Convoy HX 140 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)

Convoy HX 140 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on July 22-1941 and arrived Liverpool on Aug. 6 (Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" says 70 ships).

Transcribed from documents received from Tony Cooper, England - his source: Public Records Office, Kew.

Some info (passenger details) has been taken from a document received from D. Kindell, based on the late Arnold Hague's database - see his listing for HX 140 at Ships in all HX convoys.

Please note that some ships are not included in this table (some had returned to port, others joined on the way), they are named at "Notes" below.

See also Convoy ON 8, ON 9 and other ON convoys from this period.

Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Sw=Swedish, Da=Danish, Du=Dutch, Ca=Canadian, Yug=Yugoslavian, Rom=Romanian.

11
R.J. Cullen
steel - paper
Loch Ewe
(Ca)

21
Silverbeech
general
Loch Ewe
(Br)

31
Coimbra
lub. oil
Loch Ewe
(Br)

41
Empire Swan
general
Clyde
(Br)

51
Stuart Prince
sugar
Clyde
(Br)

61
Themistocles
refrig. food
208 passengers
Liverpool
(Br)

71
Tudor Prince
sugar
Liverpool
(Br)

81
Comanchee
lub. oil
Liverpool
(Br)

91*
Masunda
steel - lumber
Liverpool
(Br)

101
Empire Faith
grain
CAM ship
Liverpool
(Br)

111
Carelia
gasoline
Barry
Roads
(Br)

121
City of Oxford
sugar - pitch - general
Liverpool
(Br)

12
Gitano
general
Hull
(Br)

22
Karabagh
gasoline
Loch Ewe
(Br)

32
Beaconstreet
Admiralty
fuel
Loch Ewe
(Br)

42
Dalcroy
steel
Loch Ewe
(Br)

52
Empire Barracuda
steel
Loch Ewe
(Br)

62
San Amado
gasoline
Liverpool
(Br)

72
Woensdrecht
gas oil
Liverpool
(Du)

92
Athelcrown
molasses
Liverpool
(Br)

102
Empire Wildebeeste
steel - scrap
Barry Rds.
(Br)

112
Madrono
crude oil
Barry Rds
(Norw)

122
Stad Vlaardingen
steel
Barry Roads
(Du)

13
Oregon I*
iron ore
Loch Ewe
(Da / Br 1940)

23
British Commodore
Adm. fuel
Scapa
(Br)

33
City of Derby
general
Loch Ewe
(Br)

43
Thorshavet
fuel oil
Clyde
(Norw)

53
Nemanja
general
Liverpool
(Yug)

63
Empire Penguin
general
Clyde
(Br)

73
British Sincerity
gasoline
Liverpool
(Br)

83
Thorshov
benzine
Liverpool
(Norw)

93
Svend Foyn
fuel oil
224 passengers
Liverpool
(Br)

103
Breedijk
general
3 passengers
Barry Rds.
(Du)

113
Ferncastle
diesel oil
Barry Roads
(Norw)

123
Temple Inn
general
Londonderry
(Br)

14
Frumenton
grain
5006 bags mail
Loch Ewe
(Br)

24
Oltenia II*
pool oil
Loch Ewe
(Rom / Br 1940)

34
Corrales
refrig. food
10 passengers
Loch Ewe
(Br)

44
Empire Steelhead
steel
Clyde
(Br)

54
Clan Maciver
sugar
Clyde
(Br)

64
Manaqui
sugar - rum
Clyde
(Br)

74
City of Eastbourne
general
Liverpool
(Br)

84
Vardefjell
crude oil
Liverpool
(Norw)

94
British Prestige
gasoline
Barry Rds.
(Br)

104
Korsholm
phosphates
Belfast
(Sw)

114
Evita
oil gas
Barry Rds.
(Norw)

124
Olaf Bergh
steel- scrap
Swansea
(Norw)

15
Sembilangan
general
Loch Ewe
(Du)

25*
Atlantic
flour
Loch Ewe
(Br?)

35
Caspia
benzine
Loch Ewe
(Br)

45
Coulbeg
sugar
Liverpool
(Br)

55*
Ger-y-Bryn
grain
Clyde
(Br)

65
Prins Willem van Oranje
general
Liverpool
(Du)

75
Testbank
phosphates
Liverpool
(Br)

85
Silvercedar
general
Liverpool
(Br)

95
Stiklestad
fuel oil
Swansea
(Norw)

105
Sutlej
general
Holyhead
(Br)

115
Brasil
petrol products
Belfast
(Norw)

125*
Jamaica
Producer
general
146 passengers
Belfast
(Br)

16*
Boreas
pulp
Loch Ewe
(Norw)

36*
Bosworth
grain
Loch Ewe
(Br)

56
Velox
general - lumber
Liverpool
(Norw)

66*
Asbjørn*
general
Liverpool
(Da / Ca 1940)

76
Harpagon
steel
Liverpool
(Br)

86*
Cristales
general
12 passengers
Liverpool
(Br)

96
Velma
diesel oil
Swansea
(Norw)

106
Alaska
copper concentrates - zinc
Swansea
(Norw)

116

126

47*
Jupiter
Liverpool
flour
(Du)

77*
Helgøy
general
Ellesmere
Port
(Norw)

97*
Skiensfjord
general
Avonmouth
(Norw)

107

117

127

Also, the Rescue Vessels Toward and Zamalek were with the convoy for a while - Additionally, 6 ships joined from Iceland, see Notes below.

