Convoy SC 104

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. During October 1942, a U-boat wolf pack sank eight ships from the convoy. The convoy escorts sank two of the attacking submarines.

Background

As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the second happy time, Admiral Karl Dönitz the ''Befehlshaber der U-Boote'' (''BdU'') or commander in chief of U-boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through '' B-Dienst'' decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3. However, only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943 lost ships to U-boat attack.

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 and , with the Norwegian-manned s , , , and and the convoy rescue ship ''Goathland''.

Opposing this force was the U-boat Wolf pack ''Wotan'' comprising 8 boats: , , , , , , , and .Hague 2000 p.135Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.167

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'', and ''Fagersten'', and the British freighter ''Ashworth''.

On the 13th the three U-boats 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 itself 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 gunfire, ramming and depth charges. ''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 LtCdr C.A. 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 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, Dönitz ceased further operations against SC 104.Blair p 39-41 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.

Ships in convoy

Losses

See also

* Convoy Battles of World War II

Notes

References

* Blair, Clay : ''Hitler's U-Boat War olume 2 The Hunted 1942–1945'' (1998) (2000 UK paperback ed.)
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* Kemp, Paul : U-Boats Destroyed (1997).
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*
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* {{cite book, title=The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945 , author=Tarrant, V.E. , publisher=Arms and Armour , year=1989 , isbn=1-85409-520-X

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

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Naval battles of World War II involving Canada
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