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ONS 18 and ON 202 were
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
s of the ONS/ON series which ran during the
battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. They were the subject of a major
U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
attack in September 1943, the first battle in the ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
''s autumn offensive, following the withdrawal from the North Atlantic route after Black May.


Background

Following the defeats of May 1943, and the devastating losses incurred by the
U-boat Arm The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the ...
(''U-Bootwaffe'', or UBW) Admiral Dönitz had withdrawn from attacks on the North Atlantic route while awaiting tactical and technical improvements. Chief among these was the T-5
acoustic torpedo An acoustic torpedo is a torpedo that aims itself by listening for characteristic sounds of its target or by searching for it using sonar ( acoustic homing). Acoustic torpedoes are usually designed for medium-range use, and often fired from a ...
, with which (it was planned) the convoy escorts could be attacked and eliminated, leaving the merchant ships defenceless. By September 1943 these were ready, and U-boat Control (''Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'', BdU) dispatched a patrol group of 21 boats, code-named ''Leuthen'', to renew the attack on the North Atlantic route.


Ships involved

In September 1943 BdU had established the patrol line ''Leuthen'' of 21 U-boats south of
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
; these were to intercept west-bound convoys as they were about to enter the Greenland Air Gap, where Allied aircraft were reckoned to be unable to operate due to the extreme range. ''Leuthen'' was to harry any convoy it encountered while crossing the gap, before breaking off to repeat the onslaught with the east-bound convoys. On 12 September 1943 convoy ONS 18 left
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
bound for Halifax. Composed of 27 ships it was protected by B-3 Escort Group, comprising 2 destroyers, ''Escapade'' and ''Keppel'', the frigate ''Towy'' ( Cdr MB Evans RN, the Senior Officer:Escort), and 5 corvettes; ''Narcissus'', ''Orchis'', ''Roselys'', ''Lobelia'' and ''Renoncule''. ONS 18 was also accompanied by the
MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...
carrier ''Empire MacAlpine''. When Western Approaches Command became aware of ''Leuthen'', it was decided to reinforce ONS 18; the following convoy, ON 202 was ordered to close up, and a support group, SG 9, sent to join. ON 202 had left Liverpool on 15 September, composed of 38 ships and escorted by Canadian escort group C-2, comprising 2 destroyers, ''Gatineau'' (commanded by Lt.Cdr PW Burnett RN, SOE) and ''Icarus''; the frigate ''Lagan'', and 3 corvettes; ''Drumheller'', ''Kamloops'' and ''Polyanthus''. Support Group 9 comprised destroyer ''St Croix'', frigate ''Itchen'' (Cdr CE Bridgman RN, SOE) and 3 corvettes, ''Chambly'', ''Morden'' and ''Sackville''. Altogether the 65 ships were escorted by 19 warships, to face an attack from 21 U-boats.