For info, quite a few of the ships in this convoy had previously been scheduled for HX 139, some had been cancelled, others had returned. There's a note in connection with the British Luxor and Regent Panther, cancelled from that convoy, indicating that they were sent to HX 140, but they're not mentioned here. They must have been cancelled again, because they are both listed in HX 141.

City of Oxford and Comanchee had returned to port from HX 138.

When comparing the above with A. Hague's listing for HX 140 at Ships in all HX convoys, it'll be noticed that he has many of the ships in other stations than those given on this form. (He says the Norwegian Stiklestad had a cargo grain - this was a tanker).

Notes: * Oregon I was the ex Danish Oregon, came under MoWT in 1940 (Ministry of War Transport). Similarly, the Romanian Oltenia came under the MoWT in 1940, renamed Oltenia II, and the Danish Asbjørn was taken over by the Canadian government in 1940, returned in 1946. ("The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R.W. Jordan).

According to the documents from which I've transcribed the info on this page, the number of ships that actually sailed in this convoy were:
61 from Halifax, 11 from Sydney, C.B. and 2 from Wabana for a total of 74. The Sydney ships have been denoted * in the above table (as per A. Hague's listing for SHX 140 on this external page).

Also, 6 ships joined the convoy from Iceland, the Norwegian Bur (from Convoy HX 139) being one of them, cargo of steel and lumber. When going back to A. Hague's listing for HX 140 at Ships in all HX convoys, we see that he has also included the British Alexia in Convoy HX 140, cargo of fuel oil, station 34 (with a note saying "after collision 25.7"); she may have been among the 6 joining from Iceland? The Swedish Nanking (general cargo, 10 passengers), the British Empire Energy (steel, scrap iron), the Dutch Mamura (fuel oil) and Chr. Th. Boe (dieso) were transferred from HX 139 (these are not included in the table above) - perhaps they too joined from Iceland? That would make a total of 6 ships. In the case of Chr. Th. Boe, this fits in with her Voyage Record for this period, which says she had previously arrived Reykjavik on July 28. Her departure from there is not given, but she arrived Loch Ewe on Aug. 6.

The following ships left the convoy (the first 3 are not included in the above form):
The Norwegian Beth had engine trouble off Halifax, July 22 - returned to port and joined the next convoy.
The Norwegian Petter (cargo of diesel oil, station 54) had engine trouble in Straits of Belle Isle, July 25, returned to port (Sydney, C.B.) - listed in HX 143.
The Dutch Malvina (cargo of crude oil, station 23) was in collision with an ice berg in Straits of Belle Isle, July 25 - returned to port (Sydney, C.B.) and later joined HX 144. According to A. Hague, Oregon I also hit an iceberg that day, but it looks like she was able to continue.
The Norwegian Velox dropped astern on Aug. 4 (could not keep up with the convoy speed of 9 knots).

The Rescue Vessel Toward was on her 11th voyage as such, having been requisitioned on Dec. 14-1940. She had started this voyage from Clyde on July 27 with Convoy ON 1, detached July 31, then joined HX 140 for the last stretch on Aug. 2.

The Rescue Vessel Zamalek was on her 9th voyage (requisitioned in March-1940 ) and had started this journey from Clyde with Convoy ON 2 on July 28, detached on Aug. 2, then joined HX 140 that same day to return to Clyde ("Convoy Rescue Ships 1940-1945", Arnold Hague).

Escorts: Columbia, Ramsay, Fennel, Walney, Gladiolus, Bittersweet, Nasturtium, Mimosa, Candytuft, Ascania.

Local Escorts:
Speedwell, Britomart, Malcolm, Watchman, Sardonyx, Scimitar, Amazon, Verbena, Violet, Aubretia, Nigella, Heartsease, Northern Wave, Northern Spray, Walney.

A. Hague names the following escorts (extracted from this list of HX convoy escorts, also received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Amazon - 03/08/41
Ascania - From 22/07/41 to 02/08/41
Aubretia - 02/08/41
Bittersweet - From 22/07/41 to 02/08/41
Britomart - 03/08/41
Buctouche - From 24/07/41 to 26/07/41
Candytuft - From 25/07/41 to 02/08/41
Chicoutimi - From 23/07/41 to 23/07/41
Columbia - From 25/07/41 to 01/08/41
Fennel - From 22/07/41 to 02/08/41
FS Mimosa - From 25/07/41 to 02/08/41
Gladiolus - From 25/07/41 to 02/08/41
Heartsease - From 02/08/41 to 06/08/41
Malcolm - From 02/08/41 to 05/08/41
Matapedia - From 23/07/41 to 23/07/41
Nasturtium - From 25/07/41 to 27/07/41
Nigella - From 02/08/41 to 06/08/41
Northern Spray
Northern Wave - 25/07/41
Ramsey - 25/07/41
Sardonyx - From 02/08/41 to 05/08/41
Scimitar - From 02/08/41 to 05/08/41
Speedwell - From 25/07/41 to 28/07/41
Verbena - From 02/08/41 to 06/08/41
Violet - From 02/08/41 to 06/08/41
Walney - From 24/07/41 to 25/07/41
Watchman - From 02/08/41 to 05/08/41

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To the next HX convoy in my list HX 141