Convoy HX 53 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
CONVOY HX 53 Cruising Order & Advance Sailing Telegram
| Convoy HX 53 Cruising Order Departed Halifax on June 25-1940 and arrived Liverpool on July 10 (Arnold Hague says 44 ships). | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcribed from A 1 form received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew). Further details have been added with the help of: "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939". R. W. Jordan "Lloyd's War Losses", Vol I Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Fi=Finnish, Gr=Greek, Sw=Swedish s=sunk, † = dead B = Bermuda portion | ||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 11Penrose steel - scrap iron Clyde (Br) | 21 Humber Arm paper - steel Mersey s - 0† (Br) | 31 Crown Arun lumber Preston (Br) | 41 Manchester Brigade general Manchester (Br) | 51 Pacific Shipper general ev.London (Br) | 61 Botavon scrap steel Hull (Br) | 71 Jersey City pit props Hull (Br) | 81 Thistleford steel - timber West Hartlepool (Br) | 91 Venetiakerosene - gasoline London (Br) |
| 12 Harlingen pig iron Clyde (Br) | 22Silverfir general Liverpool (Br) | 32 Aracataca general ev. Liverpool (Br) | 42 Dalcross general ev. Liverpool (Br) | 52 Tilsington Court general ev. East - West (Br) | 62 Taborfjell general London (Norw) | 72 Bjerka pit props Blyth (Norw) | 82 Boltonhall scrap steel Falmouth (Br) | 92 Wentworth steel - pit props Falmouth (Br) |
| 13Rosenborg lumber Dublin (Fi) | 23Dimitrios Inglessis grain Liverpool (Gr) | 33 Grigorios C II pulp wood Barrow (Gr) | 43 TaybankLiverpool (Br) | 53 Dunsley pit props East - West (Br) | 63 Zannes Gounaris lumber Southampton (Gr) | 73 Scoresby pit props West Hartlepool (Br) | 83 |
93 Janna pulp wood Falmouthreturned (Norw) |
| 14Valparaiso* Glasgow(Sw) | 24Axel Johnson* Liverpool (Sw) | 34Sovac* Liverpool (Br) | 44 | 54 Stalheim* Portland/Blyth (Norw) | 64 | 74Langleebrook corn East - West (Br) | 84 | 94 |
| 15 B |
25 B Athelempress Admiralty fuel Clyde (Br) | 35 B Katy gasoline Milford Haven (Norw) | 45 B Mataroa refrig. - wool London (Br) | 55 B Taranaki refrig. - wool (Br) | 65 B Thorshavn Admiralty fuel Portsmouth (Norw) | 75 B Thistlegarth sugar Southend (Br) | 85 | 95 |
| 16 B Whitford Point sugar Falmouth (Br) | 26 |
36 B Maria Stathatou nitrate Newport (Gr) | 46 B Empire Gannet sulphur Liverpool (Br) | 56 B Sommerstad lub. oil Clyde (Norw) | 66 B Severn Leigh sugar Southend (Br) | 76 | 86 | 96 |
| The ships denoted * joined up after the convoy had left Halifax, reason for being late unknown.Arnold Hague has also included the Nowegian Astra in this convoy, but no station number is given (not included in original convoy documents). See Hague's listing for HX 53 at ships in all HX convoys. She's said to have joined at sea from St. John's, N.F. on June 28 - follow the link to my page about Astra. Lycia and Celtic Monarch are not mentioned in the Advance Sailing Telegram. They both appear in the AST for HX 54 - both crossed out. (Lycia is listed in HX 55, while Celtic Monarch sailed in HX 56). |
| Advance Sailing Telegram Transcribed from several documents received from Tony Cooper - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. MoWT=Ministry of War Transport | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Nationality | Cargo | Destination | Remarks |
| Halifax section | ||||
| Dimitrios Inglessis | Greek | timber? grain | Garston | From HX 52 |
| Norwegian | Tanker B | Milford Haven | From HX 52 "not to sail" Does not show up again until HX 60 | |
| Jersey City | British | pit props | Milford Haven f. o. | From HX 52 |
| Harlingen | " | pig iron | Glasgow | From HX 52 |
| " | general - special | Liverpool | From HX 52 (does not show up again on this site until HX 60) | |
| Finnish | lumber | Cork | From HX 52 | |
| Silverfir | British | general | Liverpool | From HX 52 |
| Scoresby | " | lumber | Hartlepool | – |
| Bjerka | Norwegian | pit props | Preston | – |
| Crown Arun | British | lumber | Preston | From HX 50 |
| Grigorios C II | Greek | pit props - pulp wood | Barrow | – |
| Taborfjell | Norwegian | general | Manchester | – |
| British | steel - pit props | Hull | Listed in HX 54 | |
| Swedish | none given | "consult master" | Listed in HX 62 | |
| Norwegian | wood pulp | London | To HX 54 - did not sail Does not show up again until HX 66 | |
| British | Tanker B | – | "not to sail" Listed in HX 56 | |
| Zannis Gounaris | Greek | lumber | Sharpness | – |
| " | grain | Cork | Listed in HX 54 | |
| Penrose | British | steel - scrap iron | Ardrossan | – |
