowflake projector aboard SS Annik in the pre-dawn darkness of 4 February.[4] Huff-Duff) her location from the sighting report.[3] The destroyers rescued 44 of the submarine crew.[5] Polish freighter Zagloba was torpedoed on the unprotected side of the convoy by U-262 and U-413 torpedoed straggling American freighter West Portal.[3]
On 5 February the convoy escort was reinforced by the USCG Treasury Class Cutter Ingham and the Wickes class destroyers Babbitt and Schenck from Iceland.[3] The reinforced escort damaged U-262 and Siegfried von Forstner's U-402 torpedoed British freighter Afrika, Norwegian tanker Daghild, Greek freighter Kalliopi, American tanker Robert E. Hopkins, American cargo liner Henry R. Mallory, and Convoy rescue ship Toward.[7]
Henry R. Mallory was capable of 14 knots but had been straggling well astern of the convoy for several days and was not zig-zagging in that exposed position.[8] Mallory would normally have been assigned to one of the faster HX convoys, but there had been no Iceland section of the preceding convoy HX-224.[8] No commands came from the bridge after Mallory was torpedoed, no flares were sent up, no radio distress message was sent out, and no orders were given to abandon ship.[9] There were heavy casualties from Mallorys crew of 77, 34 Navy gunners, and the 136 American soldiers, 172 American sailors, and 72 American Marines she was transporting to Iceland.[10]
B-17 Flying Fortress J of No. 220 Squadron RAF sank Knight's Cross for ships sunk by U-402 from this convoy and from Convoy SC-107 on the previous patrol. SC-118 reached Liverpool without further loss on 12 February.[2]
Ships in convoy
Name[11] Flag[11] Dead[7] Tonnage[11] Cargo[7] Notes[11] Acme (1916) 
6,878 gross register tons (GRT) petrol & oil Adamas (1918) 
(none) 4,144 GRT steel & lumber sank 8 Feb after collision with Samuel Huntington African Prince (1939) 
8,031 GRT bauxite and ammunition carried convoy commodore Capt H C C Forsyth RD RNR Afrika (1920) 23 8,597 GRT 4,000 tons steel & 7,000 tons general cargo sunk by U-402 7 Feb Ann Skakel (1920) 4,949 GRT general cargo veteran of convoy SC 107; detached to Iceland 9 Feb Annik (1940) 
1,333 GRT general cargo detached to Iceland 9 Feb Arizpa (1920) 0 5,437 GRT stores Athelprince (1926) 8,782 GRT diesel & naptha convoy vice commodore was ship's master Baron Haig (1926) 3,391 GRT sugar Baron Ramsey (1929) 3,650 GRT iron ore veteran of convoy SC 42 Bestik (1920) 2,684 GRT steel & lumber Blairdevon (1925) 3,282 GRT steel & lumber Celtic Star (1918) 5,575 GRT refrigerated & general cargo Cetus (1920) 2,614 GRT sugar veteran of convoy HX 84; survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 City of Khios (1925) 5,574 GRT sugar Daghild (1927) (none) 9,272 GRT 13,000 tons diesel veteran of convoy ON 127; sunk by U-402, 6,889 GRT wheat survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 Danae II (1936) 2,660 GRT bauxite veteran of convoy HX 84 Danby (1937) 4,281 GRT linseed & grain Daylight (1931) 9,180 GRT general cargo escort oiler; detached to Iceland 9 Feb; survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 Deido (1928) 3,894 GRT petrol Dettifoss (1930) 
1,564 GRT general cargo detached to Iceland 9 Feb Dordrecht (1928) 
4,402 GRT palm oil returned to Halifax 2,847 GRT bauxite 7,157 GRT general cargo Glarona (1928) 9,912 GRT fuel oil & diesel Gogra (1919) 5,190 GRT general cargo Gold Shell (1931) 8,208 GRT petrol Grey County (1918) 3 5,194 GRT general cargo Gulf of Mexico (1917) 7,807 GRT oil & petrol H M Flagler (1918) 
8,208 GRT furnace fuel oil escort oiler Harmala (1935) 53 5,730 GRT 8,500 tons iron ore straggled and sunk by 3,629 GRT general cargo Henry Mallory (1916) 272 6,063 GRT 383 passengers & general cargo veteran of convoy ON 154; sunk by U-402 7 Feb Ioannis Frangos (1912) 3,442 GRT grain Julius Thomsen (1927) 
1,151 GRT detached to Greenland Kalliopi (1910) 4 4,965 GRT 6,500 tons steel & lumber sunk by U-402 7 Feb King Stephen (1928) 5,274 GRT grain Kiruna (1921) 
5,484 GRT general cargo veteran of convoy HX 79 and convoy ON 154 Lagarfoss (1904) 1,211 GRT general cargo detached to Iceland 9 Feb; survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 Makedonia (1942) 7,044 GRT flour Mana (1920) 
3,283 GRT general cargo detached to Iceland 9 Feb Maud (1930) 3,189 GRT sugar New York City (1917) 2,710 GRT general cargo veteran of convoy SC 107 Newton Ash (1925) 32 4,625 GRT 6,500 tons grain, mail & military stores sunk by U-402 7 Feb Norbryn (1922) 5,087 GRT tea & rubber Permian (1931) 8,890 GRT survived this convoy and convoy SC 122 Petter II (1922) 7,417 GRT gas oil Polyktor (1914) 4,077 GRT grain sunk by 4,280 GRT sulphur Radport (1925) 5,355 GRT general cargo Redgate (1929) 4,323 GRT general cargo Robert E. Hopkins (1921) (none) 6,625 GRT 8,500 tons furnace fuel oil escort oiler; sunk by U-402 7 Feb Samuel Huntington (1942) 7,181 GRT general cargo Liberty ship Sheaf Holme (1929) 4,814 GRT potash & general cargo survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 Sommerstad (1926) 5,923 GRT lubricating oil Stad Arnhem (1920) 3,819 GRT phosphates Tilemachos (1911) 3,658 GRT grain Toward (1923) 58 1,571 GRT rescue ship; sunk by U-402 7 Feb Vacuum (1920) 7,020 GRT petrol West Portal (1920) 5,376 GRT stores straggled and sunk by U-413 4 Feb William Penn (1921) 8,447 GRT petrol Yemassee (1922) 2,001 GRT general cargo detached to Iceland 9 Feb Zagloba (1938) 
2,864 GRT ammunition & general cargo sunk by U-262 4 Feb Notes
- ^ Hague 2000 p.133
- ^ a b Hague 2000 p.135
- ^ a b c d e f Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.191
- ^ a b Waters December 1966 p.96
- ^ Waters December 1966 p.97
- ^ Waters December 1966 p.98
- ^ a b c d Hague 2000 p.137
- ^ a b Waters December 1966 p.102
- ^ Waters December 1966 p.103
- ^ Morison 1975 p.336
- ^ a b c d "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sc/index.html. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
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.
- 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. and Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
- Waters, John M. Jr., CAPT USCG (December 1966). Stay Tough. United States Naval Institute Proceedings.
Categories:- North Atlantic convoys of World War II
- World War II Battle of the Atlantic
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