Convoy HX 186 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
Convoy HX 186 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on Apr. 20-1942 and arrived Liverpool on May 2 (Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" also gives 21 ships).
List received from Ted Agar, England. (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 186 at Ships in all HX convoys.
Br=British, Du=Dutch, Norw=Norwegian.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
11
Primrose Hill*
(Br)
21
Empire Ray
grain
CAM ship
(Br)
31
Beaconoil
dieso
(Br)
41
Pacific Pioneer
general
(Br)
51
Manchester Citizen
general
(Br)
61
Kafiristan
grain
CAM ship
(Br)
71
Empire Rowan
grain
(Br)
12
Ocean Valley
general
(Br)
22
32
Empire Emerald
petrol - paraffin
(Br)
42
52
British Faith
benzine
(Br)
72
Pacific Enterprise
general
(Br)
13
Empire Nomad
general
(Br)
23
Maaskerk
general
(Du)
33
Palembang
general
(Du)
43
Darina
benzine
(Br)
53
British Ardour
petrol
(Br)
63
Brant County
general
(Norw)
73
Ocean Vision
general
(Br)
14
24
Brimanger
refrig. - general
(Norw)
34
44
Jamaica Producer
refrig. - general
(Br)
54
64
74
Additionally, the diary lists the British Tornus, but no pendant number has been given.
British Ardour had originally been scheduled for Convoy SC 80. Palembang had been in involved in collisions while in Convoy HX 169 and returned to port - follow the link for details.
*Primrose Hill must have returned, or left port that day for other reasons than to join this convoy - she's also listed in the next convoy, HX 187.
Comparing this information with A. Hague's listing for Convoy HX 186 at Ships in all HX convoys, we see that he has Tornus in station 22, cargo of petrol.
Primrose Hill is not mentioned.
He has Empire Nomad in station 12, while Ocean Valley is listed in station 11 and Jamaica Producer in station 42.
The ships left port in the following order (according to the diary): Shortly after 11 the British Pacific Pioneer went out (Flagship) followed by Manchester Citizen ("B" flag), Kafiristan (Catapult freighter, Minus Hurricane), Beaconoil, Empire Rowan (Catapult freighter, Nii on Hurricane), Empire Ray (Catapult freighter, XSK on Hurricane), Primrose Hill (Catapult freighter - returned? Shows up again in next convoy), Palembang, Trondheim, Empire Emerald, Darina, Pacific Enterprise, Empire Nomad, Jamaica Producer, British Faith, British Ardour, Ocean Vision, Tornus, Maaskerk, Ocean Valley, Brant County. The last ship to go out at 1:11 was Brimanger.
There's a notation in the diary saying "Missed the time of some ships sailing due to heavy fog".
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):
Churchill - From 23/04/42 to 01/05/42
Dianella - From 23/04/42 to 01/05/42
Firedrake - From 24/04/42 to 29/04/42
FS Roselys - From 23/04/42 to 01/05/42
Halifax - From 20/04/42 to 23/04/42
Kingcup - From 23/04/42 to 01/05/42
Loosestrife - From 23/04/42 to 01/05/42
Montgomery - From 20/04/42 to 23/04/42
Nanaimo - From 20/04/42 to 23/04/42
Narvik - From 02/05/42 to 02/05/42
Oakville - From 20/04/42 to 23/04/42
Veteran - From 20/04/42 to 23/04/42
To the next HX convoy in my list HX 187