Convoy HX 48 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)

Convoy HX 48 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on June 5-1940 and arrived Liverpool on the 20th (Arnold Hague says 38 ships).

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

There are no ships listed in row 4.

Nationalities have been added with the help of "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan.

Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Sw=Swedish, Am=American, Da=Danish, Rom=Romanian, Gr=Greek, Pa=Panamanian, Du=Dutch

The original form was in an indescribable mess, with a lot of handwritten remarks, ships crossed out and moved around etc., making the names of ships extremely difficult to desipher. The ships that have been ~~crossed out~~ without having been given a new station number did not sail. Note that the Advance Sailing Telegram lists more ships as cancelled.

B = Bermuda portion

11
Parthenia
general
Glasgow
(Br)

~~Stangrant~~

in station 22

Dakotian
general
Avonmouth
(Br)

31
Tynebank
scrap iron
Birkenhead
(Br)

41
Patia
general
Liverpool
(Br)

51
Esmond
newsprint
Avonmouth
(Br)

~~C. J. Barkdull?~~

crude oil
Southampton
(Pa)

Beaconlight
gasoline
Southampton
(Pa)

~~Cairnglen~~

in station 53

San Cirilo
lub. oil
River Medway
(Br)

81
City of Oran
steel - lumber
Hull
(Br)

91
Victo*
lumber
Portland/London
(Norw)

12
Laristan
fuel oil
Glasgow
(Br)

~~Urla~~

lumber
Glasgow
(Br)

Stangrant*
scrap iron
Manchester
(Br)

32
Harpagon
grain - steel
Cardiff
(Br)

42
Margarita Chandri
grain
Liverpool
(Gr)

52
Barrington Court
grain
Manchester
(Br)

~~Beaconlight~~

in station 61

~~San Cirilo~~

in station 71

Mount Pelion*
grain
Falmouth
(Gr)

Carmelfjell?*
general
Portland/London
(Norw)

82
Inginer N. Vlassopol
pulp
London
(Rom)

~~Ontariolite~~

crude oil
Brest

Kingsborough
pit props
Tyne
(Br)

13
Torr Head
grain - general
Belfast
(Br)

~~Dakotian~~

in station 21

Polydorus
general
Liverpool
(Du)

33
Janeta
steel - lumber
Newport
(Br)

43
~~Hektoria~~
fuel oil
Milford Haven
(Br)

Clearpool
wheat
Barry
(Br)

53
~~Clearpool~~
in station 43

Cairnglen
general
Newcastle
(Br)

63
Calliope
crude oil
Southampton
(Pa)

73
~~Mount Pelion~~
in station 72
(probably did not sail)

Atlantic?
grain
Manchester
(Br)

83
~~Polydorus~~
in station 23

93
~~Kingsborough~~
in station 92

Dalcroy
steel - lumber
Liverpool
(Br)

15 B
~~Capulet~~
in station 66

Sourabaya
fuel oil
Liverpool
(Br)

25 B
W. B. Walker
gasoline
Milford Haven
(Br)

35 B
Benjamin Franklin
pulp
Liverpool
(Norw)

45 B
Politician
general
Liverpool
(Br)

55 B
D. L. Harper
crude oil
Southampton
(Pa/Br**)

65 B
Refast
lub. oil
London
(Br)

75 B
Miralda
diesel oil
Portland
(Br)

85 B
~~Eclipse~~*
crude oil
Brest
(Br)

16
~~Patella~~
in station 36

26 B
Caledonia
diesel oil
Milford Haven
(Norw)

36 B
~~Cadillac~~
gasoline
(Br)

Patella
fuel oil
Scapa
(Br)

46 B
Robert F. Hand
motor spirits
East-West
(Br)

56 B
G. S. Walden
gasoline
East-West
(Br)

66 B
~~Sourabaya~~
in station 15

Capulet
fuel oil
Devonport (via Falmouth)
(Br)

76 B
Bente Maersk
fuel oil
Grangemouth
(Da/Br)

86 B
Nicolaou Georgios
cotton
Brest
(Gr)

* It looks like Mount Pelion has been moved from station 73 to 72, but I don't think this ship sailed at all - she shows up again in the next convoy.

** D. L. Harper came under British control at some point during the war, but I'm not sure exactly when.

Bente Maersk was a Danish ship, taken over by MoWT in Apr.-1940.

Calliope returned to Halifax (see also HX 45).

* According to Arnold Hague, Victo became a straggler on June 6, while Carmelfjell straggled on June 7 and Stangrant on June 15. He says Eclipse was detached and ordered to Beaumont, Texas (no date is given). He does not indicate that this ship was in the Bermuda portion. Hague's listing for HX 48 is available on the page naming ships in all HX convoys.