Convoy ON 67

Convoy ON 67 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 67th of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed from Liverpool on 14 February 1942 with convoy rescue ship ''Toward'', and were escorted to the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point by escort group B4.

The escort group

On 19 February the US naval task unit TU 4.1.5 assumed escort responsibility with s and , s and and the Canadian .Abbazia (September 1975) p. 50 ''Edison''s commanding officer, Commander Albert C. Murdaugh, USN, was the senior officer of the escort group. The escort group had never operated together before. ''Bernadou'' had been modified for long range escort work by replacing the fourth boiler and stack with an extra fuel tank. ''Nicholson'' had the only functional radar, though the merchant ship ''Toward'' could provide support with its High-frequency direction finding (HF/DF) set. ''Lea'' carried a British ASV aircraft radar with fixed antennae, but the coaxial cable to the antennae was repeatedly shorted by salt water spray. ''Edison'' had no depth charge throwers, and was limited to a linear pattern rolled off the stern.Murdaugh (January 1976) p. 74 The American ships did not have enough binoculars. ''Bernadou'' had a 7x50 pair for the officer of the deck and a 6x30 pair for the junior officer of the deck but there were none for the lookouts. The escort was reinforced on 26 February by the cutter .

''U-155''

found and reported the convoy on 21 February. ''Toward'' obtained a bearing on the contact report, and ''Lea'' searched the bearing unsuccessfully at dusk.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 51 ''U-155'' approached the port quarter of the convoy in the pre-dawn hours of 22 February and torpedoed the British tanker ''Adellen'' and Norwegian freighter .Hague (2000) p. 161 Both ships sank quickly. ''Algoma'' rescued eleven of ''Adellen''s crew of 31 while ''Nicholson'' and ''Toward'' found 20 survivors from ''Sama''s crew of 50. ''U-155'' crash-dived to avoid ''Bernadou'', but the destroyer never saw the U-boat. ''U-155'' made another emergency dive while shadowing the convoy at 1042 hrs, but ''Edison'' did not detect the U-boat. , and found the convoy on 23 February.

''U-558''

''U-558'' approached the convoy at 2120, but repeatedly turned away to avoid ''Bernadou''s patrols until a squall provided cover at midnight. ''U-558'' torpedoed the Norwegian tanker ''Inverarder'' at 0045 hrs on 24 February.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 53 The tanker sank slowly and ''Toward '' rescued all 42 of the crew. ''U-558'' approached again at 0230 hrs and fired a single torpedo at ''Edison''. The torpedo missed, and ''Edison'' was unaware it had been fired at. ''U-558'' torpedoed the Norwegian tanker ''Eidanger'' at 0255 hrs. ''U-558'' reloaded and at 0550 hrs torpedoed the British tankers ''Anadara'' and ''Finnanger'', and the British freighter ''White Crest''. All three ships straggled and were sunk. Later that morning, the convoy commodore sent a signal to the escort commander regarding the performance of ''U-558'': "That chap must be one of their best ones. I do hope you have done him in."

''U-158''

found the convoy at 0425 hrs on 24 February and torpedoed the British tanker . ''Empire Celt'' was using the Admiralty Net Defence system, streaming a strong steel net from booms along either side of the ship. One torpedo broke through the net and hit amidships.Blair (1996) p. 511 ''Empire Celt'' later broke in half, but a tug from Newfoundland rescued 31 from the crew of 37.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 57

As ''U-558'' was torpedoing ships on the starboard side of the convoy, ''U-158'' approached the port side and torpedoed British tanker ''Diloma'' at 0635 hrs. ''Diloma'' was the only one of the torpedoed ships to successfully reach Halifax. Both ''U-158'' and ''U-558'' dived to avoid being seen in the early daylight.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 55 ''U-558'' found and sank the ''Eidanger'', drifting and abandoned astern of the convoy, with gunfire and a torpedo. All of ''Eidanger''s crew had been rescued. ''Lea'' investigated a DF bearing from ''Toward'' at 1515 and spotted ''U-558'' 20 miles astern of the convoy at 1707 hrs. ''Lea'' dropped eight depth charges at 1746 hrs, and then surprised the U-boat on the surface at 1813 and dropped 14 depth charges at 1847 hrs. ''U-558'' was undamaged.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 56

''Nicholson'' investigated a DF bearing from ''Toward'' and sighted ''U-158'' at 1323. ''U-158'' dived and evaded ''Nicholson''. ''Nicholson'' then slowed to listen. ''U-158'' surfaced at 1550 hrs and was surprised to find ''Nicholson'' waiting away. ''U-158'' crashed-dived before ''Nicholson'' saw the U-boat. ''U-158'' surfaced again at 1817 and was surprised to find ''Edison'' away. ''U-158'' again avoided detection by crash-diving. ''Edison'' finally spotted ''U-158'' making another convoy approach at 2008 hrs and dropped 25 depth charges over the following six hours. ''U-158'' was undamaged, but had been prevented from making further attacks on the convoy. Admiral Karl Dönitz, the BdU or commander in chief of U-Boats, ordered his U-boats to discontinue the attack on 25 February. The remainder of the convoy reached Halifax on 1 March 1942.Hague (2000) p. 157

Ships in convoy

Allied merchant ships

A total of 39 cargo vessels (37 merchant, 2 US Navy) joined the convoy, either in Liverpool or later in the voyage.

Convoy escorts

A task unit of armed military ships, TU 4.1.5, escorted the convoy during its journey, joined later by a United States Coast Guard vessel.

See also

* Convoy Battles of World War II

Notes

References

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Naval battles of World War II involving Canada
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