Convoy HX 19 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)

Convoy HX 19 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on Febr. 7-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 22nd (Arnold Hague says 45 ships).

Transcribed from original A 1 form received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew).

Br=British, Fr=French, Pa=Panamanian, Gr=Greek, Norw=Norwegian
s=sunk, † = dead

11
Port Halifax*
wool
London
(Br)

21
Queen City
grain
Liverpool
(Br)

31
Dramatist
general
Liverpool
(Br)

41
Magician
general
Liverpool
(Br)

51
British Commander*
benzine
Milford Haven
(Br)

61
Calgarolite
crude oil
Southampton
(Br)

71
Tregarthen
grain
London
(Br)

81
Wanstead
grain
Newcastle
(Br)

91
Statira
general
London
(Br)

12
Athelfoam
molasses
Glasgow
(Br)

22
Johilla
sugar
Liverpool
(Br)

32
San Cipriano
crude oil
Liverpool
(Br)

42
Davisian
general
Liverpool
(Br)

52
Varand
mtr. spirits
Liverpool
(Br)

62
Caprella
crude oil
Dunkirk
(Br)

72
Barrwhin*
grain
Falmouth
(Br)

82
Tower Field
grain
Hull
(Br)

92
Warkworth
grain
London
(Br)

13
British Workman
benzine
Glasgow
(Br)

23
Temple Pier
grain
Liverpool
(Br)

33
Waziristan
grain
Manchester
(Br)

43
San Ubaldo
petr. products
Liverpool
(Br)

53
Arakaka*
w. i. produce
Avonmouth
(Br)

63
San Florentino
crude oil
Le Havre
(Br)

73
Athelduchess
crude oil
Le Havre
(Br)

83
Hadleigh
wheat
London
(Br)

93
Thistlebrae
grain
London
(Br)

14
Rio Dorado
maize
Liverpool
(Br)

24
Conch
fuel
Liverpool
(Br)

34
Harpathian
grain
Liverpool
(Br)

44
Montrolite
Liverpool
(Br)

54
New York City*
general
Cardiff
(Br)

64
Frederick S. Fales
crude oil
Le Havre
(Br)

74 *

84
Calliope
crude oil
Southampton
(Pa)

94
Embassage
wheat
Tyne
(Br)

15
Loch Maddy*
wheat - lumber
Leith
s - 4†
(Br)
See Notes

25
Mimosa*
Liverpool
(Gr)

35
Parracombe
Liverpool
(Br)

45
Hird
cotton - resin
Liverpool
(Norw)

55
Cressington Court
grain
Avonmouth
(Br)

65
Blairangus
Avonmouth
(Br)

75
Capulet*
fuel oil
Portsmouth
(Br)

85
Bourgogne*
crude oil
Le Havre
(Fr)

95
Generton
Hull
(Br)

46
San Alvaro*
(Br)

66
Pacific Reliance
general
Avonmouth
(Br)
See Notes

86
illegible

Bourgogne had been cancelled from Convoy HXF 19.

It looks like Calliope and Bourgogne did not sail, or returned to port; they are both listed in the next convoy, HX 20.

According to Arnold Hague, the British Peebles, cargo of timber and general, sailed in station 56 of this convoy - this ship is not mentioned on the A 1 form. Hague's listing for HX 19 is available on the page naming ships in all HX convoys.

Notes:
Commodore was in Magician, Vice Commodore in Tregarthen.

There's an awful lot of pencil marks and crossing out on this A 1 form, and I'm not entirely sure how to read it all. The ships that I've denoted * have a blue pencil line through them. Also, columns 6, 7 and 8 have a diagonal pencil line through them. *Additionally, there are several arrows, for instance, Capulet has been entered in station 72 and Barrwhin in station 75, but there are arrows from one to the other, looking like they were switched around. There's also an arrow from station 75 up to Athelduchess in station 73 (not sure what that means), and Bourgogne is listed in station 74, but with an arrow down to station 85 (this ship probably did not sail).

Shirvan, Anglo Canadian, Bullmouth, Athel(?), British Corporal, Appalache, and Peebles are scribbled by hand in the corner of one of the original HX 19 documents, and again, I'm not sure what this means - were they scheduled for this convoy? (As already mentioned above, A. Hague has included Peebles in station 56). It'll be noticed when clicking on the link to HX 20 below that Shirvan, Anglo Canadian, British Corporal and Bullmouth appear in the next convoy. Athelempress is also listed in that convoy - perhaps this is the 'Athel' vessel mentioned?

Loch Maddy straggled and was damaged by U-57 on Febr. 21 and sunk by U-23 in the early morning hours of Febr. 22, off Copinsay, Orkneys.

J. Rohwer states Pacific Reliance was torpedoed and sunk by U-29 on March 4, 50 23N 05 49W - no convoy is mentioned in this source. Others, including Uboat.net (ref. last external link below) claim she was in, or dispersed from HX 19. I find this strange, as this convoy arrived Liverpool on Febr. 22, well over a week before this ship was sunk.

Ocean Escort:
HMS Revenge.

A. Hague names the following escorts (extracted from this list of HX convoy escorts received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Restigouche - From 07/02/40 to 08/02/40
Revenge - From 07/02/40 to 14/02/40
Saguenay - From 07/02/40 to 08/02/40
Skeena - From 07/02/40 to 08/02/40
Vanessa - From 19/02/40 to 22/02/40
Vanoc - From 19/02/40 to 22/02/40
Wolverine - From 19/02/40 to 22/02/40

Related external links:
HX and HXF Convoys - In chronological order.

Back to Convoy Index

The next HX convoy to sail was HXF 20 To the next HX convoy HX 20