Convoy HX 46 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
CONVOY HX 46 Cruising Order & Advance Sailing Telegram
| Convoy HX 46 Cruising Order Departed Halifax on May 28-1940 and arrived Liverpool on June 12 (Arnold Hague says 46 ships). | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcribed from A 1 form received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew). Br=British, Fr=French, Am=American, Norw=Norwegian, Da=Danish, Gr=Greek, Est=Estonian. B = Bermuda portion, MoWT=Ministry of War Transport. | ||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 11 Trefusis pit props Dublin (Br) | 21 Melmore Head grain Dublin (Br) | 31 Camito general Glasgow (Br) | 41Randa timber Liverpool (Da) See Notes | 51Balmoralwood wheat Falmouth (Br) Returned? See* | 61 Geraldine Mary newsprint London (Br) | 71 |
81 Indochinois planes Brest (Fr) | 91 Athelchief crude oil Brest (Br) |
| 12Antonios Chandris grain Dublin (Gr) | 22Chr. J. Kampmann wheat Sharpness (Da/Br) See Notes | 32 Holmbury flour Avonmouth (Br) | 42 Ingerfem lumber Liverpool (Norw) | 52Vapper lumber Liverpool(Est) | 62 Nailsea Court grain Leith (Br) | 72 Rajahstan wheat Hull (Br) | 82 Leikanger lumber London (Norw) | 92Asbjørn pit props Hull(Da) See Notes |
| 13 Kajak lumber Milford Haven (Est) | 23 | 33 | 43 | 53 | 63 | 73 | 83 | 93 |
| 14 B Winamac fuel oil Scapa (Br) | 24 B Solfonn fuel oil Milford Haven (Norw) | 34 B Otina gasoline Liverpool (Br) | 44 B Statesman general Liverpool (Br) | 54 B Baron Herries general Portsmouth (Br) | 64 B Rotorua refrig. London (Br) | 74 B Henry Desprez crude oil Le Havre (Fr) | 84 |
94 B King John lumber London (Br) |
| 15 B Pecten fuel oil Clyde (Br) | 25 B British Officer benzine Milford Haven (Br) | 35 B West Isleta general Manchester(Am/MoWT 1940) | 45 B Adula benzine Milford Haven (Br) | 55 B Fenris general(?) Portsmouth See Notes | 65 B Alfred Olsen lub oil London (Norw) | 75 B British Endurance benzine Brest (Br) | 85 B Saranac gasoline Brest (Br) | 95 B Bassano sugar London (Br) |
| 16 B Emma Bakke general Glasgow (Norw) | 26 B DialabenzineFalmouth (Br) | 36 B Beatus general Liverpool (Br) | 46 B G. C. Brøvig fuel oil Milford Haven (Norw) | 56 B San Demetrio gasoline Falmouth (Br) | 66 B Mexico fuel oil London (Norw) | 76 |
86 BJames J. Maguire kerosine Falmouth (Br) | 96 BTascalusa fuel oil Portsmouth (Br) |
| * Balmoralwood is also listed on the A 1 form for the next convoy, HX 47 (sunk). She's crossed out in the Advance Sailing Telegram for HX 46, but not on the A 1 form.According to Arnold Hague, Mexico became a straggler on June 4, while Beatus and Vapper straggled on June 5. Hague's listing for HX 46 is available on the page naming ships in all HX convoys. (He has not included Balmoralwood in this convoy, but in the next convoy. It'll also be noticed that he has some of the ships in different stations). |
| Advance Sailing Telegram Transcribed from several documents received from Tony Cooper - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Nationality | Cargo | Destination | Remarks |
| Halifax section | ||||
| Gearldine Mary | British | paper | London | From HX 45 Commodore Vessel |
| Greek | aluminium - paper | London | From HX 45 Listed in HX 47 | |
| Panamanian | Tanker B | Southampton | From HX 45 To HX 47 - did not sail To HX 48 - did not sail Listed in HX 49 | |
| Athelchief | British | Tanker B | Brest f. o. | From HX 45 |
| Panamanian | Tanker B | Southampton | From HX 45 To HX 47 - did not sail To HX 48 - returned to port To HX 50 - did not sail To HX 51 - did not sail ("to remain at Halifax until further orders") | |
| Randa | Danish / Ca. govt. 1940 | lumber | Barrow | Sailed Liverpool |
| Asbjørn | " | pit props | Mersey | – |
| Norwegian | copper - machinery | St. Nazaire | Listed in HX 47 | |
| Chr. J. Kampmann | Danish / MoWT 1940 | grain | Sharpness | – |
| Vapper | Estonian | sugar | Liverpool | Not at R.V. |
| Antonios Chandris | Greek | grain | Dublin | – |
| British | copper - steel - general | London | Listed in HX 47 | |
| Panamanian | Tanker W | Southampton | To HX 47 - did not sail Listed in HX 48 | |
| British | general | Newcastle | Listed in HX 47 | |
| Camito | " | general | Glasgow | Vice Commodore |
