Convoy HX 41 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
CONVOY HX 41 Cruising Order & Advance Sailing Telegram
| Convoy HX 41 Cruising Order Departed Halifax on May 8-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 23rd (Arnold Hague says 44 ships). | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcribed from A 1 form received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew). Nationalities have been added with the help of "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan. Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Pa=Panamanian, Am=American, Fr=French B = Bermuda portion | ||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 11 Loch Lomond lumber Belfast(Br) | 21 Sveve diesel & fuel oil Milford Haven(Norw) | 31 Nailsea Meadow wheat Sharpness (Br) | 41 Everleigh wheat Cardiff(Br) | 51 Harry G. Seidel fuel oil Falmouth (Pa) | 61 Pacific Grove general London (Br) | 71 Hartlebury grain Southampton (Br) | 81 Llangollen steel - lumber Newcastle (Br) | 91 Yang Tsé horses - cotton Bordeaux (Fr) |
| 12 Gregalia Glasgow (Br) | 22 | 32 Manchester Division Liverpool (Br) | 42 Mabriton grain Avonmouth (Br) | 52 Fowberry Tower wheat Falmouth (Br) | 62 Rym** lumber Montrose (Norw) | 72 Empire Commerce pulp wood Sheerness (Br) | 82 Shakespear sugar London (Br) | 92 Dalfonn fuel oil Le Havre (Norw) |
| 13 | 23 | 33 | 43 | 53 | 63 Chaucer flour London (Br) | 73 | 83 | 93 |
| 14 B Brittany general Liverpool (Br) | 24 BPort Saint John** wool - zinc Milford Haven (Br) | 34 B Dalcairn sugar Liverpool (Br) | 44 B Oropesa general Liverpool (Br) | 54 |
64 B Huntingdon general London (Br) | 74 B Kent refrig. Southampton (Br) | 84 BLacklan crude oil Le Havre (Br) | 94 BEdwy R. Brown gasoline Falmouth (Br) |
| 15 B Indianan* phosphates Liverpool(Am/Br) | 25 B San Conrado gasoline Milford Haven (Br) | 35 B Elona benzine Manchester (Br) | 45 B El Grillo crude oil Ellesmere Port (Br) | 55 B Housatonic fuel oil London (Br) | 65 B Middleton sugar London (Br) | 75 B Charles Pratt crude oil Southampton(Pa) | 85 B Bulysses fuel - crude Falmouth (Br) | 95 B British Reliance fuel oil Falmouth |
| 16 | 26 B Scottish Chief crude oil St. Nazaire (Br) | 36 B Conch fuel oil Scapa (Br) | 46 BDaphnella gas oil Milford Haven (Br) | 56 B Anglo Norse fuel oil London (Br) | 66 B La Estancia lumber - wheat Hull (Br) | 76 B Cairndale oil Clyde (Br) | 86 B Eulima gas oil Downs (Br) | 96 BSan Casimiro gas oil London (Br) |
| * The ship in station 54 is originally listed as Earl Essex, but there's a notation above it that says: "Mistake at Bermuda and also in Admiralty - change of destination", then it says "Trojan Star in line". ** The Norwegian Rym was unable to maintain convoy speed of 8 knots (too small) - parted company on May 10 in 41 36N 56 08W. Port Saint John (from Bermuda section) parted company before joining Halifax section. * Indianian became the British Empire Eagle A. Hague's listing for HX 41 is available on the page naming ships in all HX convoys. |
| Advance Sailing Telegram Transcribed from several documents received from Tony Cooper - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Nationality | Cargo | Destination | Remarks |
| Halifax section | ||||
| Everleigh | British | grain | Avonmouth | – |
| " | Tanker B | London | From HX 40 Listed in HX 42 | |
| Mabriton | " | grain | Avonmouth | From HX 40 |
| Shakespear | " | sugar | Portland / London | From HX 40 |
| Dalfonn | Norwegian | Tanker B | Brest f. o. | From HX 40 |
| Loch Lomond | British | lumber | Belfast | From HX 40 |
| Pacific Grove | " | general | London | Commodore Vessel |
| Nailsea Meadow | " | grain | London | – |
| Chaucer | " | flour | London | – |
| Manchester Division | " | grain | Manchester | – |
| " | grain | London | Listed in HX 42 | |
| " | general | Hull | Listed in HX 42 | |
| " | Tanker | Havre | Listed in HX 43 | |
| Gregalia | " | general | Glasgow | – |
| " | flour | Milford Haven f. o. | Listed in HX 42 | |
| Yang Tsé | French | horses - cotton | Bordeaux | – |
| British | grain | Hull | Listed in HX 42 | |
| " | grain | Hull | Listed in HX 42 | |
| " | grain | London | Listed in HX 42 | |
| " | Tanker B | Liverpool | From HX 40 Listed in HX 42 | |
| Greek | lead - lumber | Glasgow | From HX 40 Shows up again in HX 49 | |
| Llangollen | British | steel - lumber | Portland / Newcastle | From HX 40 |
