ONS-92
Outward, northbound, slow (North Atlantic)11 May 1942 - 13 May 1942
The Convoy | 41 ships |
First sighting | On 11 May 1942 by U-94 |
Escorts | The American escort group A3 (Cdr Heffermann) consisting of the destroyer Gleaves, the cutter Ingham and 4 Canadian corvettes : Algoma, Arvida, Bittersweet and Shediac. In the convoy is the rescue vessel Bury equipped with HF/DF. |
U-boats | The wolfpack Hecht of 6 boats * U-boats that fired torpedo or used the deck gun |
The battle | After the disastrous chase on the convoy HG-76 in December 41, the BdU has given up for a while convoy battle. Most of the boats are sent to the unprotected coasts of America. As the defence gets more and more organised and the opposition gets tougher, plans arise to attack again the vital North Atlantic convoy routes. Apart from some chance meetings (e.g. ONS-67) there weren't for the past six months any convoy battle to speak off when the group Hecht is sent out in May. U-569 makes contact on the 11th and leads U-94 and U-124 to the convoy. The boats attack in the night and U-124 sinks 4 ships in 2 approaches, U-94 sinks one and U-569 gets a possible hit on a ship. In the next night the other boats get to the convoy but only U-94 sinks 2 ships in 2 approaches. U-406 misses an escort due to torpedo failure. Then contact is lost in bad weather. The failure of the escort is in part explained by their inadequate use of the HF/DF bearings provided by the Bury. |
Article compiled by Tom Linclau
Ships hit from convoy ONS-92
Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Map | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 May 1942 | U-124 | Johann Mohr | Empire Dell | 7,065 | br | A | ||
12 May 1942 | U-124 | Johann Mohr | Llanover | 4,959 | br | B | ||
12 May 1942 | U-94 | Otto Ites | Cocle | 5,630 | pa | C | ||
12 May 1942 | U-124 | Johann Mohr | Mount Parnes | 4,371 | gr | D | ||
12 May 1942 | U-124 | Johann Mohr | Cristales | 5,389 | br | E | ||
13 May 1942 | U-94 | Otto Ites | Batna | 4,399 | br | F | ||
13 May 1942 | U-94 | Otto Ites | Tolken | 4,471 | sw | G | ||
18 May 1942 | U-588 | Victor Vogel | Fort Binger (d.) | 5,671 | br | H | ||
41,955 | ||||||||
7 ships sunk (36,284 tons) and 1 ship damaged (5,671 tons). Legend |
19 convoys on route ONS were hit by U-boats in the war. Read more about them.
Media links
|
Return to convoy information - convoy battles page.
As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.