Convoy HX 206 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)

Convoy HX 206 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on Sept. 6-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 18th (Arnold Hague gives 45 ships).

List received from Ted Agar, supplemented by info received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew).

Br=British, Du=Dutch, Bel=Belgian, Fr=French, Norw=Norwegian, Da=Danish, Ca=Canadian, Am=American, Pa=Panamanian.
MOWT=Ministry of War Transport

11
Ocean Viceroy
general
Clyde
(Br)

21
Inventor
general
Loch Ewe
(Br)

31
Empire Chapman
petrol
Glasgow
(Br)

41
Kaia Knudsen ?*
diesel oil
Clyde
(Norw)

51
Ville de Tamatave
general
Mersey
(Fr / MOWT 1941)

61
Pacific Enterprise
general
Belfast
(Br)

71
Empire Coral
gas oil
Manchester
(Br)

81
Clan Colqhoun
refrig. - general
Mersey
(Br)

91
Moveria
general
Belfast
(Br)

101
Empire Norseman
motor spirits
Belfast
(Br)

111
Ocean Athlete
general
Mersey
(Br)

12
Fort McLeod
wheat - lumber
Loch Ewe
(Br)

22
Asbjørn
general
Clyde f. o.
(Da / Ca Gov. 1940)

32
D. L. Harper
petrol
Clyde
(Br)

42
Noreg
Admiralty fuel
Clyde
(Norw)

52
Esturia *
fuel oil
Clyde
(Br)

62
Akaroa
refrig.
Mersey
(Br)

72
Schuylkill *
gas oil
Mersey
(Br)

82
Edam
general
Mersey
(Du)

92
Mount Evans *
general
Belfast
(Am)

102
Polarsol
gas. - kerosene
Belfast
(Norw)

112
Trentbank
general
Belfast
(Br)

13
John P. Poe
general
Loch Ewe
(Am)

23
Nueva Granada
oil
Glasgow
(Norw)

33
Cardium
diesel oil
Clyde f. o.
(Br)

43
Athos
fuel oil
Clyde
(Norw)

53
Polartank
petrol
Glasgow
(Norw)

63
Emile Francqui
general
Liverpool
(Bel)

73
Villanger
general
Mersey
(Norw)

83
Manchester Citizen
general
Manchester
(Br)

93
Skandinavia
gasoline
Belfast
(Norw)

103
Edward F. Johnson
gas oil
Belfast
(Br)

113
Ocean Valentine
general
Belfast
(Br)

14
Ocean Virtue
cotton
Manchester
(Br)

24
Empire Hawk
phosphate
Loch Ewe
(Br)

34
Ralph Waldo Emerson
general
Loch Ewe
(Am)

44
Thomas Hooker
steel - general
Clyde f. o.
(Am)

54
Delnorte
general
Mersey
(Am)

64
Tai Shan
general
Mersey
(Norw)

74
Bernard Carter
general
Mersey
(Am)

84
Tjimanoek
general
Mersey
(Du)

94
Garonne
diesel
Belfast
(Norw)

104
Jean
general
Belfast
(Am)

114
Pieter De Hoogh
general
Belfast
(Du)

55
Fort Townshend
general
St. John's
(Br)

65
Pennmar general
Mersey
(Am)

75
Fort Babine
general
Manchester
(Br)

85
Hercules
steel - general
Mersey
(Du)

95
Hegira
general
Mersey
(Am)

105
Steel Navigator
general
Mersey
(Am)

115
Ocean Merchant
steel - general
Mersey
(Br)

Notes:
Commodore, Sir Eric J. A. Fullerton was in Pacific Enterprice, Vice Commodore was Captain D. E. W. Espley of Manchester Citizen.
Rear Commodore was in Inventor, Clyde Commodore was in Ocean Viceroy.

Asbjørn was originally Danish - came under the control of the Canadian government in 1940.

Inventor, Noreg, Athos, Polartank, Polarsol, and Ocean Merchant had been cancelled from the previous convoy, HX 205. The ship in station 11 is listed as Ocean Victory in the diary, but as Ocean Viceroy on the A 1 form - the latter had also cancelled from the previous convoy.

The ships went out in the following order:
The first to leave at 14:40 was the Commodore Vessel Pacific Enterprise, followed at 14:42 by Inventor, then with a few minutes between each ship, Ville Tamatave, Empire Norseman (torpedo nets), Fort McLeod (lumber), Asbjørn, D. L. Harper, Ocean Victory (Viceroy?), Noreg, Edam, Empire Coral, Polartank, Polarsol, Nueva Granada, Tai Shan, Skandinavia, Cardium, Athos, Villanger, Empire Hawk, John P. Poe, Edward F. Johnson, Tjimanoek, Hegira, Thomas Hooker, Pennmar, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Delnorte (bombers and tanks on deck), Trentbank, Steel Navigator, Hercules, Garonne, Manchester Citizen, Jean, Fort Townshend, Moveria, Ocean Virtue, Bernard Carter, Empire Chapman, Peter D. Hoegh, Ocean Athlete, Clan Colqhoun, Ocean Merchant, Ocean Valentine, Emile Francqui, Fort Babine, and the last to go out at 17:30 was Akaroa. (*Kaia Knudsen, Schuylkill, Esturia and Mount Evans are not mentioned in the diary. However, Schuylkill is listed as sailing in the next convoy, HX 207, while Mount Evans and Esturia show up in the slow convoy SC 100 which departed 6 days later - this could indicate they did not sail in HX 206 afterall - there's no mention in the Commodore's notes about them leaving after departure, so may have been cancelled alltogether?. Also, Kaia Knudsen shows up again in Convoy HX 208, which again would indicate she did not sail in HX 206).

Commodore's notes:
The convoy had 47 on departure Halifax, 44 were present at rendezvous with local escort.
Pennmar was unable to maintain convoy speed and returned to Halifax in the afternoon of Sept. 7 - she's listed in the slow convoy SC 100, departing Halifax on Sept. 12 (sunk - follow link to this convoy above).
Fort Townshend detached for St. John's at 06:00 on Sept. 9, in 45 50N 51 12W.
Clan Colqhoun fell astern with leaky boilers during the night of Sept. 16/17.

Average speed. 9.5 knots.

Steel Navigator, John P. Poe and Thomas Hooker were "slow at repeating flag signals. Very slow indeed at answering flashing signals".

The Commodore is not at all impressed with the ability of the American ships to keep their station in the convoy, but he seems plum disgusted with the convoy's signallers, saying:
"I consider that the whole question of Convoy signalmen requires careful watching, and that periodically they should be relieved and sent through a refresher course combined with a naval disciplinary course. In many ships they live in the saloon, they get into slack and bad habits and lose all sense of naval discipline unless constantly pulled up. They gradually assimilate the outlook, customs and manners of the Merchant Service; such matters as talking to the Commodore with hands in their pockets, not shaving, wearing plain clothes, smoking on watch etc., have been prevalent with my staff. Certain blame is due to the officers of the ships who treat them as equals". (!!!)

Escort Vessels (hard to decipher handwriting): Caldwell, Baddock, Port Arthur, Mansfield(?), Rimouski, Hurricane, Wildflower?, Snowflake, Watchman, Anchusa.

Related external links:
Liberty Ships - Some of the ships listed as American above were Liberty ships (station 13, 44, 34, 74) - this site lists them all alphabetically.
Empire Ships
Fort, Ocean (& Park) Ships

All the Norwegian ships in this convoy are discussed on this website - use alphabet index below to find them.

Back to Convoy Index

To the next HX convoy in my list HX 207