Convoy battles

SC-94

Sydney CB to UK (North Atlantic)

5 Aug 1942 - 10 Aug 1942

The Convoy36 ships
First sightingOn 5 Aug 1942 by U-593
EscortsThe Canadian escort group C1 consisting of the destroyer Assiniboine and the corvettes Chilliwack and Orillia and the three British corvettes Nasturtium, Dianthus and Primrose (Lt Cdr Ayer).

U-boats

The wolfpack Steinbrinck of 8 boats:
U-71 (Oblt von Roithberg), U-210 (Korvkpt Lemcke) ++, U-379 (Kptlt Kettner) * ++, U-454 (Kptlt Hackländer), U-593 (Kptlt Kelbling) *, U-597 (Kptlt Bopst) *, U-607 (Kptlt Mengersen) *, U-704 (Kptlt Kessler) *

Newly arrived outbound boats:
U-174 (Fregkpt Thilo) *, U-176 (Korvkpt Dierksen) *, U-254 (Kptlt Gilardone) *, U-256 (Kptlt Odo Loewe) *, U-438 (Kptlt Franzius) *, U-595 (Kptlt Quaet-Faslem) *, U-605 (Kptlt Schütze) *, U-660 (Kptlt Baur) *, U-705 (Kptlt Horn),

* U-boats that fired torpedo or used the deck gun


The battle

The convoy is sighted by U-593 when a group of 6 ships with 2 escorts has romped from the convoy due to the fog. U-593 attacks at once this small group and sinks one ship. U-593 is the driven off together with U-595.

The next day the boats cannot get close to the convoy : both U-454 and U-595 are severely damaged by the escorts and have return to port after the operation. U-210 is sunk by the Assiniboine.

From 7 Aug on, the outbound boats U-174, U-176, U-256, U-438, U-660 and U-705 reinforce the wolfpack. Until mid-day of the 8th all attacks from U-597, U-605, U-607, U-660 and U-704 fail or miss. Then U-176 and U-379 attack almost at the same time and sink three and two ships respectively. Confronted with the first serious attacks since nearly a year on the North Atlantic route, some complements on the merchant ships are panicking. Three ships are abandoned without reason and one of them is sunk by the U-176.

The escort is reinforced with the Polish destroyer Blyskawica and the British destroyer Broke and strikes back : the Dianthus sinks U-379. The destroyers are equipped with HF/DF and all night long the escorts make offensive sweeps towards contact and manage to keep the boats at bay. Only U-595 and U-607 fire at the escort and the convoy but both miss.

Towards morning all escorts except the Primrose are behind the convoy sitting on a U-boat contact but fortunately for the convoy it leaves now the black pit and air escort from Sqdn 120 is provided.

During day of the 9th U-174, U-254, U-256 and U-704 and in the morning of the 10th U-597 manage to fire at the convoy but no hits are secured. On mid-day the air escort temporarily drops out and since most of the escort are still chasing contacts on the rear, U-438 and U-660 can move in quickly and sink three and one ship respectively.

Article compiled by Tom Linclau

Ships hit from convoy SC-94


Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat.Map
5 Aug 1942U-593Gerd Kelbling Spar3,616nlA
8 Aug 1942U-379Paul-Hugo Kettner Anneberg2,537brB
8 Aug 1942U-379Paul-Hugo Kettner Kaimoku6,367amC
8 Aug 1942U-176Reiner Dierksen Kelso3,956brD
8 Aug 1942U-176Reiner Dierksen Mount Kassion7,914grE
8 Aug 1942U-176Reiner Dierksen Trehata4,817brF
9 Aug 1942U-176Reiner Dierksen Radchurch3,701brG
10 Aug 1942U-660Götz Baur Condylis (d.)4,439grH
10 Aug 1942U-438Rudolf Franzius Condylis4,439grI
10 Aug 1942U-660Götz Baur Cape Race3,807brJ
10 Aug 1942U-660Götz Baur Empire Reindeer6,259brK
10 Aug 1942U-660Götz Baur Oregon (d.)6,008brL
10 Aug 1942U-438Rudolf Franzius Oregon6,008brM
 63,868

11 ships sunk (53,421 tons) and 2 ships damaged (10,447 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.


48 convoys on route SC were hit by U-boats in the war. Read more about them.


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