Convoy HX 180 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
Convoy HX 180 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on March 15-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 27th (Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" gives 35 ships).
List received from Ted Agar. (His source: A diary).
Cargoes have been extracted from a document received from D. Kindell, based on the late Arnold Hague's database - see his listing for HX 180 at Ships in all HX convoys.
Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Da=Danish, Ca=Canadian, Sw=Swedish, Am=American, Gr=Greek.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
Stuart Prince
general
(Br)
21
Llanstephan Castle
general
21 days repair
(Br)
31
Empire Stanley
wheat
CAM ship
(Br)
41
Hektoria
crude oil
4 passengers
(Br)
51
Tortuguero
general
(Br)
61
Empire Ocean
grain
CAM ship
(Br)
71
Empire Spray
grain
CAM ship
(Br)
91
Cairnvalona
general
(Br)
12
Settler
general
52 passengers
(Br)
22
El Aleto
fuel oil
(Br)
32
Sovac
lub. oil
(Br)
42
British Corporal
aviation gas
(Br)
See Notes below
52
Athelknight
molasses
(Br)
62
*
82
Eclipse
petrol
(Br)
92
Lancastrian Prince
general
25 mails
(Br)
13
Medon
general
(Br)
23
Paul Luckenbach
general
(Am)
See Notes below
33
Asbjørn
general
(Da / Ca)
43
Athelprincess
molasses
(Br)
53
Atlantic
gas oil
(Norw)
63
Ancylus
petrol
(Br)
73
Clan Farquhar
refrig. - general
200 mails
(Br)
83
San Eliseo
petrol - paraffin
(Br)
93
Ocean Viking
general
(Br)
14
Audacious
general
(Pa)
24
Alcoa Rambler
general
(Am)
34
Expositor
general
(Am)
See Notes below
44
54
Consuelo
general
4 passengers
(Br)
64
Blankaholm
steel - general
(Sw)
74
Dromore
general
(Br)
84
Idefjord
general
(Norw)
94
Mount Kyllene
general
(Gr)
15
Fort Townshend*
(Br)
25
35
45
55
65
75
85
95
El Aleto and Audacious are also mentioned on my page about the previous convoy, HX 179.
According to A. Hague, the Norwegian Atlantic and the Panamanian Audacious became stragglers on March 18 (again, see his listing for HX 180 at Ships in all HX convoys).
* He does not mention Fort Townshend, but in station 62, he has added the British Tilapa, general cargo (this ship is not mentioned in the diary).
Notes:
British Corporal is listed in Convoy PQ 14 to Murmansk, but returned to port; follow the link for more details.
Expositor had been cancelled from the slow Convoy SC 74 - later joined Convoy PQ 15 (external link), returned with QP 12. Paul Luckenbach is also listed in these convoys.
Asbjørn was originally Danish - came under the control of the Canadian government in 1940.
The ships left port in the following sequence (according to the diary):
The first to leave at 10:20 was the Swedish Blankaholm, followed at 10:21 by the British Tortuguero (Flagship). At 10:55 Llanstephan Castle went out, and with a few minutes between each ship, Hektoria (whale oil factory), the British Catapult freighters Empire Ocean (crated planes) and Empire Spray ("B" flag, crated a/c), then Stuart Prince, Cairnvalona (crated planes), Samuel Bakke, Empire Stanley (Catapult freighter - notation: "Very broad stack with what I call a telegraph pole alongside it"), then Eclipse, El Aleto, Athelknight, Sandanger, Athelprincess, Ancylus, Medon, Atlantic, Audacious, San Eliseo, Clan Farquhar, Alcoa Rambler (crates and a tank), Idefjord, Mount Kyllene, Sovac (large "S"), Lancastrian Prince, Settler, Dromore, Consuelo, Ocean Viking, Expositor, Asbjørn, British Corporal, Paul Luckenbach. The last ship to leave at 13:12 was the British liner Fort Townshend with a notation saying "There are soldiers aboard with lifebelts on, naval officers and civilians".
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):
Clematis - From 19/03/42 to 26/03/42
Gentian - From 19/03/42 to 27/03/42
Lunenburg - From 15/03/42 to 19/03/42
Pictou - From 19/03/42 to 27/03/42
Sudbury - From 15/03/42 to 19/03/42
Summerside - From 15/03/42 to 19/03/42
Ungava - From 15/03/42 to 19/03/42
USS Edison - From 19/03/42 to 26/03/42
Vanquisher - From 15/03/42 to 19/03/42
Vervain - From 19/03/42 to 27/03/42
To the next HX convoy in my list HX 181