| Taybank | " | general - steel - lumber - special | Liverpool | – |
| Botavon | " | scrap steel | Hull | Vice Commodore |
| American / MoWT 1940 | paper | London | (Later Br. Pachesham) Listed in HX 54 | |
| Manchester Brigade | " | general - special | Manchester | Commodore Vessel |
| Valparaiso | Swedish | grain - general | Glasgow | See * in A 1 form above |
| British | general | Belfast | Listed in HX 54 | |
| The following ships appear on a separate document, with no mention of which section they belong to - note, however, that some of these belong in the Bermuda portion, denoted with a B | ||||
| Whitford Point | British | sugar | London | B |
| Maria Stathatou | Greek | nitrates | Newport | B |
| Taranaki | British | refrig. - wool | Liverpool | B |
| Thorshavn | Norwegian | Adm. tanker B | Portsmouth | B |
| British | Tanker W | Falmouth | B Listed in HX 54 | |
| Arthur F. Corwin | " | Tanker W | Falmouth | B "to be turned back to Halifax" Does not show up again until HX 62 |
| Rosenborg | Finnish | lumber | Dublin | – |
| Humber Arm | British | paper - steel | Mersey | Sunk - See Notes |
| Axel Johnson | Swedish | general | Liverpool | See * in A 1 form above |
| Aracataca | British | general - special | Liverpool | – |
| Sovac | " | Tanker B | Birkenhead | "Not at R.V." See * in A 1 form above |
| Dalcross | " | general - special | Liverpool | – |
| Pacific Shipper | " | general - special | Liverpool | – |
| Tilsington Court | " | grain - special | Liverpool | – |
| Dunsley | " | pit props | Hartlepool | – |
| Stalheim | Norwegian | pit props | Manchester | See * in A 1 form above |
| Langleebrook | British | corn | London | – |
| Thistleford | " | steel - timber | West Hartlepool | – |
| Boltonhall | " | scrap - steel | Glasgow | – |
| Venetia | " | Tanker W | Clyde | – |
| Wentworth | " | steel - pit props | Hull | – |
| Janna | Norwegian | pulp wood | Falmouth | Returned To HX 54 (Sunk - follow link to Janna) |
| Joining from Bermuda - Sailed June 24 | ||||
| Empire Gannet | British | sulphur | Garston | – |
| Athelempress | " | Adm. tanker B | Clyde | – |
| Mataroa | " | wool - refrig. | Avonmouth | – |
| Thistlegarth | " | sugar | Immingham | – |
| " | Tanker B | – | "not to sail" Listed in HX 58 | |
| " | Tanker B | – | "not to sail" Listed in HX 57 | |
| Sommerstad | Norwegian | Tanker B | Belfast for d.g. / Sunderland | – |
| American / MoWT 1940 | scrap iron - general | Swansea | (Became Br. Empire Buffalo) Listed in HX 57 | |
| Katy | Norwegian | Tanker W | Avonmoouth | – |
| British (Ex Fr.) | sulphur | Falmouth f. o. | (Does not show up again on this site until HX 71) | |
| Severn Leigh | British | sugar | Hull | – |
| French | Tanker B | – | From HX 51 "not to sail" |
Notes:
Commodore B. L. Barrow was in Manchester Brigade, Captain Clough. Vice Commodore was Captain H. T Isaac of Botavon, and Rear Commodore was in Mataroa (joining from Bermuda).
The convoy had a total of 42 ships, including 11 joining from Bermuda - 40 ships were present upon arrival at local escort rendezvous (July 7).
Average speed: 8.2 knots.
The Norwegian Janna (Captain T. Bøttger) lost touch with the convoy. She left Halifax again on June 29 in order to join up with the next convoy out, HX 54 - follow link to Janna for more info.
Rosenborg, Thistlegarth and Bjerka also seem to have had problems keeping the pre arranged speed.
The commodore praises Aracataca, Pacific Shipper, Dalcross, Taybank, Mataroa and Tilsington Court for their visual and W/T signalling. He adds, however: "There was considerable oscillation on several occasions."
Humber Arm, on a voyage from Corner Brook for River Mersey with a cargo of 1000 tons steel, 5450 tons newsprint, 300 tons lumber, and 450 tons pulp, was sunk by U-99 on July 8-1940. She had a crew of 42 and 1 passenger - all saved.
The convoy arrived rendezvous on July 7.
Ocean Escort: HMS Alaunia from Halifax until 10:15 on July 7, parting company in 50 19N 13 30W when local escort arrived.
Other escorts - HMS Leith (sloop) and HMS Clarkia (corvette), HMS Hurricane, HMS Vanquisher, HMS Winchelsea, HMS Scimitar, and HMS Sabre.
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):
Alaunia - From 25/06/40 to 07/07/40
Assiniboine - From 25/06/40 to 26/06/40
Clarkia - From 07/07/40 to 10/07/40
Hurricane - From 08/07/40 to 09/07/40
Leith - From 07/07/40 to 10/07/40
Ottawa - From 25/06/40 to 26/06/40
Sabre - From 07/07/40 to 10/07/40
Scimitar - From 07/07/40 to 10/07/40
Vanquisher - From 08/07/40 to 09/07/40
Winchelsea - From 08/07/40 to 09/07/40
To the next HX convoy in my list HX 54
| 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 |
