Convoy SC-121

Convoy SC 121 was the 121st of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City 23 February 1943; and were met by the Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) , the American , the British and Canadian s , , and and the convoy rescue ship ''Melrose Abbey''.Rohwer & Hummelchen 1992 p.196 Three of the escorts had defective sonar and three had unserviceable radar.Morison 1975 p.342

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 find convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through ''B-Dienst'' decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3. Only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys, from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943, lost ships to U-boat attack.Hague pp.132, 137-138,161-162,164&181

Battle

On 6 March sighted the convoy, which had been scattered by nine consecutive days of northwesterly Force 10 gales and snow squalls. The storm damaged the radio communication system aboard the escort commander's ship ''Spencer'' and ''Dauphin'' had to leave the convoy with damaged steering gear. torpedoed the British freighter ''Egyptian'' on the night of 6–7 March.Hague 2000 p.137 The British freighter ''Empire Impala'' stopped to rescue survivors and was torpedoed after dawn by .

torpedoed the British freighter ''Empire Lakeland'' when the gale subsided on 8 March and four more stragglers were sunk by , , ''U-591'', and . On 9 March the convoy escort was reinforced by No. 120 Squadron RAF B-24 Liberators from Northern Ireland and by the ''Wickes''-class destroyer and the Treasury-class cutters and from Iceland.

torpedoed straggling Swedish freighter ''Milos'' on the evening of 9 March. That night ''U-405'' torpedoed the Norwegian freighter ''Bonneville'' while torpedoed the British freighter and torpedoed the British escort oiler ''Rosewood'' and American ammunition ship ''Malantic''.Hague 2000 pp.137-8

The Flower-class corvettes and reinforced the convoy escort on 10 March, and the convoy reached Liverpool on 14 March. Only 76 of the 275 crewmen of the sunken ships were rescued.

Ships in convoy

See also

* Convoy Battles of World War II

Sources

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References

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SC121
Naval battles of World War II involving Canada
C
Naval battles of World War II involving Germany