| Hartlebury | " | grain | Southampton | – |
| Norwegian | lumber - lead - flint | Glasgow | From HX 40 Listed in HX 43 | |
| British | Adm. tanker B | Scapa | From HX 39 Shows up again in HX 48 | |
| Sveve | Norwegian | Tanker B | Liverpool | From HX 40 |
| A note for the document listing the following ships states "combined sections" | ||||
| Harry G. Seidel | Panamanian | Tanker B | London | – |
| Fowberry Tower | British | wheat | Sharpness | – |
| Rym | Norwegian | lumber | Portland / Montrose | – |
| Empire Commerce | British | pulp wood | Portland / ?borough | – |
| Bulysses | " | Tanker B | Manchester | Included in Bermuda portion on A 1 form |
| Cairndale | " | Adm. tanker B | Clyde | Included in Bermuda portion on A 1 form |
| Edwy R. Brown | " | Tanker W | Purfleet | Included in Bermuda portion on A 1 form |
| British Reliance | " | Tanker B | Liverpool | Included in Bermuda portion on A 1 form |
| Joining from Bermuda - Sailed May 7 Escorted by HMS Jervis Bay | ||||
| El Grillo | British | Tanker B | Ellesmere Port | – |
| Middleton | " | sugar | Liverpool | – |
| Kent | " | mutton - beef | Sothampton | – |
| Conch | " | Adm. tanker B | Scapa | – |
| Trojan Star | " | refrig. | Portland / London | – |
| Dalcairn | " | sugar | Liverpool | – |
| American / British | resin - lumber - steel | London | To HX 42 - did not sail Listed in HX 45 (See also text under Norhauk) | |
| Indianan | " | phosphates | Garston | Later Br. Empire Eagle |
| Daphnella | British | Tanker B | Portland / Hull | – |
| Scottish Chief | " | Tanker B | St. Nazaire | – |
| Lacklan | " | Tanker | Brest f. o. | – |
| San Casimiro | " | Tanker B | London | – |
| Anglo Norse | " | Tanker B | Manchester | – |
| Elona | " | Tanker W | Manchester | – |
| Brittany | " | general | Liverpool | – |
| Huntingdon | " | refrig. | Portland / London | – |
| Housatonic | " | Tanker B | Manchester | – |
| Norwegian | lumber - wheat | Falmouth | Listed in HX 42 | |
| Oropesa | British | general | Liverpool | Vice Commodore |
| " | lumber - wheat | Newcastle | To HX 42 - crossed out w/note "not present" | |
| La Estancia | " | lumber - wheat | Hull | – |
| Port Saint John | " | concentrates - wool | La Pallice | – |
| Charles Pratt | Panamanian | Tanker B | Southampton | – |
| British | Tanker B | Havre | Listed in HX 42 | |
| San Conrado | " | Tanker W | Southampton | – |
| Eulima | " | Tanker B | Jarrow-on-Tyne | – |
| " | sugar | Greenock | Listed in HX 42 | |
| As can be seen, the A 1 form above has some more ships in the Bermuda portion than included in this Advance Sailing Telegram. |
Notes:
Commodore F. A. Sommerville (R.N.) was in Pacific Grove, Vice Commodore vessel was Oropesa, Captain R. E. Dunn, joining from Bermuda (BHX 41 left Bermuda on May 7-1940, escorted by HMS Jervis Bay, local escort was HMS Penzance).
If I understand the comments correctly, there were 44 ships, 26 joining from Bermuda at 08:30 on May 14 in 43 04N 40 11W. 42 ships were still present on arrival at rendezvous with local escort.
Average speed: 8.2 knots.
BHX 41 experienced low visibility in the evening of May 12 prior to the rendezvous, making star sights impracticable, and during the night ran into thick fog. No reliable sights could be obtained before 11:00 on the 13th. BHX 41 was 8 miles 335° from the rendezvous at 12:00 GMT, i.e. abreast it to the N.N.W. HMS Jervis Bay left her convoy at 19:00 on May 13 and sighted HX 41 at 20:20. BHX 41 then bore 060° 34 miles from HX 41, proving that HX 41 was approximately 4 hours late.
Escorts: HMCS Restigouche, St. Laurent.
Ocean Escorts: HMS Ranpura, (from Halifax until meeting local escort in the morning of May 20 -50 05N 14 21W), French S/M Ajax.
Local Escorts: Liverpool - HMS Mackay, London - HMS Aberdeen.
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):
Aberdeen - From 19/05/40 to 23/05/40
Clarkia - From 20/05/40 to 23/05/40
FS Ajax - From 08/05/40 to 20/05/40
Mackay - From 19/05/40 to 23/05/40
Ranpura - From 08/05/40 to 20/05/40
Restigouche - From 08/05/40 to 09/05/40
S. Laurent - From 08/05/40 to 09/05/40
To the next HX convoy in my list HX 42
| Aa–Al | An–Ar | As–Av | Ba | Be | Bi–Bl | Bo | Br–Bu | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | F | G | Ha | He | Hi–Hy | Hø | I | J | K |
| L | M | N | O | PQ | R | Sa–Sc | Se–Sj | Sk–Sn | So |
| Sp–St | Su–Sø | Ta–Te | Th–Ti | To | Tr–Tø | U | V | W | Ø |
