Convoy SC-104

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Convoy SC 104
partof=World War II
date=13-16 October 1942
place=North Atlantic
result= ?
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=CinC:Admiral Karl Dönitz
commander2=Commodore:
Escort: Cdr R Heathcote
strength1=8 U-Boats
strength2= 48 ships
2 destroyers
4 corvettes
casualties1=2 U-boats sunk
2 U-boats damaged
50 dead
casualties2=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. [Hague 2000 p.133]

Background

. [Hague 2000 p.135] [Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.167]

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 "Viscount" with Norwegian-manned Flower class corvettes "Potentilla", "Eglantine", "Montbretia", and "Acanthus" and the Convoy rescue ship "Goathland".

Opposing this force was the U-boat patrol group "Wotan" comprising 8 boats: "U-221", "U-258", "U-356", "U-607", "U-618", "U-661", "U-353", and "U-254".

Action

. [Blair p 39-41] [Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.167]

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", [Showell 2002 p.113] 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 counter-attacked and severely damaged, and was forced to return to France/base for repairs.
"U-661" torpedoed the Yugoslav 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.

Also on 16th and 17th October SC 104 came in range of air patrols, long –range B-24 Liberators and Catalinas. These were able to break up any further attacks and on 17th Donitz ceased further operations against SC 104.

Conclusion

the remainder of the voyage was unhindered, and the convoy reached Liverpool on 21 October.SC104 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.

Table of Losses

Convoy Losses
.. [Hague 2000 p.135]

.U-Boat Losses
.. [Kemp p 92]

Notes

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

References

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* 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