Action

On 19 September ONS 18 was sighted by ''U-270''; after sending a sighting report she was authorized to attack. Closing in ''U-270'' fired a T-5
acoustic torpedo An acoustic torpedo is a torpedo that aims itself by listening for characteristic sounds of its target or by searching for it using sonar ( acoustic homing). Acoustic torpedoes are usually designed for medium-range use, and often fired from a ...
at ''Lagan'', damaging her stern, the first case of an Allied warship to be damaged by the new weapon. The escorts counter-attacked, but ''U-270'' escaped, though ''Escapade'' was damaged by a misfire from her
Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...
. Both ''Lagan'' and ''Escapade'' were forced to detach, returning to base under escort. The ''Leuthen'' boats closed in during 19 September, but 2 were attacked by air patrols, which, since the introduction of a number of Very Long Range (VLR) Liberators during the summer, had been extended into the Air Gap. ''U-341'' was attacked and sunk by a Liberator from 10 Squadron
RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...
. ''U-338'' was attacked by a Liberator of 120 Sqdn RAF which was credited with the kill; however post-war analysis showed that ''U-338'' was only damaged by this, though was later engaged and sunk by the corvette ''Drumheller'' of C 2 group. On the night of 19/20 several ''Leuthen'' boats were in contact; ''U-260'' attacked, but gained no hits. ''U-238'' fired on 2 ships, sinking one, ''Theodore Dwight Weld'', and damaging another, ''Frederick Douglass''. She fell out of the convoy, and was sunk later in the day by ''U-645''. On 20/21 a dozen boats were in contact, and 8 were able to attack. ''U-305'' hit ''St Croix'', which sank with the loss of 66 of her crew. ''U-952'' hit ''Polyanthus'', which exploded and sank, leaving 1 survivor. He, and 81 men from ''St Croix'', were picked up by ''Itchen''. ''U-386'' was damaged by depth-charge attack and was forced to retire; ''U-603'' was ordered to rendezvous, but was thwarted by air attacks. ''Leuthen'' remained in contact, and on the night of 21/22 renewed the attack. ''U-377'' attacked, claiming hits, but these were not confirmed; she was attacked and damaged by aircraft and retired. ''U-230'' attacked, but again no hits were confirmed, she also was attacked by an unidentified escort and forced to retire. ''U-229'' was attacked and destroyed, this being credited to ''Keppel'', Evans' flagship. ''U-422'' was damaged by air attack, but was able to continue. On 23 September the convoys reached the
Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordfi ...
area, where fog hindered visibility both of the air patrols and the attacking ''Leuthen'' boats. ''U-238'' was able to penetrate the escort screen and sank 3 ships; ''Skjelbred'', ''Oregon Express'', and ''Fort Jemseg''. ''U-666'' torpedoed ''Itchen''; she sank, leaving just 3 survivors from her own crew and those of ''Polyanthus'' and ''St Croix'' she was carrying. ''U-952'' sank ''Steel Voyager'' and damaged ''James Gordon Bennett''. ''U-758'' attacked, but had no hits confirmed and was herself damaged by a depth-charge attack. Poor visibility, fuel shortages, and fatigue now beset both U-boats and escorts, but BdU, believing the attack to have been a great success, ordered ''Leuthen'' to break off the attack. Claims by the various boat amounted to 12 escorts and 9 ships sunk, and a further 2 ships damaged Actual losses were 3 escorts and 6 ships, with another damaged, while 3 U-boats were destroyed with a further 3 damaged and forced to return to base. Both convoys continued to their destinations, ONS 18 reaching Halifax on 29 September, while ON 202 arrived at
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
on 1 October.


Conclusion

Believing the new tactics and weapons to be a great success, BdU continued the offensive. ''Leuthen'' was disbanded, with 12 boats forming a new patrol line, ''Rossbach'', joined by 9 boats from home bases to attack the next set of east-bound convoys. The Admiralty were also encouraged by the result. Despite the losses, (which were serious), 90% of the ships had arrived safely. The losses, while serious, were no more grievous than during the battles of late 1942 and early 1943. Thus they were confident the escorts would be able to meet the challenge of the U-boat Arm's new weapons and tactics.


Tables


Allied ships lost


Allied warships lost


Axis submarines lost


See also

* List of shipwrecks in September 1943


Notes


References

* * Bernard Edwards :''Donitz and the Wolf Packs'' (1996) * Arnold Hague : ''The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945'' (2000) ISBN (Canada) 1 55125 033 0 : ISBN (UK) 1 86176 147 3 * * *
Stephen Roskill Stephen Wentworth Roskill (1 August 1903 – 4 November 1982) was a senior career officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the Second World War and, after his retirement, served as the official historian of the Royal Navy from 1949 to 1960. He ...
: ''The War at Sea 1939–1945 Vol III'' (1960) ISBN (none) * Jak P M Showell ''U-Boat Warfare: The Evolution of the Wolf-Pack'' (2002)
HMS ''Itchen'' at uboat.net


External links







{{DEFAULTSORT:Convoy ONS 18 ON 202 ONS18 Naval battles of World War II involving Canada C