| Eastern Star | Norwegian | general | St. Nazaire | – |
| Holmbury | British | flour | Avonmouth | – |
| Melmore Head | " | general | Dublin | – |
| Greek | none given | "consult master" | To HX 47 - did not sail Listed in HX 49 | |
| Finnish | general | London | Listed in HX 47 | |
| Greek | grain | Liverpool | Listed in HX 47 | |
| British | general | Swansea | Listed in HX 47 | |
| " | grain | Hull | Listed in HX 47 | |
| Nailsea Court | " | grain | Portland / Leith | – |
| Rajahstan | " | grain | Hull | – |
| " | pit props | Tyne | To HX 47 - did not sail | |
| Norwegian | pit props | Sunderland | Listed in HX 47 | |
| British | general | Liverpool | Listed in HX 47 | |
| The following ships appear on a separate document - note that some of these are listed on the A 1 form for the Bermuda portion, others on the form for the Halifax portion. I've denoted the Bermuda ships with a B | ||||
| Trefusis | British | pit props | West Hartlepool | – |
| Kajak | Estonian | lumber | Sharpness | – |
| Diala | British | Tanker W | Swansea | B |
| Ingerfem | Norwegian | lumber | Garston | – |
| British | wheat | Barry | Listed in HX 47 | |
| Fenris | Norwegian | Tanker | Swansea | See also Notes B |
| San Demetrio | British | Tanker W | Glasgow | B |
| Narragansett | " | Tanker W | Hull | B |
| Indochinois | French | general - aeroplanes | St. Nazaire | – |
| Leikanger | Norwegian | lumber | London | – |
| James J. Maguire | British | Tanker W | Milford Haven f. o. | B |
| Bassano | " | sugar | London | B |
| Joining from Bermuda - Sailed May 27 | ||||
| Beatus | British | sugar | Liverpool | From HX 45 Not at R.V. |
| Alfred Olsen | Norwegian | Tanker sub. | Portland / London | From HX 45 |
| Mexico | " | Tanker B | Portland / London | Not at R.V. |
| " | Tanker B | Milford Haven f. o. | To HX 47 - did not sail To HX 48 - did not sail Listed in HX 51 | |
| Pecten | British | Adm.tanker B | Clyde | – |
| Baron Herries | " | general | Portsmouth | – |
| G. C. Brøvig | Norwegian | Tanker B | Mersey | – |
| British Endurance | British | Tanker W | Southampton | Sailed Brest |
| Winamac | " | Adm. tanker B | Scapa | – |
| Solfonn | Norwegian | Tanker B | Liverpool | – |
| Adula | British | Tanker W | Swansea | – |
| Henry Desprez | French | Tanker B | Brest f. o. | Sailed Havre |
| Statesman | British | steel - cotton | Manchester | – |
| Otina | " | Tanker W | Liverpool | – |
| Rotorua | " | refrig. | Portland / London | – |
| British Officer | " | Tanker W | Plymouth | – |
| Saranac | " | Tanker W | Southampton | Sailed Brest |
| Emma Bakke | Norwegian | zinc - lumber - pulp | Glasgow | – |
| West Isleta | American/MoWT 1940 | sulphur | Manchester | Renamed Empire Merlin (and listed as such when sunk in HX 65) |
| Clea | British | Tanker B | Pauillac | – |
| King John | " | lumber - spelter | London | – |
| Tascalusa | " | Adm. tanker B | Portsmouth | – |
| Again, note that there were more ships joining from Bermuda - see A 1 form above. |
Notes:
Commodore was in Geraldine Mary, Vice Commodore in Camito, and Rear Commodore in Statesman.
Randa was taken over by the Canadian government in June-1940. Asbjørn was also taken over by the Canadian government at some point in 1940. Chr. J. Kampmann was taken over by the Ministry of War Transport in 1940.
The ship in station 55 is listed as the Norwegian tanker Fenris of 9804 gt in the Advance Sailing Telegram, though strangely, the A 1 form gives her cargo as general. I've been told this may have been the Swedish ship by the same name (as far as I can tell, this was not a tanker). What this assumption is based on I cannot say - perhaps her cargo? Note that A. Hague also says this was the Norwegian ship, cargo of oil products (again, see HX 46 at ships in all HX convoys), and this fits with the information found in Fenris' Voyage Record, stating she left Bermuda on May 27-1940.
The convoy arrived rendezvous on June 9.
Ocean Escort: HMS Comorin.
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):
Aurania - From 02/06/40 to 09/06/40
Clarkia - From 09/06/40 to 12/06/40
Comorin - From 28/05/40 to 02/06/40
Huddersfield Town - From 09/06/40 to 12/06/40
Saguenay - From 28/05/40 to 29/05/40
To the next HX convoy in my list HX 47
| 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 |
