Convoy HX 106 was the 106th of the numbered series of Allied HX convoys of merchant ships from

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England. Forty-one ships departed Halifax, Nova Scotia on 30 January 1941, eastbound to Liverpool, England. The use of convoys was a standard

tactic Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

throughout the Battle of the Atlantic as a defence against U-boats and German commerce raiders. On 8 February 1941 the two German battleships, and , appeared over the horizon. The German squadron was under the command of Admiral

Günther Lütjens Johann Günther Lütjens (25 May 1889 – 27 May 1941) was a German admiral whose military service spanned more than thirty years and two world wars. Lütjens is best known for his actions during World War II and his command of the battleship d ...

. The captain of ''Scharnhorst'' offered to draw off the escorting

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

battleship , so that ''Gneisenau'' could sink the merchant ships. This strategy, if successful, would have entailed little risk to ''Scharnhorst'' as she was faster than ''Ramillies'', and her newer guns outranged the 1915 era guns of the British ship. However, Lutjens strictly followed

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's directive not to engage enemy capital ships, and withdrew. Later, two of the convoy's merchant ships were sunk by the submarine , including ''Arthur F. Corwin'' loaded with 14,500 tons of aviation fuel. She went down on 13 February, taking all 59 crew with her.

Ships in the convoy

Allied merchant ships

A total of 41 merchant vessels joined the convoy, either in Halifax or later in the voyage.

Convoy escorts

A series of armed military ships escorted the convoy at various times during its journey.

References

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