SC-94
Sydney CB to UK (North Atlantic)5 Aug 1942 - 10 Aug 1942
The Convoy | 36 ships |
First sighting | On 5 Aug 1942 by U-593 |
Escorts | The 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 1942 | U-593 | Gerd Kelbling | Spar | 3,616 | nl | A | ||
8 Aug 1942 | U-379 | Paul-Hugo Kettner | Anneberg | 2,537 | br | B | ||
8 Aug 1942 | U-379 | Paul-Hugo Kettner | Kaimoku | 6,367 | am | C | ||
8 Aug 1942 | U-176 | Reiner Dierksen | Kelso | 3,956 | br | D | ||
8 Aug 1942 | U-176 | Reiner Dierksen | Mount Kassion | 7,914 | gr | E | ||
8 Aug 1942 | U-176 | Reiner Dierksen | Trehata | 4,817 | br | F | ||
9 Aug 1942 | U-176 | Reiner Dierksen | Radchurch | 3,701 | br | G | ||
10 Aug 1942 | U-660 | Götz Baur | Condylis (d.) | 4,439 | gr | H | ||
10 Aug 1942 | U-438 | Rudolf Franzius | Condylis | 4,439 | gr | I | ||
10 Aug 1942 | U-660 | Götz Baur | Cape Race | 3,807 | br | J | ||
10 Aug 1942 | U-660 | Götz Baur | Empire Reindeer | 6,259 | br | K | ||
10 Aug 1942 | U-660 | Götz Baur | Oregon (d.) | 6,008 | br | L | ||
10 Aug 1942 | U-438 | Rudolf Franzius | Oregon | 6,008 | br | M | ||
63,868 | ||||||||
11 ships sunk (53,421 tons) and 2 ships damaged (10,447 tons). Legend |
48 convoys on route SC were hit by U-boats in the war. Read more about them.